Goals and Dreams

No question that goals, dreams, and desires
Are the vital engines of accomplishment and prosperity,
Of creativity and societal development.

But with all these forms of aspiration
There is also a prodigious pitfall
Of which we would do well to shine a light on.

Something that can rightfully be called:
“The tyranny of needed outcome.”

Because for most of us, most of the time,
A goal represents the promise of a better future
If and only if said goal is accomplished.
And any notion of a “better future” includes
The guaranteed-to-create-suffering perspective
That “NOW is inferior to another moment of time I need to be in.”

As you come to deeply realize, however,
That HERE and NOW are the only space and time you can ever be in,
It will increasingly make sense to you
That HERE and NOW must already and always contain
The happiness and fulfillment you’ve always longed for.

Consider, then, the vast – nay, limitless – peace and freedom
With which you’ll be able to pursue
All the dreams and desires that light you up
When the outcome of those dreams and desires
No longer holds sway over your fundamental happiness.