After you have reached the Summit!

Imagine, you have been pursuing a goal, a dream that doesn't let you sleep. What if you successfully accomplish your dream or reach your goal? What impact will it have on your life? How different your life will be after you have achieved what you aspired for? Will that be the end of the pursuit? Will that satiate your hunger forever? Arguably not! Let me share my perspective:

During my childhood, I dreamt of representing India in Cricket (like most children in India who play cricket dream about). I was so much passionate about this dream, that day-in and day-out, I imagined myself in team-India jersey. When playing in local-tournaments in my town, the feel of National Anthem being played just before the start of the game would give me goose-bumps, and I took the feel of being a part of an international game. I would be thrilled imagining, how satisfying it will be when I would actually be a part of an international cricket competition. Unfortunately, this dream of mine experienced a gradual death as I grew older and realized about the hurdles I would have to overcome to reach that goal. As soon as the practical feasibility of accomplishing this goal seemed to be diminishing with every passing year, this romanticism about representing India in cricket also faded away. I am sure you too must be having a childhood dream which somehow could not be fulfilled. But, how has this impacted your life? How different would your life be in case you had fulfilled that dream/goal? Please give it a thought.

Now let me take another case. As I grew older, particularly after my Secondary school years, I was having gradual inclination towards another dream- 'becoming' a Civil Servant! This inclination towards civil services kept on rising, the zeal strengthened with every passing year. I finished my schooling, and during my graduation years every action/activity of mine would be in pursuit of becoming a civil servant in one way or another. I used to consciously regulate my conduct in a manner which I would expect from an ideal civil servant in particular, and an ideal human being in general. I am sure, those of you reading this who have been with me during these years would be able to best understand what I want to convey here. (Not to say that I don't pursue these things now). Fortunately, I could accomplish this dream of mine. But, does that mean that accomplishing this goal has given me eternal peace and fulfillment, satisfaction of the level of Nirvana? Definitely not.

So, how do the above two cases make a difference in my life? In hindsight I can say, not much of a difference. But to observe this and to say this, it was essential that I do have had both these experiences- one of fulfilling of a dream, and another of a dream not being fulfilled. You too must be having some similar experiences in your life. Do think about both the extremes and analyze what difference would they have made in your life?

Actually, our life is a set of experiences, a series of events, a journey rather than a static element or an episodic event or for that matter a destination. So, essentially, our priorities keep on changing with time. One thing/person/dream that might have been "the most" important one at one stage might not be so sometime later. Essentially, our priorities to a large extent are influenced by the set of circumstances we have been going through at that particular time. 

Though, I could not realize the dream of representing India in Cricket, but that is a by-gone thing now. And though I am now a part of Civil Services, yet, that too doesn't mean that its all done. Rather, the the journey has just begun. Here, it becomes necessary to point at what dreams/goals actually we need to have? Should they be episodic, stand-alone dreams/goals or a those based on the process. I would prefer the latter. That is, rather than playing cricket for India, it should have been "playing cricket passionately", and rather than becoming a Civil Servant, it should have been why to become a Civil Servant? or to "serve" as a civil servant rather than "becoming" a civil servant. So, essentially, it is the 'process' that brings the real joy/contentment/peace/happiness rather than the product. The product is symbolic while the process is substantial. Thus, in the journey of life, no summit is final, no destination is final, unless,  of course,  it is your LAST. So, don't be disheartened if you could not fulfill (one or more) dreams in case they are episodic, stand-alone rather than process oriented.

Though, Easier said than done. But, definitely not impossible. 

Anyways, enough of philosophy and 'gyan' for now :) ;) !!!!

Ending with a famous quote from the movie, " Way of Peaceful Warrior":

1. “If you don't get what you want, you suffer; if you get what you don't want, you suffer; even when you get exactly what you want, you still suffer because you can't hold on to it forever.”