you are progressing just fine

embrace the mystery

I had a very rowdy friend in college and as a duo we were dubbed ‘Double Trouble.’ When we were together, it was guaranteed that drinks would be spilled, karaoke would ensue, and at least one unsuspecting dude would be pool-sharked. We joked we should make tee-shirts that blared our life motto: “MORE. NOW. FASTER. FREE. LOUDER.”

I have fond memories of that time and place but I see our motto now with different eyes. Even while it was (partially) in jest, we were reflecting an unwholesome orientation that’s common in the West: Gaining. Given all that we’re told and sold, modern people seem destined to believe that acquiring is what came here to do and that achievement is how to measure a life. From that strange view, we make slanted assumptions. We assume, for example, that progress is linear, that it points upward, that it’s contingent on attainment and that, for it to count, it should be visible and quantifiable. We worry that somehow we’re not “living our best lives” if we’re not bec…