What Next?

What is it about some people that we cannot be content unless we are pursuing the next? The next adventure, the next dollar, the next relationship, the next house, the next job, the next [fill in the blank]. Is there something inherent in human nature that makes us strivers? Or does this attitude afflict only some people?

Not long after crossing the finish of last Sunday's marathon I began considering what comes next? Certainly some time of reduced running distances is called for, but what will be the next challenge that I want to pursue? A century ride (100 miles) on my upcoming 50th birthday? A long trail run? A thru-hike of the Superior Hiking Trail? I don't yet know the answer, but I feel the pull of the question. (And why isn't sitting by the fireplace to read a good book or going to an opera on the list?) I love running just for the sake of running, but I find that it always helps to have some goal out there to be pursuing. It helps me to stay motivated and it helps me to get out the door on those cold, windy, or rainy days when I feel like I would much rather just turn off the alarm clock and roll over in bed.

Seems to be a bit of a Catch-22. Those of us who feel driven have a love/hate relationship with that state of being. We love the thrill of the pursuit--whatever we are pursuing (and sometimes the "what" doesn't even matter)--but we are torn by the constant internal push. It is almost as if we are trying, by our efforts, to find our ultimate fulfillment in this life. And it is often an uncomfortable tension.

I wonder whether a part of this tension is that people were not designed for this earth/this life alone. And if this life is not the sum total of our existence, then it seems to make sense that we would continually long for more--or at least find it difficult to be fully satisfied with what this life has to offer. If we are not primarily intended for this life alone, then even the highest and best accomplishments of this life will only serve to point us to the "something more" that we were designed for. And if we are striving to find our ultimate fulfillment in this life alone, that quest will always be unsatisfying in the end. We will always cross one "finish line" only to begin wondering, what next?

I am convinced that the single greatest gift that I can give anyone--including myself--is to live with an eternal perspective. A rock solid realization that shapes my thinking and decision-making that this life is not all that there is. I still wrestle daily with how that eternal perspective interlaces with the day-to-day reality of having a job and a family, but I believe that it does. I also have this nagging feeling that if I get this one right, then a lot of the other questions about life will fall into place. Hmm...

Pressing On!