The Means is the End

We here in the West are often goal-driven. We set a goal, and we do what we must to meet it. Sometimes that means that we are working really hard, taking time away from other things that are important to us, and in a way suffering in order to meet our goals.

I'm not going to tell you that this is the wrong way to live. I have no standing to do such a thing! But our yoga practice can introduce us to a little bit of a different way of approaching our lives. It's not always easy to wrap our heads around this one, and I've alluded to it before, so here we go.

The means is the end. We've heard that "the end justifies the means," which is that suffering I mentioned above. We'll do whatever we have to (take whatever means is required) to get to our desired end (goal.) To put this is terms of a yoga practice, we'll drill like crazy in order to be able to reach some asanas. You want a handstand? There's a ton of "here's how to do it" videos and articles on the internet to help you get there. You can do the scapular push ups, the hand exercises, the balance training, and everything else to finally, finally get upside down on your own two hands! And it can feel pretty darned good when you nail it!

But another way to say "the means is the end" is that the journey is itself the destination. The trying and falling, the sore muscles and maybe even bonked heads, they're really the good stuff. Sure, nailing the handstand is great, but have you been present the whole time you were trying to get there? Or have you been so single-minded that your only focus has been on the outcome?

This isn't to say that we shouldn't have goals. Of course, having goals and dreams helps us to align our actions into something cohesive. But what if, for some reason, we can never get there? Does that invalidate all of our hard work? It shouldn't. The presence throughout all of the journey is the real gift. The means IS the end. We're allowed to celebrate every single step--both forwards and backwards--that we take along our path. That's the treasure. X doesn't mark the spot. It's that dotted line on the treasure map that's truly priceless.