Sometimes, a meme or a quote can have more impact than an entire conversation. Other times, the opposite is the case. Either way, each and every individual sees things in a unique ways, and thus any one proverb can mean completely different things, varying by who interprets it.
That’s what I’m gonna be elaborating upon in this article; different sayings, proverbs and quotes, along with a few of the ways in which they can be interpreted, both positively and negatively, along with some of my own thoughts and feelings on them.
“It’s all about the journey, not the destination.” and its opposite “The results are all that matters.”
I find both of those sayings to be imbalanced towards either feminity and emotions, or masculinity and immediate practicality, respectively.
In that sense, the first has been, and still unfortunately is used by some people as a means to excuse their lack of purpose in life, as well as an attempt to justify an aimless approach to living. At the same time, the second saying is also a way through which those with that kind of mindset are blinded by a desired objective, and develop an addiction to it (or rather their perceived projection of what that outcome would look like), often becoming ruthless, immoral or just plain rigid and obsessed in their approach, without ever looking in to the deeper aspects of themselves, because they’re addicted to so-called “outer-world” accomplishments.
Now, as for more positive and wiser interpretations, I say that both those sayings have half the picture. See, it is far more pertinent to acknowledge that both the journey and the destination are relevant. It doesn’t have to be one or the other. Both are good and both of them are intertwined. A journey naturally assumes a destination, and a destination naturally implies a journey.
Enjoying the journey, pondering the more advanced, intricate and beautiful aspects of life (and beyond) are obviously very good and self-elevatory things. At the same time, we’re also ambitious and determined in what we want to do in life, but we are not addicted or attached to the outcome. Because we recognize, among other things, that without attachment we are much more open to realizing whether or not the path we’re on is actually a good one, and thus we are open to changing course much more easily towards something better, without compromise and without artificial hurdles. At the same time, this also means that our ambition is not fixated on a particular “outcome”, but is rather malleable in terms of methodology, because it’s the spiritual, intuitive, intelligent and philosophical, freedom oriented growth itself, that becomes our priority. As such, no matter the hurdles and obstacles we face, we always look and seek to do what is right, no matter what.
In other words, the purpose is not the objective. The purpose is the purpose. The objective can be a stepping stone towards manifesting the purpose of always growing in every aspect of ourselves, in consciousness and everything else that is good.
Therefore, both the journey and the destination are relevant.
“What matters is who you are, not what you accomplish.” and its opposite “All that matters is what you accomplish.”
This is pretty much the same thing as with the previous sayings, albeit on a more individual, intimate or/and personal note. The first saying and others of its sort are used incessantly in “new age” or similar circles, often used in a negative way as a means of excusing complacency and ego-driven addictions, whereby a person stagnates because they confuse who they actually are, with their egoic image of themselves.
Likewise, in case of people who tend more towards the second type of sayings, it’s the sort of mentality whereby one makes the attempt to distract themselves from looking within and getting to know themselves more profoundly, by constantly looking for “outer” stuff to do, as a means of not facing themselves and who they are.
Basically, in the negative interpretations of those quotes, they’re basically excuses for laziness (refusal to put any work or effort into anything) and workaholicism (addiction to effort; effort for the sake of effort, without sight of an actual purpose).
What is the purpose of work though? Isn’t it to become more proficient at doing something? The more consistently you put effort into something, the more efficient or proficient you become at it, and thus do it all the more easily. In other words, the whole purpose of “work” is to eventually reduce the amount of work you need to put into doing a particular activity or/and endeavor.
Now, what is it that makes work more enjoyable and efficient? Play! Joy! Care! Passion! These things and how we express them are intrinsically related to who we are inside. The inner being, our conscience, the inner child and heart, along with the mind.
Not only what we accomplish in life, but waaay beyond it as well, along with what we leave behind both in the esoteric and exoteric realms, is deeply and clearly connected to our inner being. Besides, the so-called “inner world” creates the so-called “outer world”, so the more we love, respect, know and comprehend ourselves, the more drive and purpose we have towards becoming better and better in every moment, than we were the moment prior.
Who we are drives what we accomplish, as well as how and why we do it.
“Necessity is the mother of invention.”
No, it’s not. Plenty of people are in a situation of perceived “need”, be it materially, emotionally or mentally, yet a majority still don’t do anything to improve themselves or their current condition.
What drives creativity and inventivity is exactly that. One’s own creativity and inventivity, along with one’s motivation to put it into manifestation or/and practice.
Imagination, creativity, will, intent and motivation are the “parents” of creation and invention. Perceived “necessity” can sometimes help, for those who aren’t particularly motivated at whatever point in so-called “time-space”.
“Those who believe they create their own fate are, as a rule, slaves to destiny.”
I call utter bullshit on that quote; unless it was referring to people who erroneously believe that they are “free” or in a situation of “liberty”, while ignoring the slavery and evil that they let run amock through their apathy and silent consent. Like how, in our current society that literally revolves around slavery, violence, coercion, theft, degradation, depravation and deceit, albeit in a more or less covert and euphemistic fashion, with all the fake “diversity” of choice being put on display when it comes to what brands you buy from and other superficial “options”, while most alternatives of any actual worth are censored, ridiculed or obscured.
Or, if it was referring to things related more to the undeveloped or underdeveloped psyche, which still relies on reflexive associations or compulsive patterns of thinking, based on repetitious experiences and interpretations.
