Why We’re Always Searching for Something More
What is it that makes us always want something bigger, something better, something new?
I used to think it was just me — reaching a long-term goal, celebrating for a varying length of time based on the size of the project, and then thinking, “No, not quite. Let’s do this instead.”
But it’s not just me.
This constant searching and discovering and searching cycle is human nature; in fact, I would argue that it is the foundation of who we are as a species. Many of us feel incomplete, unsatisfied, or even unworthy if we’re not seeking something.
Is this a bad thing?
Yes, and no.
Recently, our society, America’s society in particular, has become so fast-paced, so over-stimulating, and so dependent on constant progress and momentum that we just can’t seem to catch a break, literally. We’re afraid to take time off because we’ll get behind, or someone else, that one person who has been lurking in the wings, waiting to pounce, will replace us.
We don’t want to be obsolete.
So we struggle onwards, straining ourselves and our relationships, just to be relevant.
Sick, huh?
But at the same time, we need some goal to work toward or our lives really do not have meaning. If we sit on the couch all day, eating potato chips and binging our favorite series on TV, we waste our massive potential as a human being who could affect change. But, if we work to hard, we risk burning out too soon and truly becoming obsolete.
There has to be a balance, but I’m finding it increasingly hard to find it. There are 168 hours in a week. If I work 40 hours a week, at an 8–5 job (that one hour lunch is great for walks!), with a one hour commute in each direction, I’m spending 55 hours a week that I’m not doing something that I truly love and that I’m truly passionate about. If you figure in the 7–8 hours a night I need to sleep so my body and brain can recharge itself, I only have one third of a week (about 55 hours give or take) to do what I want to do. But I don’t even have those 55 hours to myself for my pleasure! There’s still the laundry and the cooking and the dishes and the housecleaning…and the dreaded grocery shopping. So even those glorious 48 hours on the weekend don’t give near enough time to relax and find balance.
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I don’t think I’m the only one struggling with this. Not by a long shot. The question still remains though…how do we find balance? Do we need to just grow up and get on with it — work hard just to retire at the age of 75 and not really enjoy anything because you still won’t have the money to support yourself in today’s economy?
You see, we’ve finally attained a society that is productive and progressing quickly — buildings are getting taller, technology is outdated in a year or two after it’s first produced, and major political events are happening all over the globe (both good and bad). These are all evidence of progress.
But now that change is happening, are we happy? No. We still feel incomplete, unsatisfied, and in my case especially, over-stimulated and unworthy.
And so, we trudge onward, trying to find a new path. We’ve reached that, “Not quite, let’s do this” stage.
Now we have to find balance between “progress for the sake of progress” on one hand as Umbridge orates in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and simple happiness on the other.
I’m not sure what the answer is. I’ve tried a variety of methods; it’s infuriating, but that is human nature. We will forever and always be searching for something more, something better, something new.