The journey is the destination

Have you ever felt like you are stuck in a deadlock and looking for way out but can´t find none? Would you ascribe this rather to external factors than things within your control? Then the following is probably what you need to read. Check it out.

Once I was playing cards with some friends around a campfire in Australia and one would ask the question: Why Confucius said the journey is the destination. After all this would mean that reaching our goals is just a tiny piece of our comprehensive progress,so he argued. I said that this probably is true. He was a bit slighted of this short response and seemed somehow caught of in his own meaning and wanted to search for this quote. A few hours later we forgot already what we talked about and continued our ride through the outback.

Fast forward, circumstances changed and we had to follow different opportunities as they appeared unexpectedly at the same time for us. As a result he stayed in Australia and I flew back to my home, where I would sort out some stuff. In the months ahead we stayed in touch and promised to each other to reunite soon afterwards when he will be back in Germany.

Now some time already passed and we are not communicating anymore , but I know that we had experienced something over there, which you don´t read in books unless you are the author. In the meantime I´ve learned to be in charge of my life, but still cannot connect all dots forward, only backwards. I´ve learned that sometimes it´s not about achieving things in each moment, allthough this sounds very appealing, rather it´s figuring out what the next necessary step is toward whatsoever. And this can sometimes be very tricky, because unless we are surrounded by bright people, who give you the manual at hand, we gotta do this on our own. And this is true for 99% of all what happens in our life. So each time we make progress or failure this adds up to our personality, our overarching goal or dream vacations. And if things might not go the way you expect them to go, does this mean you are a looser? NO! Does this mean you have to hate life? NO! All you need to do is figuring out what kind of person would deal with this thing right know, who has already reached what you still trying to accomplish. Be brave and be keen to do that. Advice comes in handy when it´s experienced firsthand.

Yet Confucius statement has another meaning as well. It´s about the relation between means and end. Even for a higher goal I´m not allowed to utilize unethical means. Ethical demeanour might jeopardize the goal achievement. But by acting accordingly to ethic and staying true to my ideals, I´m realising a higher goal and am therefore always on the right path. That´s why the journey is more important than the destination.