If, in either of those two deceived or undeveloped modalities of mentality, one then says “ooh, we create our own fate”, while refusing to consider the likelihood that they might have let themselves deceived and manipulated into doing something without their knowledge, then yeah, they’re basically slaves to either circumstances or a system, without realizing it.
However, if we’re talking about remembering who I/we always and already are, as infinite and unlimited consciousness, and how I/we always create our own realities and choose our own destinies, with life being one of the canvases on which we paint the course of our journeys, then that quote is utterly fallacious. Those who believe they are slaves to “destiny”, then of their own choice they’ll have forgotten themselves and will experience that “destiny” of amnesia, but only for as long as they maintain that retarded mentality. When they choose to shape their destiny more actively, they’ll… well, more actively shape it.
Freedom is infinite and unlimited consciousness and potential. Therefore, freedom doesn’t begin nor end with anything. Neither with “me”, nor with “you”, nor with a “turd on the street”, nor with the cosmos(es), nor with any uni-multi-hyper-omniverses, nor with any “realities”, nor with anything…
Therefore, I/we always and already are free and freedom, imagination, will and intent… infinity, unlimitedness and veyond… among other things…
Some of us choose to remember that, while some choose to forget that.
I choose to remember. My rephrasing of the quote would be:
In a situation of ignorance, people who don’t know what genuine freedom is confuse material comforts and the many pretty lights of “entertainment” and “convenience” with liberty, in a chronic attempt to sugar coat their chains with honey. Those people, who erroneously believe they are “free people” in that societal context of slavery, are those who are undiscerning slaves to their erroneous beliefs and the society that revolves around them.
Likewise, undeveloped and cowardly psyches may be adverse to confronting their inner shadow, and in their attempt to put all the things they don’t like about themselves under a rug, they might fashion a falsely “grandiose” persona that “knowingly creates its own destiny”, while ignoring that their inner shadow and unresolved trauma is actually what’s driving their emotions, thoughts and actions.
However, when we face and overcome our inner demons, our traumas and everything about ourselves, developing the courage to overcome our fears and to remember who I/we are as freedom and consciousness, then we more consciously and knowingly shape create our own realities… which we always do anyway, just that we’re now doing it more knowingly as an individual, as well.
Whether we make shitty, fucked up fates for ourselves through our own ignorance, apathy, stupidity and evil, or if we choose to create conscious, elevating and evolving destinies for ourselves, through ourselves as spirit, intuition, intelligence and so on… either way, it’s always a choice and we are the ones who always make the choice.
“Prediction is just looking at patterns of what has happened before, recognizing the patterns that are occuring in the present and seeing where they’ll go.”
Indeed, but that is only one form of prediction that is based on past knowledge, along with the (not always accurate) assumption that if current events appear similar enough to past events, the same outcome might be brought about. However, if used on its own, it lacks the element of innovation and creativity, since it relies solely on one’s current level of knowledge.
There are far more advanced ways of disernment and comprehension, which include not only learning from the past, but inventing and creating new ways of looking at things and making assessments.
One such way is clarvoyance. To be fair, there are many charlatans who might claim to be “clarvoyant” but who may actually just have knowledge of psychology or about whatever they’re looking to predict, and use a “mystic” façade to dazzle people who may be more inclined towards the esoteric, but not discerning enough to see the fraud for what it is.
However, much like how someone can claim to be an expert swordsman, but barely manage to handle a butter knife in actuality, doesn’t mean that swordsmanship or actual swordsmen don’t exist, just because there are fake “clarvoyants” out there doesn’t mean clarvoyance isn’t a thing.
Clarvoyance, in the context to which I’m alluding here, is looking beyond the senses and the incarnate mind, and tapping into more esoteric knowledge, either spontaneously or/and consciously, knowingly or unknowingly and then making a discernment with regards to something. Now, sometimes, that discernment alone, as well as along with the implied actions that one would take as a result may very well mean that the predicted event doesn’t come to pass or that it occurs differently, making the prediction seem inaccurate, when in actuality it was spot on, but changed in terms of outcome because of foreknowledge.
Some forms of prediction are based on previous knowledge and pattern recognition, while others are brought about through insight, inner knowing and consciousness.
“In life, there are two kinds of people: those who make excuses, and those who make progress.”
Obviously, there are many categories of people, but in terms of the proverb’s context, yeah, it’s accurate. However, the categories aren’t fixed. People change and people grow. Someone who is strong now, may have been weak at some other point in their life. Likewise, when we genuinely evolve, we get better and better in every moment, with everything we do.
The very purpose of hardships and challenges is that they are obstacles that we’ve created for ourselves, to learn from, overcome and grow as a result of having that experience and choosing to rise above it.
That technically applies to all experiences, though, because we always create our own reality and write our own stories.
Nobody and nothing has a higher claim to our lives than we do.
There can be no “chosen” ones. Only we can save ourselves and only we are responsible for doing so. All pain and suffering is self-inflicted, and all evolution and elevation are self-facilitated.
Freedom is never given. Freedom is never taken.
I/we are all and always free and freedom, imagination, will and intent… infinity, unlimitedness and veyond… among other things…
Why, how and what we choose to manifest, as with everything and everythingness, is always a choice, and the choice is always ours to make.