Afraid of Heights

There is a quote that says “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss it you will land among the stars.”

For some people, this way of thinking works. They prefer to aim high. Have grand objectives. Nothing wrong with that. In fact most of those who do so are probably high achievers in their fields.

But not me. I prefer modest goals. Kasi kapag masyadong mataas, there is undue pressure because of the greater likelihood of failing. And failures lead to unhappines. And life is too short to be unhappy, even for a day.

One person’s goal might be to save a million bucks by age 50. Others, like me are content to save a few bucks every month. The main difference I could see is that the former is more likely to be disappointed if the money falls short of a million by age 50. What’s worse, during the period leading to age 50 the person might have been too obsessed towards achieving the goal, that he/she becomes miserable and stressed during that time.

That’s what happens when you’re too focused on the destination. You fail to see the beautiful scenery.

Like for example nung una akong nakipag-sapalaran sa Tate nung 90’s simple lang ang pangarap ko. Hindi ko pinangarap ang magkaroon ng mamahaling sports car o ang maging sikat na action star sa Hollywood. Dahil nasa IT ako at bihira pa ang may PC noong mga panahong iyon, masaya na ako kung makabili ng sariling PC. Isang no brand na computer 486, 66Mhz, 640KB memory, 20MB hard drive ang nabili ko. Laking tuwa ko na noon. Sa sarili ko kahit pauwiin na ako ni Uncle Sam, masaya na ako dahil may maiuuwi akong pyuter.

I’m not saying that my approach to setting personal goals is superior. In fact I’m sure many will criticize it as one that results in mediocrity. I don’t disagree. But I’m too old to change mindsets now. I’m content to do it “one step at a time” (credits to Kadyo). And I prefer to enjoy every step of the way by achieving small but many victories. Rather than big but few ones. Coz there’s truth in the saying “the higher the leap, the harder the fall”. Yet it’s also true “the harder the fall, the higher the bounce”. Maybe that’s why I don't like heights and I prefer just to roll.