Today, wandering through the pages of my books, I read this sentence, "You will die without having achieved your ultimate goal."
At first I thought, "But then again, no!" But then, as I paused for a moment, I realized that it is so, because I know that I will keep chasing that distant horizon and, with each goal achieved, another, more distant, more important goal will arise that will draw me, again, like a magnet.
That's the way I am.
This thought resurrected in me the ancient awareness that I often focus too much on the goal, on the summit to be reached, instead of on the present. And I often sacrifice my happiness, devoting myself solely on achieving that goal, instead of enjoying my daughter's smile, the smell of soffritto, the warmth of the sun on my face.
Growing up, I learned that more than the destination, the journey matters.
And more than the journey, the companionship.
It is a course of awareness whose trajectory points -- to the present. For what is the journey if not a moment of transition between past and future? And what is "companionship" if not the sum of the present instants of this journey?
Happiness is a state of being, like loneliness. It has nothing to do with contentment. In fact, we can feel lonely in a crowd and unhappy in a present in which we have everything.
How, then, not to confuse happiness and contentment? By the simple realization that happiness does not lie in success, but in the present.
We can be happy and dissatisfied. I would go so far as to say that we must be.
This creation in which we live is not a solvable equation, but a mystery to live with, a constant variable in its inscrutable being. We must take note of its unsolvability, and this helps us shift the weight of existence to the present
One of the characters in The Labyrinth of Hope, the main character, Erik, is confronted by "SaiJanda," an Indian guru, with this very question. And this is not the first time this has happened to me as an author. Kato, in The Divine Adventure, is also "affected" by this existentialism, this search for meaning.
Actually, those who know me know that I love to swim in the open ocean, fueling reasoning, discussion, creative thinking. Keeping the spark lit by spinning like a top. Because the beauty is right there in the search.
