Creating Balance Between Being Grateful And Having Goals

I was having a chat with someone recently and an interesting topic came up about how to balance being present and grateful for everything in your life now, whilst also aspiring for more.

Are the two chains of thought mutually exclusive, or can they co-habit peacefully?

When they asked me the question, the answer was so obvious, I couldn’t believe that I’ve never thought of it before.

Before I reveal my reasoning, the absolute answer is yes! They are meant to go together. To us, they are like air and water. Both are essential for your survival but a single one on it’s own is not enough.

Learn to be grateful for what you have, while you pursue all that you want.

– Jim Rohn

You need both in order for your existence to flourish. Being mindful and present is a wonderful feeling. It truly is. It is the cure to many of the issues most people face on a daily basis. Coping with the rat-race, dealing with stress, trying to be keep up appearances, etc. All of these things can be eased by using the practise of mindful meditation.

We would however, totally stagnate if we didn’t have a destination in mind. The truth is that no journey is worthwhile unless there is a destination as part your plan. Yes, the journey is to be enjoyed, but a journey, without a destination is incomplete. Even when you reach your destination, you are already thinking about the next journey and destination.

That process will never end. The overall journey will never cease. Once it does cease, you will decide to start it again. It’s an eternal, unending framework.

Where there is no vision, the people perish

– Proverbs 29:18

Understand that one is not a substitute for the other. It’s not an either/or decision you can make. It’s a synergy, a synthesis, an unbreakable duality.

Pay attention to where your goals arise from. Are they coming from a place of dissatisfaction, or from a place of service? Are you constantly unhappy with the way your life is now? If so, then spend time time becoming grateful for the things as they are now. When you make goals from a state of impatience or unhappiness, you will find that you will rarely achieve your goals anyway.

However if made from a place where you feel fulfilled already, then the goals tend to be more clear. Remember, they are not there to be reached or pursued, they are there to unfold.

Goals are essentially milestones. The are benchmarks and nothing more. Don’t fall into the trap that you will feel a certain way, or that it will mean something very specific to upon completion. Those are the parts of the equations which are illusions.

Let go of the result. Don’t be attached to the outcome. You are responsible for taking steps and doing what you feel is necessary to complete that portion of your overall journey.

There is no beginning and end to it. So have a goal, a purpose, a destination and truly enjoy the journey that goes along with it. Stop and pay attention to it. Be mindful as it’s happening and be grateful that you are being blessed with every opportunity; that you have been given the precious gift of each moment.

How do you feel about this subject? How do you balance being present and wanting more?