It’s relatively simple
“As you set out on your journey to Ithaca
pray that your journey be a long one,
filled with adventure, filled with discovery…
But don’t hurry your journey at all.
Far better if it takes many years,
and if you are old when you anchor at the island,
rich with all you have gained on the way,
not expecting that Ithaca will give you wealth.
Ithaca has given you a beautiful journey.
Without her you would never have set out.” I’ve been thinking about this for a while, and I think there is a relatively simple way to win life.
Get better every day.
Achieving goals is fun for a day or two, but that feeling wears off quickly.
Having a purpose, succeeding regularly, becoming more skilled, gaining respect and recognition, these are the things that really make life worthwhile. It never needs to stop.
Reaching the destination is not the purpose: the journey is the purpose.
The tricky thing is figuring out what you want to be good at.
Whatever it is, it’s fairly straightforward to try and get a bit better at it every day.
Right now I am working on: my university classes, a junior high school curriculum, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, this website, and my knowledge of personal finance.
What do you want to be better at?
“…to travel is better than to arrive.”
R. M. Pirsig
“It’s the going, not the getting there, that’s good.”
Harry Chapin
“Our destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things.”
Henry Miller
I like Alan Watts’ take on this: