We live in a world that celebrates more. More wealth, more land, more power, more positions, more happiness, more love, more more more. Is there potential for it ever to really be enough? Think about it with reference to your own life, if you got all the things that you wanted and you reached your version of more, what does that look like for you? And for how long do you think that level would that be satisfactory?
In many cases once the destination of yesterday's more is attained, this now creates a hunger for a new level of more. It's no different from the concept of a goalpost that keeps moving. Take one of my clients for example, finally in the job role of her yesterday's dreams. I used to watch her as she spoke so longingly about the idea of being in this position her eyes were filled with hope and lust all at once and now finally she is in the position that she wanted for so long. It was about three months into the role after she had found her feet that she then realised she heavily desired her boss' roll; the goalpost had now moved. The new desire in itself wasn't what I saw was the problem, but the fact that I could see that her happiness had somewhat become suspended again until she reached this new goal. Her internal peace had once again departed and she no longer felt content with her now status, the longing for tomorrow's status had robbed her like a thief in the night and made her feel inadequate today.
What is it really all about I ask myself? I accept the idea of constantly challenging yourself to be better, to grow, develop and exceed your yesterday's potential is a part of nature. Let's take a moment and look at the caterpillar. What a travesty it would be for the caterpillar to be satisfied at caterpillar level, remaining as it is, never reaching beyond that point to become the best and highest expression that it was created to be. Instead, nature innately tells the caterpillar to feel dissatisfied with the cocoon in which it finds itself in and woos it out of the confinements of its circumstances to his next level; the butterfly. But is it always nature's call that's drawing us to desire more or I wonder if at the baseline there could be other factors in play which we ought to look deeper into? Such as competition with our peers like a 'keeping up with the Jones' mentality, measuring ourselves against the invisible line that we all see in society telling us what we should be adhering to.
If you can spot any cycles like this within your own life let me challenge you with something today. Find peace and contentment in your right now! Despite what many believe, these two ingredients are not based on circumstances. Your circumstances can enhance these ingredients but they cannot be the determining factor. Train yourself to be grateful with what never level or life position you're in today and celebrate it. Don't be like those who hold their breath until they reach their version of nirvana, otherwise you'll look back and realised you never allowed yourself to breathe longer than five minutes!