The Chase is Always Better than the Catch.
I got to thinking the other day about motivation and goals. I find it very interesting discovering what motivates different kinds of people into doing things. You can usually tell what kind of mindset a person has by getting them to reveal what their life's mission statement is. Most people don't even know they have one until you directly question them. I sure as hell didn't. Don't worry, all will be revealed in time, but not quite yet.
An old trick of mine that I use to determine if a friendship/relationship/new nemesis is worth it, is to ask one simple question...it usually works best after a couple of beers so you can get the truthful answers out of people. Next time you are talking to that new person in your life ask them this, "Without over thinking, If you had 3 wishes that could be granted, but only if you made them in the next 60 seconds, what would they be?". There is a very strong caveat with this little question. It can utterly destroy your mental image of what that person sitting across from you is like. I remember asking this question to someone I was romantically involved with in the past and the effect was much like being slapped in the side of the head with a two hundred pound tuna. In laymen, I was knocked on my ass, and not in a good way. Turned out that she had a very, very dark and cynical view of the world, and myself being the complete opposite, I managed to kill and otherwise fun relationship in about 30 seconds...There you go people, an actual warning with the repercussions included, unlike the "Do Not Drink" label on the side of toilet bowl cleaner. If they had an actual story about the doofus who drank it, maybe less people would? None the less, back on track now...
A good friend of mine came up with the whole life mission statement thing while we were chatting one night. We were talking about what the future holds and which paths to take, etc, etc, when the question came out about what my life mission statement was. Sort of like the pop quiz in grade eleven algebra. You know you have an answer, but trying to come up with it on the spot isn't always the easiest thing to do. I sat there going "Umm, Umm, How many paths must a man...Nope that one’s been used, how about The answers are blowing in the...Nope...Been done too...Gimme a sec". I'm sitting there in my living room trying to come up with some answer that isn't going to sound stupid, cynical, and have some deep meaning behind it, when it literally just pops out in my forebrain like a golden shining chalice (religious allusion...Damn, I actually remember something from high school english). For years I'd been living this statement without realizing it. "Life is nothing more than the collection of knowledge and how you use it to benefit yourself and the people around you". Almost profound for a second there. For that moment I felt like I was onto something, which leads to the chase...
Some people live for the journey and some people live for the goal. I think both are acceptable answers, but I very much live for the journey. It goes hand in hand with the idea that life should be fun. I've known a lot of people who concentrate so strongly on the goal that they forget to have fun getting there. I've also known people who don't live for either, but that's an entry all to itself, bitter man isn't going to step in here. The pitfall with living for the journey is sometimes the goal isn't what you thought it would be, but I still wouldn't have it any other way. I've reached some goals where once I got there I had a "WTF am I doing?" moment, but the beautiful thing about living for the journey is, there is always another adventure on the next page. Sometimes it sucks getting to the next page, but if you look for it, it's right in front of you.
So, what’s the point of this entry? Dunno. I guess I have to come up with some kind of conclusion here, or it will seem utterly pointless. If there is a point I guess it's this. It doesn't really matter what motivates you to do whatever you do, but the important bit is to know why you are doing it. It doesn't matter if it's selfish, or puritanical, as long as you know what motivates your methods you can walk ahead with a clear thought process and know the path should lead to the outcome you want. The really important bit is to know that if the end of the path isn't where you wanted it to be, you can always turn off and take a different road. That's how I found the hamlet of Ratzburg.
I got to thinking the other day about motivation and goals. I find it very interesting discovering what motivates different kinds of people into doing things. You can usually tell what kind of mindset a person has by getting them to reveal what their life's mission statement is. Most people don't even know they have one until you directly question them. I sure as hell didn't. Don't worry, all will be revealed in time, but not quite yet.
An old trick of mine that I use to determine if a friendship/relationship/new nemesis is worth it, is to ask one simple question...it usually works best after a couple of beers so you can get the truthful answers out of people. Next time you are talking to that new person in your life ask them this, "Without over thinking, If you had 3 wishes that could be granted, but only if you made them in the next 60 seconds, what would they be?". There is a very strong caveat with this little question. It can utterly destroy your mental image of what that person sitting across from you is like. I remember asking this question to someone I was romantically involved with in the past and the effect was much like being slapped in the side of the head with a two hundred pound tuna. In laymen, I was knocked on my ass, and not in a good way. Turned out that she had a very, very dark and cynical view of the world, and myself being the complete opposite, I managed to kill and otherwise fun relationship in about 30 seconds...There you go people, an actual warning with the repercussions included, unlike the "Do Not Drink" label on the side of toilet bowl cleaner. If they had an actual story about the doofus who drank it, maybe less people would? None the less, back on track now...
A good friend of mine came up with the whole life mission statement thing while we were chatting one night. We were talking about what the future holds and which paths to take, etc, etc, when the question came out about what my life mission statement was. Sort of like the pop quiz in grade eleven algebra. You know you have an answer, but trying to come up with it on the spot isn't always the easiest thing to do. I sat there going "Umm, Umm, How many paths must a man...Nope that one’s been used, how about The answers are blowing in the...Nope...Been done too...Gimme a sec". I'm sitting there in my living room trying to come up with some answer that isn't going to sound stupid, cynical, and have some deep meaning behind it, when it literally just pops out in my forebrain like a golden shining chalice (religious allusion...Damn, I actually remember something from high school english). For years I'd been living this statement without realizing it. "Life is nothing more than the collection of knowledge and how you use it to benefit yourself and the people around you". Almost profound for a second there. For that moment I felt like I was onto something, which leads to the chase...
Some people live for the journey and some people live for the goal. I think both are acceptable answers, but I very much live for the journey. It goes hand in hand with the idea that life should be fun. I've known a lot of people who concentrate so strongly on the goal that they forget to have fun getting there. I've also known people who don't live for either, but that's an entry all to itself, bitter man isn't going to step in here. The pitfall with living for the journey is sometimes the goal isn't what you thought it would be, but I still wouldn't have it any other way. I've reached some goals where once I got there I had a "WTF am I doing?" moment, but the beautiful thing about living for the journey is, there is always another adventure on the next page. Sometimes it sucks getting to the next page, but if you look for it, it's right in front of you.
So, what’s the point of this entry? Dunno. I guess I have to come up with some kind of conclusion here, or it will seem utterly pointless. If there is a point I guess it's this. It doesn't really matter what motivates you to do whatever you do, but the important bit is to know why you are doing it. It doesn't matter if it's selfish, or puritanical, as long as you know what motivates your methods you can walk ahead with a clear thought process and know the path should lead to the outcome you want. The really important bit is to know that if the end of the path isn't where you wanted it to be, you can always turn off and take a different road. That's how I found the hamlet of Ratzburg.
posted by Reverend Moloquin at 12:21 PM
1 Comments:
1) Lifetime supply of chicken curry
2) No more hurricanes
3) Bud Light snowboard
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