Goal achievement is satisfying and a reason to celebrate your accomplishment. The greater the goal and the amount of time, energy, effort and discipline it took to achieve, the better you will feel about it. Certainly, the feelings of satisfaction will subside in time and you will set your sights on new goals and ambitions. The more you are able to choose and accomplish meaningful goals, the more confident and successful you will feel. This success cycle leads to a sense of progress and growth which are the underlying drivers of life satisfaction. Over time you will realize that the daily journey on the road to results is ultimately more important than the end result itself. If you can learn to appreciate the moments along the way in the striving for anything, you will have gained a greater appreciation for life and will not have missed out on the important people and relationships formed during your journey. Achievements are important milestones of self determination and an important driver of behavior. If you can combine goal setting, striving, accomplishment, and an awareness and appreciation for the journey itself, you will be living life to the fullest.
Desire is fickle. It drives us, but once satisfied, leaves us wanting for more. The satisfaction of desires leads us down many paths. Understanding the nature of the desire and the results of its fulfillment are important to deciding what to pursue and how much time and effort to expend in pursuing it. Certainly pleasure was created to help drive and guide our behaviors to ensure survival and successful adaptation of our species. While pleasure is a wonderful part of life, it is certainly transient, temporary and not entirely fulfilling in and of itself. The study of happiness and human motivation and achievement has shown that a greater sense of meaning and purpose creates a more gratifying and fulfilling sense of contentment and life satisfaction over the long term. Attaching our most important desires to this sense of purpose will help us to improve the quality of our lives. Even so, achievement of higher benevolent and self-transcendent aims will satisfy more deeply, but will still lead to the desire to accomplish more, to achieve more, to do more good works for the benefit of others. This cycle of achievement and advancement, in fact progress, is a big part of the joy and meaning of life. The cycle of progress, the contribution to its evolution, and the intentional awareness and participation in the continual process creates a sense of peace.
So strive, pursue, achieve and grow. Contribute to the cycle of progress and advancement, to the improvement of the conditions in the world, even the universe. Most importantly, do not give up. Take the view that this life is a gift to be cherished and to be lived in its entirety. Move past the unfairness, the imbalance, the unequal beginnings and the obstacles and difficulties along the way. Overcome fear, burden, and anger. Take charge, take responsibility for the quality of your life and for making it better. Tackle the unfairness, the injustice, the barriers. Make the systems better. Decide on a course of action and pursue it with passion, energy, focus and determination. We all have a role to play. Discover your gift, talents and passions. Determine your aims, take charge of your actions, and own your outcomes. Relax and enjoy the ride along the way. Make things better for those that follow you. This is the cycle of life.