Goals

I have no plans or goals whatsoever for this blog.


So, I suppose, that is what I'll write about - plans.


Like everyone, I've had many different, differing plans for my life, and somewhere along the way, also like everyone, many of those plans have hit snags (or brick walls...though perhaps in light of recent events, brick walls should be read as SUV's). But also as with everyone else, my goals don't always work out, they become redirected, or otherwise simply fade away as I lose interest or move on.


I don't mean to say that no plans work out for anyone, or that people cannot set and achieve their own goals. As far as my experience is concerned, however, I've found the plans which come to fruition are those I've concerned myself with the least. There has been thought involved, of course, but not the brooding fixation which I feel plagues me and most likely others as well when it comes to certain issues or plans. For example: getting a degree was always part of my plan in life, however, I would rarely have listed graduating college as a goal, or part of some 'plan' in terms of something which I was actively trying to accomplish as an end of its own. I was always planning to graduate from college (though honestly I did have significant doubts about halfway through, but that can be an issue for another time), but graduation was just a step in the direction of an actual goal.

A real goal or plan for me is almost always abstract, or at least somewhat intangible - Happiness, Success, Love, Fulfillment, Respect, Admiration, etc. So, for me, it has hardly ever been about an actual end-goal, such as the college degree. Rather the achievements along the way are merely pit-stops on the path towards what I really want. This may also explain why I put so little stock in the milestones I've 'achieved.' I'm not ungrateful. I'm not jaded. I'm not indifferent. It's merely that my sights are set elsewhere. Graduating from high school, or from college, or getting fairly good grades, or getting a job, or a promotion or a raise...those things aren't important to me (not because I don't see them as good, but because I mostly see them as being a part of the journey elsewhere). The hope is that all those events or 'accomplishments' will inevitably bring me to, or at least towards one or more of those long-term, abstract goals I've longed to achieve.

I have some goals which are a bit more concrete, though I believe them all to be tied to the abstract goals above. One simple example: I want to write. I'd like to be successful at it. I'd like to be accomplished enough to make a living through my writing. Even this goal isn't all that concrete, because my visions for my writing end up taking me in many different directions. I've done stage plays, novels, short stories, video games, even some things which could someday become screenplays, and I could theoretically see myself being happy, successful, and fulfilled doing any one of those things. That being said, writing is still not the ultimate goal to me, as writing is simply what I want to do in order to achieve my real goals: i.e. happiness.

Perhaps it can be said that everyone desires the same things, and material possessions and concrete achievements are simply a means to the end of something grander and more personal and abstract, but I believe often people find themselves satisfied with what they find along the journey that the original destination - that intangible goal they consciously or subconsciously set for themselves - is lost or forgotten. Satisfaction is good, but rather than accepting what you discover on the path, shouldn't that satisfaction spur you on, and act as encouragement, demonstrating that your path is working and your goal, your destination, is on the horizon...?

Thank you for reading.