Quote of the Week...from Robert Pirsig

To live only for some future goal is shallow.  It's the sides of the mountain that sustain life, not the top.                                                        ...Robert Pirsig

Robert Pirsig, who passed away in 2017 at age 88, was a modern-era American philosopher who concerned himself with the interrelationship between the concepts of Truth, Quality, and Good...among other things.  He is most known for his best-selling 1974 philosophical novel Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, which I read during my work breaks in 1990.  The above quote of his resonated with me, although the single word only in the first sentence is crucial to its truth.  I think it's very important to have a whole series of goals in different areas of my life...some folks sadly become so single-minded about one in particular and then, regardless whether it is actually achieved or not, they will often suffer deflation, disappointment, and disillusionment.  Didn't Peggy Lee once sing "Is that all there is" when she recounted the experiences she had once looked so forward to but which...as expressed in the book of Ecclesiastes...turned out to be nothing more than a "chasing after the wind".  But, as Pirsig intimated, if I elevate the process as well as the result of my endeavors...starting from the moment that I envision a goal and begin to set out to its accomplishment, then my life will be enriched in each and every day I strive to better myself.  Back in 2010 I trained hard and long to build up my endurance to run a marathon race early the next year.  The final result was a setback: although I finished the actual race, I had suffered a leg strain injury and had to walk the last 7 miles of the 26.2 mile distance.  But my training over the span of several weeks was very meaningful and enjoyable to me...I'd go up and down many roads in a wildly convoluted course and enjoyed experiencing the sights and sounds around me, not to mention a wide variety of weather conditions.  And I'd listen to some fantastic music as well off my mp3 while running.  The upshot was that I have fond memories of that adventurous time and no regrets about not reaching the "mountaintop" in the way I had wanted...

While elevating the process of endeavor in my mind is akin to Pirsig's notion of thriving on the mountainside, I think that it can also be fruitful to design my goals in such a way that their accomplishment will lead to further endeavors to accomplish future goals, many of which may not even be in my mind at the present time.  I think it's important to strive for things...it's a positive part of our human nature...and going through the triumphs and trials in doing that makes life a lot more interesting...