The truth is, most of us discover where we are headed when we arrive. Often we follow the path of life, not knowing where it will lead. Some people make plans, set goals and stick to them. Others go off the beaten path in search of “crazy” pursuits. In both cases, some succeed. Others don’t. And others still find that what they thought they wanted, was not what they needed at all.
Bill Watterson, creator of Calvin and Hobbes, in a commencement speech at Kenyon College, said this on pursuing what matters:
“Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul is a rare achievement. In a culture that relentlessly promotes avarice and excess as the good life, a person happy doing his own work is usually considered an eccentric, if not a subversive. Ambition is only understood if it’s to rise to the top of some imaginary ladder of success. Someone who takes an undemanding job because it affords him the time to pursue other interests and activities is considered feeble. A person who abandons a career in order to stay home and raise children is considered not to be living up to his potential — as if a job title and salary are the sole measure of human worth.
There are a million ways to sell yourself out, and I guarantee you’ll hear about them. You’ll be told in a hundred ways, some subtle and some not, to keep climbing, and never be satisfied with where you are, who you are, and what you’re doing.
Selling out is usually more a matter of buying in. Sell out, and you’re really buying into someone else’s system of values, rules and rewards.
…If we don’t discover what we want from ourselves and what we stand for, we will live passively and unfulfilled. Sooner or later, we are all asked to compromise ourselves and the things we care about. We define ourselves by our actions. With each decision, we tell ourselves and the world who we are. Think about what you want out of this life, and recognize that there are many kinds of success.
You can read his entire speech here.
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