A good friend of mine works for a t-shirt company named “In Pursuit.” She gave me one of their t-shirts a few months back that has the companies name on it. (In Pursuit)
While I was working out the other day with this shirt on, I couldn’t help but look at myself (as I most often do while working outJ) and ponder the question…
What are we “In Pursuit of?
What is pursuit?
Webster’s Dictionary describes pursue as…1. To follow in order to “over take or capture”; chase 2. To follow (a specific course, action, etc.) 3. To strive for.
Have you ever thought about the paradoxical nature of human pursuits?
~We spend a large percentage of our life at work (or appearing to be busy) sacrificing our mental and physical health to make money and create fame.
~We work hard to project an image of what’s admired by today’s societal standards, all the while fighting to prevent others from knowing who we really are.
~Then in our later years of life, we spend all of our money trying to regain our health and improve our looks from all the misgivings of our past.
~And then we become so regretful of the past and anxious about the future that it prevents us from cherishing the phenomenon of right now.
Throughout most of our lives we have lived in a way with no regard of the consequences of our past pursuits.
Unfortunately most will move forward with no regard of the consequences of our current pursuits; the ones that will create our future.
So in writing this I had to think…”what am I in pursuit of?”
I am in pursuit of being the best that I can be in all things… but not for me… but so that I can be better for others.
Happiness does not preside within the materialistic possessions we “over take or capture”…happiness presides within helping others.
"Its one of the most beautiful compensations of life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself...Serve and thou shall be served."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson
“We must live in a way to benefit humanity. Use yourself little, but give to others much”
Einstein
3 comments:
Hmmm...as tempting as it would be to say that I'm only in it for "others" i must say that some of my pursuits are of a purely selfish nature. Of course I suppose I could try to justify it saying "if I'm happy then I'll be a better_______ (wife, mother, employee, friend...) but, although I want to be good at all those things, I also want to be good at some stuff just for me.
No doubt about it... we are selfish creatures. I think for me its just a shift in perspective. Instead of me thinking, "what do I get from this"...I now think more about the other person. Its interesting how if you do right for others, there is no way you cannot recieve something in return. That "something" (neurotransmitter "Dopamine") is always better (for me) when the focus is on what "they get" rather than "what I get." Serve and you shall be served.
In the end it is only the pursuit of what feels good. Ask any man or woman why she does something and if you ask the same question of the answer that he or she gives, the end result will always be "because it feels good". At least that is what dr. Krebbs my philosophy professor told me in his class. It makes sense. What we have to achieve to become better human beings is not to try to deny our compulsion for that good feeling but to temper which ones we pursue in order to achieve it. We want the hedons (the measurement of what is good). In order to function well in society a human should try to find ways of feeling good that don't interfere with another persons pursuit of the same. Ironic, that one of the best ways to gratify ourselves is the dopamine triggering mechanism that occurs when you gratify others. This is empathy and it allows for greater success as a species. You see it in humans amd some other societal animals like wolves in a wolf pack. An incredibly effective internal drive that allows a species to thrive.
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