How do we define fulfillment? We find fulfillment when we find meaning in things we do? How do we go about finding meaning in a 9 to 5 corporate job. There are occasional smiles at the end of a certain time period or maybe there isn't any of that. That isn't essentially bad news but it is just like life. It keeps going on. How then do we find meaning especially outside work? I see people chase other goals. Traveling the world. Are you traveling to experience or is it letting you tick your bucket-list of places you want to cover because of popular opinion? People work out and want to stay fit. What happens once that's done? People take part in marathons. It's a new kind of purpose just like the bucket-list of places. Each one of these things strike me as shallow. It isn't surprising that people who indulge in the above are usually married with 1 or no kids. The ones that aren't married are busy trying to get to the point of a relationship and eventual marriage. What happens once married? It's a purpose that gets fulfilled and we naturally feel aimless again. Time for a marathon, I guess.
Most of us are juggling different balls in this game called life and are barely making through. Somehow the life, which is largely work and then home is just not fulfilling. It just isn't. We have to agree that our lives are free of struggles. Existential struggles are ones where we are worried about 3 things - food, shelter and clothing. Most of us have lived all our lives with these things pretty much assured. If anything we have taken our food part to become multi cuisine, the shelter part to mean grander penthouses and clothing part to mean C&K and Gucci. These things are taken for granted. Hence we do not derive any value, happiness or fulfillment from these 3 things. Our needs have hence risen up Maslow's hierarchy of needs. We haven't seen or known a war like the World war in ages now. Sure we hear pockets of the world indulging in violence but it hasn't been in that scale. Our security needs are met and are again taken for granted. It is pretty accurate to say that we are all in between love and belonging needs and esteem needs. Those who haven't found that meaningful relationship with someone from the opposite or same sex are fervently looking for it and those who have found such intimacy is trying to find reinforcement of self esteem through accomplishments such as work, travel, fitness goals, marathons etc. There are a select few who no longer feel the need to be assured that they have arrived in the world. They've truly transcended and are on the journey to figure out meaning of life. Go to Himalayas, a famous pilgrimage or to a guru and you can notice a steadily increasing crowd.
What scares me is the finishing of a long time want. What happens when that wish comes true? Alladin was granted 3 wishes by the genie. What happened once all of Alladin's wishes came true? I guess the true transcendence here would be for us to stop asking what do I want. What I wanted I have already got. Now the focus has to be moved outwards. We have experienced how it feels when we have wanted something for a long long time and it comes true. The only way to feel complete is to enable as many as people as possible on that journey. Nothing assures us human beings as the success of someone else. We often go on stages and tell just this - if I can do it, so can you. It is about passing that power on to someone else so that they can achieve what they want. This is a type of self actualization. It is when you stop taking centrestage for yourself and keep someone else at the forefront. I have often seen parents do this with their kids. The kids take centrestage in their lives. But that's too few people taking advantage of the power you have to give. There's a lot more out there who are losing hope and want to believe that tomorrow is bright. You can show them how to persevere when things are rough and ultimately taste sweet success.
People like Tony Robbins do this on a stage and millions other do by being an anonymous donor to someone struggling from cancer in a hospital. Some people do it by picking a broom and cleaning their streets while some by spending half their day teaching school kids for free. If you've found achievement the route to finding a way to spread the message is child's play. If you have a strong message and if enough people need to know it then the message will itself pull you out. We just need to be ready to turn outwards at that point.
Most of us are juggling different balls in this game called life and are barely making through. Somehow the life, which is largely work and then home is just not fulfilling. It just isn't. We have to agree that our lives are free of struggles. Existential struggles are ones where we are worried about 3 things - food, shelter and clothing. Most of us have lived all our lives with these things pretty much assured. If anything we have taken our food part to become multi cuisine, the shelter part to mean grander penthouses and clothing part to mean C&K and Gucci. These things are taken for granted. Hence we do not derive any value, happiness or fulfillment from these 3 things. Our needs have hence risen up Maslow's hierarchy of needs. We haven't seen or known a war like the World war in ages now. Sure we hear pockets of the world indulging in violence but it hasn't been in that scale. Our security needs are met and are again taken for granted. It is pretty accurate to say that we are all in between love and belonging needs and esteem needs. Those who haven't found that meaningful relationship with someone from the opposite or same sex are fervently looking for it and those who have found such intimacy is trying to find reinforcement of self esteem through accomplishments such as work, travel, fitness goals, marathons etc. There are a select few who no longer feel the need to be assured that they have arrived in the world. They've truly transcended and are on the journey to figure out meaning of life. Go to Himalayas, a famous pilgrimage or to a guru and you can notice a steadily increasing crowd.
What scares me is the finishing of a long time want. What happens when that wish comes true? Alladin was granted 3 wishes by the genie. What happened once all of Alladin's wishes came true? I guess the true transcendence here would be for us to stop asking what do I want. What I wanted I have already got. Now the focus has to be moved outwards. We have experienced how it feels when we have wanted something for a long long time and it comes true. The only way to feel complete is to enable as many as people as possible on that journey. Nothing assures us human beings as the success of someone else. We often go on stages and tell just this - if I can do it, so can you. It is about passing that power on to someone else so that they can achieve what they want. This is a type of self actualization. It is when you stop taking centrestage for yourself and keep someone else at the forefront. I have often seen parents do this with their kids. The kids take centrestage in their lives. But that's too few people taking advantage of the power you have to give. There's a lot more out there who are losing hope and want to believe that tomorrow is bright. You can show them how to persevere when things are rough and ultimately taste sweet success.
People like Tony Robbins do this on a stage and millions other do by being an anonymous donor to someone struggling from cancer in a hospital. Some people do it by picking a broom and cleaning their streets while some by spending half their day teaching school kids for free. If you've found achievement the route to finding a way to spread the message is child's play. If you have a strong message and if enough people need to know it then the message will itself pull you out. We just need to be ready to turn outwards at that point.
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