A caterpillar does not live its life waiting to become a butterfly.
It simply tries to be the best caterpillar it can be.
– Ram Das
The above serves as a simple story with a profound message, a message that runs counter to everything we’re told as we progress through life.
We go to school so we can move on to the next grade.
We graduate elementary school so we can go to high school.
Then high school to college.
Finally, we graduate college so we can get a job, have a family, and do whatever it is we’re “supposed” to do in society.
We’re always looking forward. The prize exists in the future, and our actions today only matter in so much as we reach that the next step.
Perhaps that prize never comes the way we think it does, though. This isn’t too surprising. Many people in their 20’s, a few years after college, experience a weird sort of feeling. It’s not really clinical depression. It’s more like:
“So, this is it?”
Living our whole lives in order to get to that next step, what happens when we get there?
Are we capable of completely changing our perspectives and enjoying that moment?
Are we able to maximize our current experience for what it is? Rather than for where it can take us?
If we were never able to fully embrace and enjoy the present moment before, what makes us think it’ll be any different now?
Like most things, I think there’s a balance to this lesson. We need to set goals, we need to work towards something. It’s good to know what our dreams are and take the necessary actions today to help us achieve them.
Yet, we can also appreciate where we are now. We can understand that we are working towards something greater but also accept that this moment right now is all there is. Because if and when we do achieve our goals and dreams, we’ll be faced with the same question we are faced with today:
Am I able to embrace and fully appreciate who I am, and where I am, right now?
Or am I still hellbent on becoming a butterfly?