The Journey

I just finished "Sacred Journey of the Peaceful Warrior" by Dan Millman, after reading the other two books in the series - "Way of the Peaceful Warrior" and "The Journies of Socrates." I rented the movie "Peaceful Warrior" last night after I finished the last book. It had a part in the movie that I had forgot about in the book. This is how it went.

Socrates was Dan's Spiritual teacher. He told Dan one day that they were going on a long hike to something very special he wanted to show him. The hike was a long grueling hike that nearly wiped both of them out due to exhaustion. The whole hike though, Dan didn't even care how exhausted and tired he was because he was so excited and happy about whatever it was that Socrates was going to show him when they finally reached the secret destination.

When they finally got to the top of a mountain, Socrates stopped looked at the view and just took in the beautiful scenery. Dan asked him "How much farther?", looking very exhausted and very tired, but also very happy and still excited. Socrates replied "This is it". Dan looked at him confused and replies "This is it!? What do you mean, what did you have to show me here!?" Socrates looks around and sees a rock on the ground, bends down and picks it up and says "Here - I wanted to show you this rock" and tosses the rock to him.

At this points Dan looks very angry and dissappointed. As Socrates is begining to head back down the mountain back home, Dan tells him how dissappointed he is. Socrates turns to him and says "Sorry you aren't happy anymore," and continues walking back home.
Thats when Dan learns the lesson that Socrates was trying to teach him. Life isn't about some destination or some goal your trying to achieve, because no matter what you achieve, you will never be satisfied as long as you are trying to get to a certain point or a certain destination. The lesson Socrates taught Dan here was that happiness lies in enjoying the mystery of the journey called life. It's the journey itself that brings the happiness not the things you find and achieve along the way.

This isn't saying not to set goals and try to achieve things, but not to let goals and achievements be what you base your happiness on. Living every moment and finding the magic in each moment of life is where happiness is found. The present moment you are experiencing is the only place where you can experience happiness, not in the past and not in the future, but in every passsing moment along the journey.