The process of setting up a goal for future and working towards it, is needed to achieve success in the material world. A good plan and targeted efforts made towards a set goal, help us to meet the desired outcome in most worldly situations. But while travelling towards something, we usually do not see the journey itself as the goal.

Most of our lives consist of a series of rigid goals, that we set up, then spend our whole lives chasing. Often, we meet a goal, then we rarely even pause- immediately we start making new plans, setting up new goals! We barely enjoy our accomplishment before the next stop starts to haunt us, and we quickly get moving again.

We often forget to stop and smell the flowers on our way, because there is a sense of urgency to reach somewhere. We may not even notice flowers along our way, or barely look at them in polite acknowledgement, while hastily rushing by.

Somehow, reaching somewhere seems to take a priority over whatever else happens, on the way to getting there. It does not matter what is waiting at the end of the road which we are rushing towards- once that is set as our goal, it seems to instantly become more valuable, than anything else we may encounter, until we reach it.

Only something very unusual, surprising, or wonderful ever distracts us from rushing, we generally do not slow down for anything ordinary. Perhaps, at the very end of our journey we might realize, that many beautiful, memorable and unexpected things in life, are also the most ordinary.

For each one of us, time is running out, it is just a matter of when, that we will have to say goodbye to everything we know in this world. We will probably continue rushing from goal to goal, until the day our life comes to a sudden halt, the death arrives and forces us to stop!

Many of us will likely clock out at a time, that we did not choose for us. Rarely, will it seem right, or fair to us. If we are lucky, we may have a chance to look back and see a long journey behind us, full of several milestones, significant chance events, and many amazing people who came into our lives. We may feel proud, content, or have regrets. We may be able to reconcile with our idea of a life well-lived, and depart in peace.

If we are not lucky, we could meet our end unexpectedly, perhaps at a time or place quite far and different, from where we were hoping to reach- without even having a chance to throw one last glance at the life we had lived- to express regrets, or to say goodbye to our companions in this world.

We cannot choose how, where, or when we will go. But, we continue to choose running, never slowing down, until our time runs out, and we are forced to stop.

We usually do not think about this, when we still have time.

Most of us may probably rearrange our priorities, if we knew our time was to end soon. We may then, reconsider the itinerary of our journey, focus on what really matters, what adds true value to life.

We live, as the world around us has conditioned us to, placing all value in the future. We then, try to reach it- while we miss the present of every moment- travelling towards it. Most of us do not embrace the joy in every step of the way. The projected goals of the unaccomplished, pull us constantly away from relishing the actual present before us.

We do not know how to live without goals, just taking life as it comes, trusting the flow of the totality of life, as it unfolds around us. Perhaps, we need to find a balance, where we have goals, but we do not allow them to completely overtake our journey.

We can set goals to gently orient our journey through life, rather than making them the all-important rigid end, towards which we feverishly race, reducing our precious journey, to just a means of reaching somewhere fixed.

We can plan with a view for future, and prepare for any eventual situation. But perhaps, we could keep that view at periphery, something waiting on the edge of the field, in the centre of which our real life freely plays out!

A blurry destination on the sideline, that we are travelling towards, while committing ourselves to fully explore the now. A goal, only to provide us with a direction when we feel lost, which does not rob us of the joy, from completely living every step of the way! A token goal, as an excuse to be moving along, while we live our real life in the journey itself.

We can then stop, to admire the wild flowers, watch the bees and listen to the birds singing. Feeling free to pause, perhaps change directions, because no matter which turn we take, life is bound to happen!

There are no wrong turns, because no matter where we go, we always have the horizon in front of us. Having a goal like the horizon, that our journey through life, sets for us! The goal, that the train of destiny takes us to, and no matter where we turn, it always remains in front of us.

Our destiny, is where we are always supposed to go, where we eventually end up, the goal which was meant for us all along.

We can choose to move towards it consciously, in full awareness, with appreciation of the majesty, beauty and joy that the journey entails. Or, we can go there half asleep, missing everything we meet on the way, to end our journey at a place, where we find ourselves confused, lost, not understanding why we had spent our whole life, desiring it.

The choice to make our journey itself the goal, is always with us. It is there, at every step of the way, in each moment!