“Now What?”

Instead of enjoying what we’ve achieved, we’re conditioned to keep wanting more

Regardless of our age, gender, race, or socioeconomic level, one thing remains constant: there is always a new mountain on the horizon to climb.

From the beginning, our lives are defined by a series of milestones — learning to sit up, talk, crawl, feed and dress ourselves, walk, run, and every other skill we acquire in our first few years after exiting the womb. Some parents have pissing contests over these things, one-upping each another with boasts that their special, wonderful, angelic child accomplished them earlier than every other kid.

These parents are insane, but they’re also a reflection of our larger culture because it doesn’t stop at childhood.

Every year, there is a new grade with an entire new set of skills to learn and obstacles to tackle and, every few years, there is an even bigger, overarching step. From elementary school to middle school to high school to college to sometimes even grad school.

It doesn’t stop in the classroom, either. When our schooling is complete, we turn elsewhere to achieve these milestones, either because we want to continue to feel that we’re accomplishing something or because we think it is what we are supposed to do and it’s what everyone else is doing (and has done).

Weddings, jobs, houses, kids, cars, certifications, promotions…the list goes on.

But when does it end? Why keep chasing larger and larger carrots if you’re only going to place them in a pile and move on? What good is achieving goals if you don’t have time to enjoy them? At some point, the degrees on your wall become little more than poor interior decorating choices.

The purpose of life is to live, not accumulate.

Setting goals is important and I’m not suggesting that you rest on your laurels, but when you reach a mountaintop, maybe enjoy the view for a bit instead of simply scanning for the next mountain.