The goal is effortless. The here and now is realized without effort. Intrinsic fulfillment is felt when we stop trying to feel it. The answers we seek are found when we stop searching.
Our journeys always begin with us, the seeker, in search of something external, something we think is found outside of ourselves:
- Happiness
- Fulfillment
- An answer to a deep, burning question or desire
- A passion to fuel our lives
- Comfort in the present
So we embark on our journeys.
“Today’s the day!” we tell ourselves.
We embrace the uncertainty. We’re excited to find what’s missing in our lives.
“Once I have this, then I can relax.”
“Once this is realized, I will finally be at peace. I will finally have everything I need to live my best life.”
But time goes on, and we never really find what we’re looking for. Something else always takes its place: a new journey, a new destination, a new desire, wish, longing for fulfillment. We are never at rest.
We think everyone else has it all figured out except for us. Life becomes one constant game of hide and seek; we are always seeking, and what we are in search for is never found. We do our best to keep going but despair sets in. Soon, it feels like it is us against the world.
Until one day, we stop.
We stop searching outside of ourselves. We release our efforts. We refuse to play this endless game of chase. We do what our ego, what that voice in our head fears the most:
We let go.
And by letting go, we find that the answers were within reach all along.