My friend recently told me abt a book by Buzz Aldrin: Magnificent Desolation.
In it, Buzz talks abt how once he walked on the moon, “normal” life on earth felt insignificant & depressing. Ultimately he did end up “finding” himself after a lot of trial & error, discovering joy in the little things.
Alliance member Tyler Hamilton told me that one of the worst days of his life was when he rang the bell at the NYSE after his team won the Tour de France. Here he was, supposed to be on top of the world, & instead a depression laid on top of him, & he thought “this isn’t how it’s supposed to be!”
Recently in Cleveland, Alliance member Lance Allred talked abt this feeling taking a free throw (that he banked in, unintended), looking up at the crowd in an NBA arena once he’d made a team & “arrived.” He’d reached his goal of being the NBA’s 1st deaf player & all that passed thru his mind was “Is this really it? Is this as good as it’s gonna get?”
Each scenario above is unique – one after coming back from an accomplishment & everything else paling in comparison…one abt depression taking away some of the feel-good emotions of a big moment…one abt realizing even when reaching the pinnacle & achieving a dream, the dream was greater than the reality.
Not too many of us are gonna walk on the moon, win Cycling’s biggest trophy, or make the NBA. But, many of us are going to achieve goals we set: getting a job at a company we admire, having kids, winning a golf tourney in our age bracket, traveling to a country we’ve always wanted to visit, finishing a marathon. The list goes on, & the beautiful part about life is, so many of us have so many diff goals.
The key learning from the stories above however is, not to base our contentment or peace on achieving that singular goal we may be so myopically focused on. I’m not advocating not to go hard after something that is important to you. Instead I’m saying – the we can’t live FOR that goal, & then assume we can go on, resting on our laurels & basking in the glory once accomplished. Life’s little miracles are instead where we really will find peace & joy.
