Goals Aren’t Important, but Bothering to Aim Somewhere Is
Unexpected events might occur on your journey, but you’ll have a map for reference
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Sometimes I walk without aim, other than to admire nature’s beauty and stretch my legs. It’s rewarding because I don’t know what will happen. Will I spy a bird of prey circle the meadow? Or deer as they graze?
These occasions are joyful. But other times, when I hold no objective, my journey is fruitless. I don’t know where I’m headed or how to make the journey meaningful.
I watch a terrific movie, yet don’t stop to recognize what made it so brilliant. I don’t extract its sweetness or make something worthwhile from its raw edges.
I may face a challenge, get through it and move on, but if I fail to address what I learned, potential insights fade. The same is true when I meander through life, watching where it takes me and not caring where that may be.
We learn far more and extract a great deal more knowledge when we have a target. Having an aim helps us navigate our way when we face a myriad of choices. If we take any old path, we don’t know where it will lead. Select one, however, and we’ve a better chance of enjoying where we go.
At one point I set goals. And I kept my eyes on the horizon. Disappointment arose, though. The problem, I recognized, stemmed from forgetting about the process which is where learning takes place.
The process is like the filling of a sandwich. It’s the important bit. Finishing the crusts isn’t vital, but what you put between the bread slices counts.
When you create an aim, any aim, you have a place to begin: A starting point. Next, you formulate the ingredients of your voyage. You think about how to get where you want to go: What that will entail.
You take steps toward your aim, and unexpected events might occur, but you have a map for reference.
If an obstacle falls in the way, you don’t behave like the old aimless you of the past and hotfoot it some place else. You understand you must surmount the problem. You go around it or tunnel through. Or you find another route to where you want to head.
Aimless walking is fun. Aimless driving might also be an enjoyable way to spend time if you don’t mind wasting gas and can afford to end up somewhere undesirable, should it happen.
An aimless life, though, could take you far from your potential and the possibility of joy.
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