What's The Goal Of Life?

I recently sat on a train on my journey home from the office and the sun was shining in my face through the window.

I let off a slight smirk when I realised that this was the first time I could actually see the sun when travelling home after work, after what felt like forever of having full darkness by 4pm (I live in the UK for those lucky enough to not understand).

I closed my eyes and just sat in bliss for a moment. Then a thought popped into my head... ”I wonder if anyone else is noticing this”. So I opened my eyes and looked, but all I could see was a carriage full of eyes glued to a 6 inch screen.

Without sounding overly dramatic, it genuinely felt like something out of a horror movie. If seeing dozens of people all literally just staring down at their phones doesn’t frighten you then nothing will.

Anyway, I then wondered whether this is the goal, and by this I mean having the ability to find such bliss and peace from something we often take for granted.

I don’t just mean enjoying the small things, I mean dialling yourself in and creating a life that ALLOWS you to find such enjoyment from something so simple, and not have to constantly distract yourself just to get by.

Without realising it, most people are getting by with distractions, they get through the working week by thinking about what chocolate they’re going to eat in the evenings or thinking about getting drunk on the weekend.

Of course, each to their own, but I can’t see this as anything other than plastering over a meaningless life with constant pleasures and distractions.

I wonder whether I would have been able to enjoy such a moment without such a long time practicing meditation, or having my body dialled in with my exercise regime, or without the conscious effort to limit my screen time, or without working on something meaningful.

Without these, would I even be in a position to feel bliss?

If I was stressed, anxious or concerned about whether something liked my social media post or not, do you think I would have been room to enjoy that moment?

It’s not just a mindset shift or a case of putting the phone down. It's a lifestyle.

I bet if most people had instructions on that carriage to put the phone down and look up at the sun, they’d feel nothing. I wouldn’t have either, this time last year.

It takes a lot of work to create a life where you're able to enjoy moments such as these on a regular basis, and I think that just might be the goal of life.

As Naval Ravikant said, “If you can’t be happy with a coffee, you won’t be happy with a yacht.”

With everything a person might deem as being successful, which usually consists of having a figure in a bank account or a number of followers on Instagram, I wonder if instead this is what being successful truly means.