“The joy of life consists in the exercise of one’s energies, continual growth, constant change, the enjoyment of every new experience.  To stop means simply to die.  The eternal mistake of mankind is to set up an attainable ideal.”

– Aleister Crowley

On several occasions I have met people who wake each morning and go to do a job they detest in order to one day arrive at the time when they can retire and “do nothing.”  This always grabs my attention; because when I think of a time when my obligatory work is done, I always think of it as a chance to “do everything.”  Attainable goals are good things.  They allow us to enjoy the satisfaction of progressing through life in ways that reward us  with a sense of competence.  That feeling, in turn, encourages us to set the bar higher and move on toward the next goal.

I enjoy the challenge of setting goals and then going about doing the very best I can to bring those goals to fruition; but the goals I meet in my daily work are only what I do.  My real aspirations lie in who I want to be while I am attaining those goals; and every time I move closer toward the ideal of bringing Love and Light to the world, I discover that the opportunities for growth in this endeavor become more expansive and more exhilarating and bring me more joy than I thought existed the day before.

If short-term goals encourage us to keep striving and success encourages us to test our own limits, I think that is a wonderful thing.  It is through the attaining of small goals that we learn to reach ever higher.  Let’s be careful, though, not to decide that we have arrived at our ideals.  To sell short our chance to pursue infinite growth would be to end our lives before we are ready to leave this earth.  Reach with excitement, grow with joy, let your reach exceed your grasp!