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Achievement brings the greatest satisfaction
"I can't get no satisfaction," sang Mick Jagger; thus summarizing the spirit of the modern age in rich countries. Today, we have amusements available to us that would amaze royalty of the past.
Thousands of movies, plasma TVs, fast cars, video-games, every type of restaurant, warehouses of books, and endless holiday options. Yet most people just don't feel any satisfaction.
Why?
Each of the things I listed can bring some temporary relief. A good film can fill an evening with joy. A well-cooked meal can make us feel content for a short time. But they do little to gratify the need deep inside us to achieve.
Every one of us on this planet feels dissatisfied with the way things are. The world isn't even close to how we'd like it to be. Within us all lies a desperate desire to live the perfect life, in a perfect world. And considering where humanity started from, we've made great strides towards it.
In the last hundred years we've added decades to our life spans. We've learnt to fly and put a man on the moon. We've found ways of solving huge problems that confronted us, and built lives that our humble ancestors couldn't have dreamed of.
But the world still isn't perfect. And until it is, we won't be happy.
So contribute to humanity's great struggle towards perfection, by aiming to perfect your own place in the world. Achievement brings the greatest satisfaction, because it is a step towards what we really want.
When you educate yourself, you will feel a deep gratification, because you are preparing to contribute towards our joint struggle. When you play well on the sporting field, you inspire others.
If you find a way of doing something better than it is being done currently, you improve the world. You free up time and resources to continue with the journey.
When you have a child, you bring a new source of happiness and achievement into the world. If you build a great business, you provide a livelihood for your employees, and valuable services for your customers.
The problem is too large for any one of us to solve on our own. It is a joint struggle that we must contribute to together. Even the input of the humble working person, earning a wage to make the world that little better for others, makes a difference.
Go out and achieve something, that is where real satisfaction lies.
Of course, some in our society want to ignore this deep truth. They think that by dropping out they will find satisfaction. But they always find themselves feeling empty and lost. There is little satisfaction to be mined from cheap thrills and laziness.
Others think there are short-cuts to the perfect world. If only they can kill their enemies and impose their rule, all will be well.
They are wrong. The true path to the perfect world lies in achieving what is of greatest help to the many. What lets us find our own way to happiness. Everything else, is illusion.
If you are looking for satisfaction in your life, this kind of achievement is where it is to be found.
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