#waldoemerson

I wanted to play with two different ideas today – one “it is about the journey, not the destination” and two “suffer now so that you can live the rest of your life as a champion” – as a coach, I often live by idea one and as an entrepreneur I live by idea two. Today, while reflecting upon these two different ideas, I was wondering what’s the real deal? Am I supposed to make suffering happen to get to my end goal quicker or is it that I should enjoy each moment and live the journey instead of the destination.

I’ve always thought about enjoying the journey, seeing every moment of what I am doing and feeling grateful for doing it. Taking one thing at a time and truly giving it my attention so that it can grow and prosper. But, as an entrepreneur I feel like the whole philosophy is to work like a dog in the beginning so that you can live peacefully later. So, did that mean that I shouldn’t enjoy my journey, just keep suffering? Did Muhammad Ali enjoy his journey?

I was getting annoyed just grappling with the two ideas. What was the thing to do? What was the more efficient way? Was I to listen to Muhammad Ali or Ralph Waldo Emerson? 

One being a boxer and the other being a western philosopher, I took it they led very different lives… But, what I was looking for was how am I supposed to apply this to my life? How are these two messages seemingly so contradicting but at the same time providing wisdom?

Think. Think. Think.

Aha! Muhammad Ali understood that he needed to get to a certain destination and even if that required pain and suffering, that he wouldn’t give up on it. He would find achievement and make it happen. Waldo Emerson realized that there was a pleasure that one could get out of life by living in each moment and appreciating the journey.

And what I understood from all of this is that both of them were so right. Muhammad Ali was doing the groundwork to start his journey where as Emerson was already on his journey.

Our vision, our goal, our outcome from our lives can require us to go through circumstances that may not always be the best. If you want to be a doctor, you may have to go through some rough nights in the hospital to learn from them. But, those are the times when you suffer through so that you can live as a champion, and simply by understanding that, you may enjoy the moment. The same thing goes with not eating that cookie – you endure pain in the moment to enjoy the greater journey of health. At the same time, Emerson shows us that we must enjoy what we are doing. If you are prepping to give a performance, you may practice for months or days at a time – and your performance may indeed only be one hour or even five minutes. So, if you didn’t enjoy the journey, then what?

I realized that these ideas don’t contradict, but in fact make up for one another. Where you have your vision and your goal, sometimes you have to push through and keep your end in mind, where other times you can just sail across and enjoy the journey