To live only for some future goal is shallow. It’s the sides of the mountain that sustain life, not the top.
Robert M. Pirsig
MEANING OF THIS QUOTE
In a world as fast-paced as ours, it is easy to sacrifice our present on the altar of some future goal. While having a goal and working hard to achieve it are both exemplary qualities, it is equally important to live in the moment and enjoy the process.
THE IMPORTANCE OF STAYING ROOTED IN THE PRESENT
There are two reasons for that. One, the present is the only certainty. You can’t go back and change the past. Likewise, you can only put in the hard yards in the hope of a future outcome. However, things may or may not go your way. The present is all you have got, so it is important to enjoy every moment to the fullest. The second reason is that the process matters as much as the goal itself, for it is what makes success so rewarding. Picture this, when you cracked a difficult exam or aced a competitive race, didn’t it give you a sense of satisfaction that all the hard work you put in along the way finally paid off? You must have noticed that successful folks hardly ever talk about their feats, but rather how they achieved those feats. That’s why it’s important that you enjoy the journey to your goals instead of making all your hopes and joys contingent upon a future accomplishment.
CONCLUSION
When you relish the process, the outcome not only feels sweeter, but the journey itself becomes way less tedious. It is unfortunate that so many of us perfunctorily work towards our goals and then longingly look back on those days of struggle once we reach the summit. We would live with fewer regrets and more bliss if only we were wise enough to savor every second of the climb to the peak.
Robert Maynard Pirsig was an American author and philosopher. Pirsig’s best-known work is Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. The book has a few memorable mountain quotes. One of those mountain quotes goes as follows: “To live only for some future goal is shallow. It’s the sides of the mountain that sustain life, not the top.”