I put a lot of thought into how I should spend my time on this planet. I've worked out a number of rules to live by to ensure that I won't be miserable, that I wont destroy myself too quickly, and that I'll be able to look myself in the mirror without too much shame. I think I know “how” to live. I'm still working on “why”.

In short, I need a goal.

I'm no fan of “predestination” or “God's will” to think that I was put on this planet for a reason. I'm here for the same reason that “pet rocks” became popular or Carrot Top has a career: shit happens. Without a “built in” purpose, I can either come up with one, or I can wander about aimlessly for the rest of my time here.

Naturally, the latter has the most appeal to me.

Robert Pirsig wrote in “Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”, as follows:

"Mountains should be climbed with as little effort as possible and without desire. The reality of your own nature should determine the speed. If you become restless, speed up. If you become winded, slow down. You climb the mountain in an equilibrium between restlessness and exhaustion. Then, when you're no longer thinking ahead, each footstep isn't just a means to an end but a unique event in itself. This leaf has jagged edges. This rock looks loose. From this place the snow is less visible, even though closer. These are things you should notice anyway. To live only for some future goal is shallow. It's the sides of the mountain which sustain life, not the top. Here's where things grow. But of course, without the top you can't have any sides. It's the top that defines the sides. So on we go...we have a long way...no hurry...just one step after the next..."

That the path must lead to the goal would seem to be a truism, but that one need not rush to it, well, that's the beauty of it. You see, your death is at the peak, which explains why you don't want to get there too quickly. But, as dying doesn't accomplish much, it makes a lousy goal. In fact, it doesn't really matter how you die, whether you have the most toys or end up a martyr, or leave a pretty corpse. The only thing that really matters is how you lived or, in other words, how you walked the path.

Stop and Smell The Roses. It's not a pleasant interlude.
It's the entire point.

So “the Goal” is about walking the path with panache – living your life well. The trick for each individual is to figure out what that means to them. And it's a very personal answer.

The Taoists have a concept called "wuwei", Literally, it means “not doing”, but in practice, it is the avoidance of unnatural action. It is a philosophy of working with, rather than against, the forces of physical and human nature. More simply put, it means “go with the flow”.

The beauty of this concept is that it encourages the individual to fully grok their nature, to understand what the natural forces in their life are, and work with them. It's about taking the lemons in ones life and making lemonade.

To walk the path well, one must first know himself, fully and without embellishment or delusion. He must know his strengths and his weaknesses. One must know what engages his imagination and what bores him to tears.

An example of one who does not grasp wuwei is someone who makes an annual attempt to read Moby Dick and annually fails. In this egalitarian society, we all like to think we are capable of anything we choose to be, and we quite possibly are, but we are endowed by nature to be better at some things than others. If Moby Dick isn't your thing, let it go. Look elsewhere.

One who does get the idea might find that he's losing his hair. Rather than growing it long and doing a comb-over, he's shaves his head and uncomplicates his morning routine. Or he might discover that he likes to write but lacks the taste for uncertainty required to live in a garret and bang out The Great American Novel. Rather than lamenting the romance he missed, he kisses his kids goodnight in his middle-class suburban McHouse and goes down the hall to write in his blog.

Think "Judo". Not "Karate".

The simplicity of “The Goal” obscures the hard part: Sure, it's all well and good to wander about learning to ride the waves of your personality and environment, but you have to do the whole thing without unduly burdening yourself and queering the whole ride.

What is an undue burden? It's a whole different post.

Maybe next time.

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