#93: Does Life Have A Destination?

«This bus terminates here. Please exit and take all your belongings with you.»

Something must have put me into a philosophical mood today. Not sure what it was.

There is death after all that puts an end to everyone’s life. Unless you believe in an afterlife, but that is a different story for another time.

I have long been a proponent of the position that journey trumps destination. In my view, that is comparable to experiencing joy (on your journey) versus achieving happiness (upon reaching your destination).

What about direction?

Your sense of direction is derived from your destination. Once you have decided that you want to go Berlin, you better turn left a the next junction. So direction does help you gain momentum towards your destination. However, you shouldn’t be too hung up about «being right» on the decisions you make at every junction on your journey. The fear of making a mistake inevitably results in blurred vision when you should pay attention to the series of offers along the way.

Inviting serendipity to your life is just one example of such an offer along the way. Serendipity is what might make you change your destination. You can’t plan for serendipity to show up at your destination on a Friday morning at 8am.

On the other hand, based on my own experience, serendipity comes towards you if you move forward. Hence, movement is what I value most.

I wouldn’t want to make my next step dependent on having clarity on my destination. Having chosen a better future is good enough for me. Not knowing where exactly that is and what it looks like is perfectly fine.

What counts for me is moving forward. No different from getting on a bus.

«Next stop is Hardworkington. Thanks for traveling with us. We hope you enjoyed your journey.»