Life is a journey towards a destination

Nothing can be more true than the age old saying: "Life is a journey and not a destination". This saying is so relevant because if you have not enjoyed your journey of life, you are in for a hollow sense of achievement after you reach your destination. You will spend a major part of your life in the journey towards some of your goals and a minute fractional little in savoring the destination. Hence, it makes so much more sense to lay emphasis on the journey rather than the destination.

Well, if that is the fact, then why are we so hung up about
creating our own goals, dreams, mission and any other specific destination where we want to reach during the journey of our life? 
Sometimes, you may be wondering why to bother about such technical things in life like creating a mission, goals, strategy, plan and then go and execute them. Life is simple and it is supposed to be. Let us just go about living the way we get to face it. Why to deliberately make it more complex ?

I will tell you 3 strong reasons why you must bring in this "complexity" in life. If you disagree with all of them, then please pardon me for my lack of knowledge and wisdom, but even if one of them rings a bell deep inside you, then please make a pledge to yourself. Pledge yourself not to ignore this bell and to take action. Knowledge without action is as good as having no knowledge. Do something with your life. Do not let it go waste.

So, here we go.

1. Life is a journey and not a destination. Well said and very true as well. But i want to rephrase this a little bit. I would, rather, reword this timeless phrase as "Life is a journey, not towards a destination" . 
Here is my point. Do you think that any journey can be enjoyed if you are not clear of the destination where you are headed? I was in US along with my family for a couple of years and I remember we were driving from Bentonville (a small town in Arkansas state of central US) to Disney world, Orlando (Florida). Me and my wife were as excited about the entire trip as the kids were, if not more. It was a 1400 mile drive one way, venturing through some of the most beautiful country side spanning 4 states . The beauty of the journey was truly enjoyable, as is so typical with most US country side drives. More than that, what made this journey a real pleasure was the destination itself. We knew we were headed towards exploring one of our biggest dreams since our childhood - The Disney World. Any thought of tiredness harbingering our excitement was ruled out, just because the thought about our destination kept pushing us to new levels of enthusiasm. As it turned out to be, we enjoyed both the journey and the destination. This trip still remains as one of the most memorable trips of our lives till now, though I am sure that with financial freedom, there are a lot more such trips to come in our lives. 
I am also sure that the journey would have been very different if i was traveling this kind of a distance  for a serious office meeting or a deal to be signed for my office client. What would have changed? The journey was still the same but the goal / destination was very different. Such is the importance of having a clear mission or goal in life. You will enjoy the journey only if you know that you are headed in the right direction towards a goal that you truly cherish, else the same journey can very well become extremely painful. So, go on to create goals in your life so that you have a chance to enjoy the journey towards them.

2. Second reason for you to add this "complexity" of mission and goals in your life has to do with the debt that you have created for yourself and your family. Let us understand this a little more. Fine, you are surviving and leading a reasonably peaceful life, but what is your give back after you have taken so much from everyone - the people, the society, the planet and the environment around you? Sorry, if you think donating 5% of your salary is enough to compensate for the damage that you do everyday to everyone around you, then i would urge you to think again. Let me try and help you in this thought process. What did you give back to compensate for the trees that were cut for the beautiful furniture that decorates your home today? What did you give back to the labor community who helped build your house, the same house where you and your family can feel secure, safe and sound? What do you give back to reduce pollution in the environment around you after you scream through your car to and from office everyday? What are you giving back to the nation, under whose roof, you have an identity across the globe? What did you give back to the soil that you pollute every day? What did you give back to the hungry poor, whose share of food you throw in dustbin everyday? What did you give back to the water bodies whose water you pollute everyday via bathing, utensil cleaning and other household stuff? What was your give back to the farmer whose food you eat everyday? What did you give back to the mother Earth that was drilled, bored and excavated right through its chest to take out coal and oil to provide you energy at your doorstep? I can continue for a long time because examples are many, but i would urge you to take a step back, think and just compare all this debt with what you give back today? Are what you doing enough? If not, then you must do more. And remember, i am not even talking about going out of the way and doing something for others. I am just talking about paying back your debt to all stakeholders from whom you and your family are indebted till today, and will continue to pile your debt till you live on this planet.

"Giving" can be a very strong reason for you to have a clear set of goals in your life. Giving is one of the most noble deeds and also the one that assures to pay you back with bliss and happiness at the end of life.

3. You may feel today that life is going on fine. It may be true as well, but trust me, there would surely come a time in your life when you would realize that you should have acted on your life's journey much earlier, with some concrete steps and goals. At that time, you may get the feeling that it is already too late, and you should have taken steps to come out of your "comfort zone" much earlier. Same thing happened with one of my colleagues an year back, which i posted in my blog some time back - Do I need Freedom when life is going on just fine?

You have to decide when your moment of enlightenment is going to be. It is all up to you. You may still decide to relax, let the life go by and repent when death lingers upon you (and it surely will, for you are no exception) or you may decide to dwell deep inside you and start thinking of that one purpose in life which can ignite the passion inside you to go for the kill. It will take time, but it must be done.

Swami Vivekananda once said:

Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success.

For those of my friends who believe that it is all destiny and it is GOD who decides what we are finally going to achieve in life, here is what the Swami also said:

- You cannot believe in God until you believe in yourself, and

- When an idea exclusively occupies the mind, it is transformed into an actual physical or mental state.

So, have faith in yourself. You have all the power needed to accomplish what you want. It is only about establishing your mission, defining your goals, finalizing your strategy and then go on to execute the same. As Alchemist said : The moment you start, the entire universe would start conspiring to make you successful  I am seeing and experiencing it first hand. You can too !! The power of choice is in your hands !!

In the coming post, i would focus on what is the meaning of "mission", "goal" and "strategy" and how you can go about creating these 3 critical aspects for your life.

Cheers

Manoj Arora