My friend hates goals. I find it amusing that every year, January rolls around and someone asks him “What goals do you have for the year?” He groans and says “ugh.” He hates them. It means “achievement” or “striving.” Somehow, he’s not for all that.

Don’t get me wrong, he has mini-achievements. Yet, his overall life mission…well, not so much. It always makes me laugh and it makes me wonder, why do we set them? Why is it that we think the “most successful” people write and achieve their goals? I mean, heck, isn’t it all something we are just making up anyway? Don’t we create our own reality? I guess that’s a whole ‘nother post, isn’t it?

I find that setting goals for the year gives me something to which I can to look with anticipation. That trip to England? Yup! It’s on there. Finishing my B.S.? Yup! (Is it really just an excuse to party?) Goals for me are things I want to do during the year which bring me joy, satisfaction, or a sense of accomplishment. Of course, it all stems back to the big question: “Why are we here?” N.P. would say, “Because we’re here.” Maybe. But we humans seem to have an insatiable need to create. If you don’t believe me, have you SEEN a shopping mall lately? Strollers aplenty.

For those of us who chose to create in other, non-genetic ways, I do feel the need to DO something. I look around me and have a difficult time with the people who just want to sit on their ass and do…well, nothing. You’ve seen them. The zombies. The floaters. The ones with the blank looks in their eyes. I shudder. I could NOT live life like that. Yet, so many people do. And they think we’re the crazy ones.

My friend is not a zombie. What he’s taught me is that one does not need goals to enjoy life. He lives in the moment; maybe he doesn’t have “goals” but his overall goal, of living life to the fullest, is dreamy seduction. Me, I need a balance. Goals vs. the moment. It’s about what I want not necessarily what I want right now…but sometimes it is. So I make lists, I set goals, and I even post them on the wall above this computer screen. I love my goals. I cherish them. And in the end, I just live life. I check back, at the end of the year, to see if I actually achieved any of them. Most of the time, I actually do. Perhaps my goals are just a written representation of what my friend has already discovered: just drink the cognac, smoke the cigar, laugh, and enjoy EVERYTHING! It’s what we were meant to do.

–TDD