A few years ago I was in college for my undergrad. I remember my favorite philosophy professor made a comment to me that still makes me contemplate its meaning. He remarked, you are a person that needs to find meaning in your work. I remember being surprised at this comment, and even somewhat speechless. Didn’t everyone find meaning in their work? Why would that be so odd?
Three years after graduation I found myself in a rut and I left to travel. I put myself in uncomfortable situations to make up for my prior laziness. I went to New Zealand lived in hostels, hitchhiked, lived in an ashram, climbed a few mountains and learned how to live on a boat. The best part of it all was meeting people that were doing the same thing. People that were unsatisfied with their living situations and took to the road. So lately I’ve taken to trying to figure out what motivates people.
I’ve received a variety of answers many boiling down to money and fame, but those just don’t excite me. I am not passing judgment on those, but it just doesn’t do it for me. Travel get me excited, but does it motivate me? Not necessarily. The feeling from understanding the world as part of an integrated universe. The experience in everything around me. In short, feeling alive and learning from it.
Can that happen without travel, in our everyday lives? Maybe. But for me it happens most when I travel. I tend to meet new people when I travel and within minutes know a lot about them. I take a better look around when I am traveling. I do and learn new things. I feel connected to the world around me. That motivates me. How can I continue to do it? How can I turn this into a career or at least sustain the pace?
**sigh** I wish I were motivated by money or fame. That would be a lot easier.
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