Meditations - A reflection

Some time ago, in the never-ending search for knowledge and wisdom, I stumbled across a well-known book of thoughts by Marcus Aurelius called Meditations. His views, very much Stoic, opened a new meaning and understanding of what it means to be successful, dealing with failure and being at peace with oneself.

Just a bit of background on this though, I genuinely missed the habit of reading books. For a while, with studies and extracurricular commitments (which can be many), I had fallen out of line with the habit of reading. Then began the journey of rediscovery that habit, partly because the pandemic availed me of more free time, and I discovered that I could actually "multitask" with audio books. The efficiency of them though is a topic for another day.

I personally do not subscribe to the Stoic view of life, however I found parallels in my own very much meager life experience as well as my curiosity. I won't be giving a breakdown of what Stoicism is, there are far better qualified posts that can do that online.

One of the first consistent lines of thought that struck me as I went through the book was the notion of being satisfied with the now yet balancing the expectations of tomorrow. Often at times, we get caught up in the rat race of what our next success story will be, be it career-wise or even in our social life. We tend to measure life as a series of milestones that need to be achieved for us to reach a certain or specific level of happiness or joy. It is true though that reaching a goal does in a sense give us the opportunity to celebrate or express joy. That is why we celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, passing exams or even graduating. And that's perfectly fine.

However, the catch comes when that dose of dopamine fades and we must go back to the treadmill and sweat it out until our next goal is achieved. At this point we would turn to the reminiscing of our past successes, and it often leads us to want to stay in the past and often regret our current phase of growth or change. And at that point we ask ourselves where our happiness went. And it's all a downhill battle from there. Some would end up lost in the trap of past successes, others would try to work harder to attain more doses of success. But it's all the same. We have entered a rat race of our own making.

Yet the happiness and peace of mind we quest for isn't at the end of a checklist, a deadline, or a bonus or even a promotion. What if we learnt to love and appreciate the process instead? Because at the end of the day, the one thing that will constantly be there regardless of failure or success, highs or lows is the process. The insignificant things we do each day chipping away at Mount Olympus of our dreams and ambitions. What if all we need to be happier is to slow down and realize that our now is really the only constant and consistent in our lives?

So, the end-all of this reflection is an introspective look into that which we derive happiness from is the end goal, the thrill of finally achieving something or is the process, the ability to look at our now and be fully in awe of what the journey feels like?