Going Places

Sometimes people who are working their way up through the various processes of preparation and apprenticeship become discouraged by the long look ahead. They see those who have “arrived,” and they sometimes suppose that the finest satisfactions in life come with having gotten where one is going. But going places can be as thrilling, and often more so, than merely having gone places. With children, and with most of us, to be actually on our way to a picnic can be a greater thrill than already to have gone as far as we are going. To have gotten where one wants to go and to sit down and say “Here I am” would seem to give much satisfaction. And no doubt it does—for a time. But men are creatures of movement. And many men who have sacrificed much to “arrive,” find that the happiest years were lived while they were moving up. Of course, a hard climb is a good thing to have over—but not if it’s the last climb! In a final sense, however, men will never “arrive”: for to arrive finally would mean that there were no more worlds to conquer, no more lessons to learn, no more work to do. But there will always be work to do, and men will always be moving into an illimitable future. If it were not so, the present and the past wouldn’t mean much. And so we would say to those who are looking at the hill ahead: Be grateful for a goal that keeps you going, for an unsolved problem that keeps you learning, for interests and obligations that keep you working and moving. And remember this: You don’t need to have “arrived” to be happy. You just have to know that you are on your way, and that you’re moving in the right direction. If you know this, you can enjoy the journey, even if you’re far from where you think you want to go.