A Wise Man Once Said
I’ve recently fallen on the idea that we should live our lives by seeking experiences rather than seeking accomplishments. This is not a terribly novel idea. There are many apt quotes from accomplished individuals persuading us to focus on the journey more than the destination or outcome. You might even have one of those inspirational posters on your wall.
To be completely honest, I’ve always interpreted the journey vs. destination quotes as a way to just make the “losers” feel better about being losers. The “A for effort” as you will. Or less cynically put, they are lessons only applied and useful retrospectively after failing to achieve a goal.
But as I explore the thought more, I’m becoming increasingly convinced that seeking experiences while ignoring temptations of achievement should be a philosophy applied proactively to life.
Experience Defined
In a literal sense, an experience is simply an impressionable moment or observation of events. However, I’d contend that a higher bar be set. Experiences are moments, usually over a long period of time, that better our understanding of the world around us. Let’s set a few rules:
Experiences teach us about the world around us
You can’t win or fail at an experience
There are unpleasant and pleasant experiences
There are controlled and uncontrolled experiences
Experiences are personal in nature
Billions of People, But We All Start From Scratch
I’m astounded that despite billions of people currently living and having lived on this world that we seem to start each individual journey of life from scratch. We struggle through adolescence to find our place, we have midlife crises by the age of 30 and repeat them after each decade “milestone”. A theory of the right way to live has never gained consensus (probably won’t for a good reason).
We all just seem destined to just keep redoing the work of everyone else, figuring out how to live life. I can say with good confidence that you will not figure out the meaning of life during your lifetime.
There is a silver lining in this dark thought though.
We know so little about the world and about the right way to live, that there is no personal moment that could not qualify as an experience to better your understanding of the world.
I want to experience skiing down a mountain
I want to experience climbing up a mountain
I want to experience starting a business
I want to experience creating music
I want to experience loving someone
All of these are potential experiences to gain a better understanding of the world. And none of them require an accomplishment or a particular outcome.
Goals are arbitrary. We inherit goals from our parents, from other people, or we simply snag goals passing by at random so we can exclaim “mission accomplished!”.
But isn’t that act of reaching an outcome an experience? While I will never “experience” winning a gold medal in Olympic ski racing nor ever likely experience creating a multi-billion dollar business, I have been fortunate to have had successes and achievements in the traditional sense. What those “experiences” all have in common are that they are fleeting and void of any learnings that help me better understand the world.
SETTING AN OBJECT IN MOTION
Not all experiences are controlled. Yet, uncontrolled experiences may hide some of the most powerful lessons about our world - perhaps the pleasant experience of being loved by another or the unpleasant one of a loved one’s death. While you can’t force an uncontrollable experience to occur, you can set it in motion. Humankind, for sure, has shown its ability to cause chaos. For the uncontrollable experience you wish to have, look for its twin. You must give love (controlled) to receive love (uncontrolled). The level of effort may more closely resemble the blowing of a feather or powerful push of a teetering boulder.
THOUGHTS TO BE CONTINUED…
There is a lot more to explore here, but for now I think I’ve written enough for one night.
Fun fact: it’s estimated that 108 billion humans have ever lived on earth, which means that our current population of ~7 billion represents 7% of the total!