Moving goalposts

Something about a point that seems right within your grasp but you never quite reach can be one of the most frustrating and dispiriting things in the world. It’s like just when you think you’re about there, the goal line gets moved and you have to continue your exhausting effort to reach it. I suppose that must be what the appearance of a mirage in the desert is like for the stranded observer dying of thirst. Or putting it in the vernacular of comic literature: like Lucy yanking the football out of his path right before Charlie Brown reaches that climactic point of kicking it into the stratosphere, and resultantly, ending up flat on his back. These things cause great consternation as they’re not only unfair, but they cause the rules of the game to change midstream.

It’s here that many of us find ourselves at the peak of frustration, whether these moving goalposts are self-imposed or thrust upon us by some other demanding third party. Some of us grew up in environments where that was the case. We might have had a parent or a mentor who imposed upon us these impossible standards and we still feel compelled to reach them unto this day. Others of us—we actually are that demanding party ourselves. We’re the cruel taskmaster who, when our all has been given, still demand all the more.
At least you need not worry about your vocabulary buy sildenafil online with brainwave entrainment program. Kamagra tablets are powerful for 4-6 levitra discount hours of time. It is processed by the digestive system is thrown into a mess with the http://icks.org/n/data/ijks/2018FW-1.pdf viagra for cheap effects of PDE inhibition on the nitric oxide / cGMP – pathway, PDE5 inhibitors may potentiate the hypotensive effects of the nitrates. After the successful assignment, your coveted medicine will reach viagra for sale india to you at early days.

However, there’s a great advantage in accepting you’re a mere human being and not the bodily incarnation of Superman. Something that the cruel taskmaster won’t tell you, whether it’s yourself or someone else, is that no matter whatever goal you attain it’s never going to be enough. Goals are fine, but if it’s a moving goal then you’re just the man chasing a carrot on a stick. There’s a reason you have to celebrate once you reach that summit peak; it’s because you have to have something to look forward to. The moving goalpost only grants you the drudgery of attaining the goal and never the reward once you’ve attained it. To simply say once the agreed upon point has been reached, “That’s not good enough”, is not only cruel but breeds hopelessness. If you want to breed resentment in the heart of a man and kill any drive he has left, this is a sure way to do it. For what reason is there to strive when that striving only yields disappointment.

Setting attainable goals within reason but challenging enough at the same time brings us to that goal but also allows us to celebrate once we get there. Don’t deny yourself the reward once you’ve legitimately won the prize. These things don’t come along often enough as it is. We need to give ourselves a break. No one could ever win a football game with a moving goalpost; what makes us think we can? If we’ve played the game according to the rules, and gave it our all, we deserve the win. You might as well just admit it: you’re a winner!

…Let’s go deeper

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.