peyton has, at 31 years of age, successfully climbed the mountain and accomplished everything he's ever wanted. he's a super bowl winner. sure there are more seasons, more super bowls, more records, more accolades, and a hall of fame career to consider, but peyton is done, finished. he's going to go down as legend and he'll ride off into the sunset as a champion.
i'm sure it's not easy being a professional athlete but at least with being an athlete, you get measurable goals set before you. get to the big leagues, become an all-star, get paid, become a champion. every year you're on the same uphill racetrack but at least you know what you're headed towards. success is easily defined and evaluated.
how many of us have that? most people i know have a vague idea of what they're chasing but pull up short every hundred yards or so to re-evaluate. in dog racing terms this would be the equivalent of the greyhound pulling a poop squat halfway into the race and wondering "wait, is catching this stuffed bunny really worth it? maybe i would prefer to do something else?"
the typical accruments of success for most of us are as follows: (1) fulfilling career (2) find a life partner (3) start and maintain a family (4) grow as a person (5) be happy. outside of making money, none of those things have really interested me that much. i mean, i want to have a career, i'd like to have a life partner, i'm constantly happy, i think i grow at a serviceable pace, and i know that i don't want children. so where does that leave me?
i think i need to re-evaluate the holy triumverate of happiness. if, at 60 years old, i've got a hefty 401K, a loving wife, and some beautiful kids, will i even be happy? i think that's what everyone is doing now. re-writing their goal list from their early twenties to something more manageable and detailed for their early thirties. peyton crossed everything off his (first) list this sunday, when will we get to do the same to ours? and if we do reach that point, will we even know it?
"for [albert] camus, the absurd hero is sisyphus, a man from greek mythology who is condemned by the gods for eternity to roll up a stone up a hill only to have it fall back again as it reaches the top. for camus, sisyphus typified all human beings: we must find a meaning in a world that is unresponsive or even hostile to us. sisyphus, camus believed, affirms life, choosing to go back down the hill and push the rock again each time. camus wrote: 'the struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. one must imagine sisyphus happy.'"
-(tenth of) eleven most important philosophical quotations-
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