Just thoughts.

Why do I try? To succeed. Why don’t I succeed? Because I don’t try hard enough. Why don’t I try hard enough? Because it’s too hard. Why is it too hard? Because it is. Why is it? Because. Because why? I don’t know. Why don’t I know? Because I don’t understand. Why don’t I understand? Because I’m not successful. Why aren’t I successful?

The Loop. There are some patterns that we can’t help but fall into. Addiction is one such loop... or maybe the loop is the addiction. Maybe we are addicted to patterns; to following the status quo. After all, we are animals, and animals follow instinct all the time. But even the frog knows well enough to jump out when the water is too hot. Maybe it’s because the water is coming too slowly to a boil for us to notice. Maybe we are too naive to see the dangerous cycles that we are entrapped in. Maybe we don’t want to succeed. I sure as hell know I don’t. Success means I’m finished, and I’m sure as hell not that.

The problem with having success as a goal is that it is an idea, not a state. Someone who quits smoking can say that they have succeeded but that doesn’t make them more successful than someone else. They just succeeded at overcoming an addiction.

Instead of defining what success means, it would be easier and probably more beneficial to say what failure is. Then you can deal in absolutes. It’s hard to see success down the road, but it is blatant and clear what the mistakes are in the past and present. Overcoming these failures is perhaps the best way to find success.

When do we know we have succeeded? When we’ve accomplished our goals? When do we reach the top of Maslow;s Hierarchy? When are we self-actualized?

Happiness is a pursuit, not an end game. When the game’s over there’s nothing left to play - what is exciting is the journey… when the end comes, all that comes next is the everlasting question, the question that I feel best sums up life and it’s briefness:

Is that all?