No finish line

By Loraine Debnam

There’s an advertising campaign running right now that has a really interesting philosophy. The catchphrase is, “there is no finish line — there is only where you are and where you want to be.”
Since the product being promoted is vitamins, that’s probably appropriate, but it gives a person something to think about on a broader scale.
Inspired by the movie starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson, which was released in Canada in 2008, I have friends who have created their own “bucket list.”
It supposedly is a record of the things they want to do, the places they want to go and the people they want to see before they “kick the bucket.”
Most of them just use it as a fantasy list for the future — a set of seemingly impossible goals and intentions. But, several of them actually use it the way it was intended — as a plan of action for things to be accomplished in their lifetime.
Psychologists are all in favour of the second option. They recommend each of us to periodically review our aspirations — that we define (or redefine) what we want to do and who we want to be.
Many of us live in a state of unconscious boredom with many hopes and desires left unexplored, as we cope with daily life. We choose not to push through the hesitation and face a new challenge or test with a positive attitude. Most of us are very uncomfortable facing unknown tests and trials, so we simply elect to avoid them all together.
Could we really deal with the answer if we asked ourselves “what is life asking of me?”
Microsoft founder Bill Gates once remarked, “if I had some idea of a finish line, don’t you think I would have crossed it years ago?”
That kind of a comment is a pretty good indicator he continued to reassess and refine his objectives, as he built his company.
Always open to new ideas and innovative thinking (both from others and from himself) — perhaps it’s fitting one of his greatest successes is Windows — a word which indicates new perspectives and new vistas yet to be examined. I have heard he never viewed mistakes or errors as endings but rather as a way to take ideas in a different direction.
Wouldn’t it be great if we could all take that approach?
Mental Health workers say many of us deal with depression and feelings of inadequacy because we are not where we planned to be, where we hoped to be, where we expected to be or where we wished to be at this particular time in our lives.
But life happens, people and circumstances change. If we can be honest about our own shortcomings and adjust our targets to fit the conditions of the present, who really knows if things aren’t maybe better than what we had anticipated?
I have always believed there is a silver lining in every cloud. That’s probably why the television commercial resonated with me. It’s certainly something to think about.