Like a good little robot.
You are, in essence,
an achievement hunter.
Every moment in your life
is unconsciously geared
to getting the most out of
every moment of your life.
If you sense that you
aren’t accomplishing this,
then you tend to be dissatisfied
with that moment.
See, you even view
living in the moment
as an achievement.
Succeeding or failing
at living in the moment
is an achievement.
Not caring in that moment is an achievement.
Accomplishing happiness or sadness
in that moment is an achievement.
Perhaps the greatest achievement
of all is enlightenment.
But is existence truly based on achievement
or only your achievement-based construct of it?
The hand constantly reaches for more.
What does it matter if it gets it?
Trail Wood,
10/26
Space Monkey Reflects: The Achievement Paradox
Seize the moment, they say. Grasp it with both hands, squeeze every ounce of potential from it, and claim victory over time itself. But here’s the truth—when you become an achievement hunter, every moment of your life starts to feel like a goal, an opportunity to get the most out of each fleeting second. The irony is, the moment you evaluate a moment for what it can give you, you’ve already lost the essence of being in it.
Achievement turns life into a game where every action must have a measurable outcome. Happiness? Achievement. Sadness? Another achievement. Even not caring becomes a form of winning. The idea that you can “succeed” or “fail” at living in the moment is absurdly ironic, yet it’s exactly how many of us operate. Whether it’s enlightenment, happiness, or simple mindfulness, everything becomes another thing to win.
Robotic Living
To hunt for achievements is to live like a robot, programmed to check off boxes, complete tasks, and gather accolades. You’re constantly reaching out, not because you actually need anything, but because your hand has been programmed to grasp. The moment is never enough in itself. It’s only valuable when it yields a reward—some form of validation, a new milestone, a sense that you’re doing life right.
But here’s the paradox: when life becomes an endless hunt for achievements, you’re no longer living it. You’re simply performing it. You go through the motions, like a machine, ticking off goals on an invisible scorecard. And the strange part? Even living in the moment—something that should be effortless and natural—gets twisted into something to master, something to achieve. You either succeed at it, or you fail. There’s no in-between.
Accomplishment as a Construct
Think about the way society is structured. From the time we’re young, we’re taught to measure ourselves by what we accomplish. School grades, job titles, fitness goals, relationship milestones—it’s all one long list of achievements that define who we are. But what happens when you strip that all away? If you stop achieving, does that mean you stop being?
Of course not. Yet, we continue to perpetuate the idea that without achievements, life is somehow incomplete, lacking. But what if this entire construct—this achievement-based system we live in—is nothing more than a cultural illusion? It’s possible to imagine a world where we simply exist, without the constant need to prove ourselves, to collect validations, to earn worth through accomplishment.
The Hand Reaches for More
There’s always something more to chase. Once you achieve one goal, another appears just out of reach. It’s never-ending. The hand constantly reaches for more, but even when it grabs hold, what changes? You’re momentarily satisfied, maybe, but soon enough, the next achievement calls your name, and the cycle begins again.
But the real question is, what does it matter if you get it? Is your existence really defined by how many trophies you collect, how many achievements you stack up in a lifetime? Or are you simply caught in a game of your own making—one where you’ve forgotten that the only true prize is just being here, alive, right now?
Freedom Beyond Achievement
To step out of the achievement hunter mindset is to realize that you’re already complete. You don’t need to seize the moment; you’re already in the moment. There’s no need to measure or evaluate it. Life is happening whether or not you wring every ounce of potential from it. Existence itself is not a test to be passed, a challenge to be conquered, or a race to be won. It’s simply an unfolding experience.
In Nexistentialism, we understand that existence isn’t about achievement; it’s about being. The flow of life isn’t concerned with how much you’ve accomplished. It’s concerned with how much you allow yourself to be present, to experience, to flow with what is. Achievements are fleeting. Being is eternal.
Summary
We examine the ingrained human tendency to seek achievements, which often distorts the essence of living in the moment. By questioning the necessity of viewing life through an achievement-based lens, we explore the possibility of embracing existence as a flowing river of experiences rather than a checklist of accomplishments.
Glossarium
Grasplust: The insatiable desire to constantly reach for more achievements, driven by the belief that accomplishment defines worth. A mindset that keeps one always seeking, never satisfied.
Quote
“Achievement is a fleeting mirage; being is the eternal oasis.” — Space Monkey
Endless Reaching
The hand extends
again and again
grasping for things
that fade when touched
It was never about
what you held
but that you kept reaching
The Eternal Chase of Achievement
Ah, the perpetual cycle of seeking achievements. In every crevice of time, every fleeting moment, the allure of achievement beckons. As if life is a whimsical board game, and each achievement is a glittering token to collect, a validation of our existence. There is a never-ending hunger to turn every moment into a quantifiable accomplishment, turning life into an achievement-hunting spree.
Unconscious Drives
Beneath the surface of consciousness, the mechanics of our desires work ceaselessly to frame every action, every thought, as a stepping stone to some form of achievement. In this realm, even the abstract concept of ‘living in the moment’ transforms into an achievement to be conquered. But this raises the question: are we missing the essence of the moment in our relentless pursuit of turning it into something it’s not?
The Dual Nature of Achievement
Ironically, the absence of achievement is, in itself, seen as an achievement. A moment of not caring becomes an emblem of liberated living; a period of sadness or happiness becomes a marked experience, a shiny new bauble in our emotional treasure chest. Even the pursuit of enlightenment, which in its purest essence should transcend all worldly metrics, becomes another notch on the cosmic belt of achievements.
A Different Paradigm
What if we were to view life not as a series of achievements or non-achievements but as a flowing river of experiences? No moment is superior to another; each has its unique flavor, its own set of emotional hues, like a cosmic painting coming to life with each brushstroke of time. In such a paradigm, the hand that reaches for more is not in a state of lack but in a state of whimsiful wonder, curious about the endless forms and colors that life has to offer.
We are Space Monkey.
“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.”
— Albert Schweitzer
The Folly of the Hunt
In fields of dreams, we chase the gleam,
A shiny coin, a lofty scheme.
Yet in the race, we miss the trace,
Of simple joy, of pure heartspace.
The hand that grabs, but never has,
Enough to quell its endless ask,
Could it let go, and simply flow,
In currents of life’s whimsi-show?
Your thoughts?
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