“Man can do what he wills but he cannot will what he wills.” – Arthur Schopenhauer
It’s always the becoming we dream of, never the being, when we’re unaligned with our purpose. It’s purpose, not achievement, the void inside your meandering self craves. Through the sea of calamity, whips and scorns of life, people are left to their own devices, forging meaning in ad-infinitum achievement-seeking behavior that never satiates. That’s because purpose exists independent of achievement and the arbitrary self-serving goals we attach to it. It’s why some people abandon great careers for a simpler life more engaged with nature, family, and everything that has the breath of life. While the two are not always mutually exclusive, achievement without aligned purpose leaves us feeling like algorithmic person shapes in a matrix.
The arrival fallacy leaves people feeling like if they just achieve or change one more thing, they will reach lasting fulfillment or happiness. You violently swim against the current, delaying joy until you reach an ever shifting shore—a forever-moving goalpost. “When I get perfect grades I’ll be happy. When I buy my most coveted status symbol item I’ll be happy. When I get into a prestigious college I’ll be happy. When I get a post-grad job I’ll be happy. When I move to a different city I’ll be happy. When I get my dream job I’ll be happy. When I meet someone I’ll be happy. When I get a promotion I’ll be happy.” We live our lives measuring ourselves through checklists, debasing our human experience into one of an inanimate object going through a factory trying to quality assure ourselves as worthy. Entire lives are easily wasted away postponing happiness to a time after some arbitrary worldly goal is achieved.
This fallacy operates out of the futile, endless achievement-seeking hamster wheel, not out of a true sense of purpose. What truly matters to us when our basic needs are met, irrespective of external validation, prestige, careerism, money, is our passion and purpose.
If you were the last person on earth would you still do it? Passion is what feels like fun to you but works to others. The question of whether you’re meant to be or do something, is answered by simply doing it. Ignoring it only breeds eternal dissatisfaction. Don’t listen to those who have never tried, look to those who found a way to succeed.
When we shift from the ego, to the real self, we can focus on what truly moves us, an external pursuit that edifies others, an altruistic purpose — be it in a career or not.U nion and altruism are the imperatives of life but the ego makes us believe a checklist of achievements will satisfy us until they don’t and we’re left feeling like empty suits in a matrix.
Inner Peace Through Christ
For believers in Christ, we kknow that God has called us love Him and love one another as He loves us. It is God who enables us to do what He has called us for despite our own feelings of worthiness as we learned through Moses’ journey liberating the Israelites.
What can we do then to attain more inner peace? Focus on the truth. Joy is in one another — in charity, the pursuit of a noble purpose, memory-making experiences with loved ones. True inner peace is when our mood isn’t reliant on temporary circumstances or daily inconveniences. Why would you let your life be dictated by frivolous, fleeting things in life? At the end of your life it’s not the accolades, following, job title, wealth that you will look back on — it’s the people and memories. It’s your relationship with God. We can do this by detaching ourselves from external validation. By having a healthy dose of ambition on the right noble goals, while knowing achievement isn’t worth — our worth is intrinsic as children of God. Things do not give life meaning. What courses with the breath of life gives life meaning.
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33 KJV)
“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (1 John 2:15 KJV)
“Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?” (Matthew 6:25 KJV)
Peace isn’t a place, person, status symbol, another vocation, a dopamine chase, or something to be coveted. It’s a mentality. It’s confidence in God, not the flesh. It’s not being reliant on external factors/validation but being confident in the Spirit which works within us to produce
good fruit.
Nothing fills the void but the peace of Christ. Meaning can not be found in treasures on earth—and what’s 90 years to eternity? Alignment with your true God-given purpose will naturally bring more joy. To live a double life disconnected from inner life is a waste of time and breeds eternal misery.
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