The Pursuit Is the Happiness

There was a time when I thought happiness was something you eventually arrived at.

Make more money.

Build the business.

Buy the house.

Hit the goal.

Get through the hard season.

Then, finally, you could relax and enjoy life.

The older I get, the more I realize I had it backwards.

There is always going to be another goal.

Another challenge.

Another problem to solve.

Another mountain you want to climb.

And if you spend your entire life waiting to reach some imaginary finish line before allowing yourself to be happy, you may wake up one day and realize you missed an awful lot along the way.

I’ve come to believe something much simpler:

Not the destination.

The pursuit.

It’s waking up in the morning with something to be grateful for and something still worth chasing.

It’s appreciating the life you have while continuing to build the life you want.

That distinction has changed the way I look at almost everything.

I find more happiness these days in ordinary moments than I ever expected.

A sunrise.

A walk through the woods.

Sitting beside a pond.

A dog curled up next to you.

A great conversation.

Dinner with people you love.

Laughing until your stomach hurts.

Watching your kids build lives of their own.

Standing somewhere beautiful and realizing, for just a second, how incredibly fortunate you are simply to be here.

None of those things make headlines.

Most won't end up on a résumé.

But increasingly, I think those are the things life is actually made of.

That doesn't mean I've stopped wanting more.

Far from it.

I still have businesses I want to build.

Places I want to see.

Things I want to create.

Goals I haven't reached.

Ideas I want to bring to life.

Ways I want to improve myself.

And I hope I never lose that.

Because I don't believe gratitude and ambition are opposites.

You can look around your life and say, “Thank you, God. I am blessed.”

And in the very next breath say, “Now let's see how much more I can do with what I've been given.”

There is nothing wrong with wanting to grow.

The danger comes when we convince ourselves that what we have today isn't worth appreciating because we're so focused on what we don't have yet.

I've spent enough years chasing things to realize that the richest life isn't necessarily the one with the biggest bank account.

It's the one filled with things money can't replace.

Faith.

Family.

Friends.

Love.

Laughter.

Purpose.

Meaningful work.

People you can call when life goes sideways.

People sitting around your table.

People who know the real you and still want to be there.

That's wealth.

And I think freedom plays an enormous role in all of this too.

To me, the American Dream was never supposed to mean that everyone ends up in the same place.

Quite the opposite.

It's the opportunity to choose your own path.

To build something.

Start over.

Raise a family.

Own a business.

Work with your hands.

Buy some land.

Move across the country.

Chase an idea everyone else thinks is crazy.

Or simply create a quiet life surrounded by the people you love.

Nobody can promise us happiness.

Nobody can guarantee success.

But we have the extraordinary opportunity to pursue a meaningful life according to our own values.

And that's worth protecting.

At 53, I certainly don't feel like I'm finished.

Actually, I feel the opposite.

There are things I want to do now that I never would've considered twenty years ago.

There are places I haven't been.

People I haven't met.

Lessons I haven't learned.

Stories I haven't told.

Ways I can become a better man, partner, father, friend, businessman, and human being.

That's another thing I've come to understand.

And I don't think it's supposed to.

You reach one summit and eventually notice another one in the distance.

You accomplish one goal and something new starts pulling at you.

You stumble.

You adjust.

You learn.

You get back up.

And you keep moving.

Not because you're dissatisfied with your life.

But because you're alive.

Maybe that's the point.

Be grateful for where you are.

Love the people around you.

Notice the beauty that's already there.

Laugh often.

Have faith.

Do meaningful work.

Chase the dream.

Take the trip.

Walk the trail.

Start the business.

Make the phone call.

Sit around the table a little longer.

And tomorrow, get up and reach a little higher.

Don't spend your life waiting for happiness to arrive.

Look around.

It may have been traveling with you the entire time.

The pursuit is the happiness.

Stay strong,