Have you encountered obstacles in achieving your goal? Do you imagine that once you achieve a certain pinnacle, it will all be OK from that point forward? No more issues or things getting in your way of being happy or worry-free? That’s not how life works, but you know, I thought it was for a long time when I was a younger dude. This suggests to me that I lived a life of privilege, and only came to understand the world after a long time.
This Haitian proverb, quoted on the page, The Obstacle is The Way, is absolutely wonderful:
Behind mountains are more mountains. One does not overcome one obstacle only to enter the land of no obstacles. No matter how successful we are or will be, we’re going to find things that stand in our path.
That saying is right on target. You know, I didn’t understand that fundamental truth when I was younger. I thought, “If I work really hard, I’ll get to the top of the mountain, and that will be that. I’ll have it made.” I suppose I could quote my Dad, who said, “I’ve got it made, you’ve got it to make.”
But my misapprehension of how the world works was something I didn’t get corrected until later in life. Ryan Holiday paraphrases or quotes Marcus Aurelius:
“The impediment to action advances action, what stands in the way becomes the way.”
Image Source: via The Daily Stoic store
I suspect that my fears about retirement are like my misapprehensions about success. You don’t just retire and achieve perfect bliss. Instead, you have a whole new set of challenges that you have to work through. As such, maybe it’s better to not retire, and keep on doing. ;-)
Any opinions on the subject?