3 day Quote Challenge - Day 2

There are umpteen travel quotes but this one by Robert Prisig in "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" is something to reflect upon.  We spend the first half of our lives in finding out our purpose on this planet and the second half in using the gift that we have to realize it. There's an interesting analogy that can be drawn between this journey and scaling a mountain. The change of landscape at each increasing level in the mountain is a reflection of the skill of adaptation and survival with increasing hostility of conditions. And the way we scale it- be it the pace or the amount of rest that we need to take in between bouts, differs from person to person. If we wish to reach the top only for some self gratification, we are bound to lose out on all that life on the sides can teach us. Following this, we would keep on wanting to scale higher mountains not realizing that we will continue to feel shallow unless each footstep is lived as an event in itself and not just as a means to an end. Does this mean that goals aren't important? Of course not. "There are no sides without the top"- so have a goal and embark on the journey, just don't rush it but live each step at a time.