What are you striving for?

It's really important to check which direction you're headed before you reach your destination, to ensure you're not disappointed when you get there.

This is a nice parable I heard about in a podcast, I'll show you why it's important to pay attention to what you strive for.

There was a very well-known archaeologist who was in search of a missing kingdom. The reason he wanted to find this missing kingdom so badly was that the king of this kingdom had discovered the secret of life.

Who wouldn't want to know that?

He was very anxious about finding this kingdom so he did extensive research and eventually came across its location.

He traveled to the kingdom and found the palace of the king. Inside he found the king sitting on his throne, however, it was the skeleton remains of the king. Upon closer inspection, he saw the king holding a scroll in his hands.

The Secret of Life.

The archaeologist ran over and unraveled the scroll, blowing away the dust like they do in the movies. His heart racing. Eager to know what profound wisdom was about to be unveiled.

It read:

In life ultimately we all want one thing which is to be happy - of course, you would not complain if you were happy for every second for the remainder of your life.

The problem we have is whenever we find something that makes us happy, that happiness dissipates into nothing, and then we are back to square one, looking for something to fill that void.

Imagine you really want ice cream, so you go and get ice cream. You go again to get more ice cream but it's not as good as the first one. If you keep on getting more ice cream, sooner or later you will start to love it less and search for something else to give you that kick.

Whatever we go after, we find that we love it, we get a thrill...and then it’s gone.

In life you don’t want that short-term thrill, you want happiness that lasts.

The only thing that gives you happiness forever is to recognise that none of these material objects will ever give you happiness, the only thing that will give you happiness forever is to get beyond being caught up in your worldly desires.

Pay attention to what you are striving for.

If you're striving for a paycheque or a nice car or a big house by all means work hard and go achieve that, but do not expect your levels of happiness to suddenly increase when you get that thing.

You might get the short-term novelty feeling one feels when wearing new shoes or driving a new car, but nothing past that.

The message here is that alongside your desires and short-term dopamine hits, you should strive for deeper, longer-lasting happiness that is not tied to an external entity.

No number of friends, dollars, likes, or followers will fill the void of true inner happiness.

That long-term happiness can only be achieved by striving for the constant, irreplaceable facets of life - Strong relationships, a healthy body and mind, a fulfilling service, and so on.

This all sounds very cliché but it is SO accurate, albeit cringy.