When You Mistaken The Destination For The Journey

They say a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. So what happens when we reach the thousandth mile, does the journey end there and we begin a new one or does the journey still continue having discovered exciting aspects to it along the way?

To put things into context, let's say the journey is me getting wealthy. Once I attain wealth, do I pursue another journey (i.e something else) or do I stick around to pursue more wealth because I now want to build a mega school in my home country and that will require me having much more than I had at that time.

The concept of 'mistaken-ing' the destination for the journey isn't entirely new but there are different variations to it. In this post, I explore one of these variances based on personal experiences and observations.

Source

Life As A Game

There's a good reason why video games and movies/tv shows gather a lot of interest among individuals. It's because they mimic reality to a large extent and people see it as an alternate reality. Just a few years ago, I felt leveling up in video games more important than leveling up in real life. I mean the former was easy enough, all I had to do was sit on a couch and work my brain off.

Now, I'm a bit nostalgic towards video games because I realized that it's not the real thing. Although it mimics reality it is nevertheless very different from it. However, why does the opposite also seem true? That life in itself mimics a game? If you tell someone see life as a game, they will totally get what you mean because it's relatable and applicable. Maybe the simulation hypothesis is valid and true after all.

The crux of the matter is that there is a clear definitive end to a game but there isn't any for life. This means that we mistaken the destination(game) for the journey(life). We could say that it is of utmost importance for a game to have a definitive end and a few ways to reach that end before the game can exist. None of that applies with life. By virtue of free will, we are able to choose a way to go among a variety of ways and there's no clearly defined end to any of them, it could turn out in many ways. Or don't we have the choice to choose?

Choice To Opt In Or Not?

I believe we do have a choice. Saying that we don't isn't empowering and does more harm than good IMO. It's the main reason why many people over here have a resigned attitude towards life. Like the sacrificial lamb ready to surrender to the will of the higher powers. Don't get me wrong, I do believe in destiny but it is overrated. To me, destiny is the weather in which we conduct our lives. Yes, it affects our mood to a certain extent but it doesn't entirely prevent us from choosing or not choosing what we want/need to do.

However, on a different view. We can only choose the destination and not the journey. For that one, it is an ultimatum, which is basically play the game or it will be played for you.

Thanks for reading!!