Contentment vs. Perseverance

Happiness and reaching for a goal — are these two ideas compatible? Or as human beings do we require a goal, and if we do, is it because we are dissatisfied with the way things are in our lives?

This idea has been questioned for years, maybe even centuries. “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” says that it’s the journey, the process, not the outcome that we should be enjoying. Yet as human beings, we often find ourselves unable to enjoy the process. We look for the struggle, the problem, the roadblocks. We want to push through the process and reach our goal. Then, what do we do? We set a new goal and start pushing all over again. Doesn’t that leave us in a constant state of dissatisfaction? Constantly trying to get to our next goal?

Agent Smith expressed this idea in the Matrix. “Did you know that the first Matrix was designed to be a perfect human world? Where none suffered, where everyone would be happy. It was a disaster. No one would accept the program. Entire crops were lost. Some believed we lacked the programming language to describe your perfect world. But I believe that, as a species, human beings define their reality through suffering and misery.”

If I am “defining [my] reality through suffering and misery”, I want to change. I don’t want to spend my life fighting my way through my discontentment. I want to learn to enjoy the process, not wallow in the struggle. I want to escape the negative side. After all, if John Lennon was right when he said, “Life is what happens while you’re making other plans,” I need to learn to appreciate the life part of that equation. After all, I want to enjoy where I am now.

I’ve noticed that when I focus on accomplishing things, I get more done, and I feel satisfied with myself. But if I focus on what is bothering me, where my life is lacking, I’m more dissatisfied and less happens. Which, of course, leads to more dissatisfaction. I need to use my goals to create a path, to give me direction, to keep me focused on the important things in life, then perseverance can be compatible with contentment.

My goal, okay maybe my hope, is that I’ll learn to work my way along the path; to enjoy the accomplishments, the setbacks, even some of the side trips that interrupt the straight and narrow. If I can learn to enjoy the path, the process, then contentment and perseverance may have a chance at working together in my life.

© 2009 Judy Kane