[January 30, 2023] The offer for us in our modern culture is for self-indulgent happiness. That is no exaggeration. I see it as the aim of many young folks who say they just want happiness in their lives. But that is not true; that is not what they want. The opposite of that pursuit of happiness is another and less traveled path, the narrow road to adventure.
What those who seek happiness mean is they really don’t want to suffer unnecessarily. They are much more concerned about experiencing tragedy, evil, horror, and the like. It is not really about happiness but not suffering miserably.
“Imagine that we made our materialist utopian dreams come true, and everybody had enough to eat all the cakes they wanted, enough to drink, nothing to do but busy themselves with the continuation of the species. But human beings are so ungrateful that the first thing they would do is pick up a stick and smash all that comfortable prosperity so that something unexpected and provocative could happen.” – my summary of a slice of Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s view of humanity
Now that idea is brilliant. It is not apparent at all that we want happiness. It isn’t obvious that we want the absence of misery. What’s obvious is that we want an adventure. We want an adventure that is so compelling that it makes life’s misery justifiable and worthwhile.
You want to be able to look back on your life and say that your life was really difficult but worth it. That tells us what we want from our life. This view means that the adventure was so great that it justified the great difficulties.
And, where do you find the great adventure of your life? Where do you find that very narrow road to adventure?
You find it in truth. Why? Because you don’t know what will happen if you tell the truth. It’s a mystery. You have to let go of knowing what’s going to happen.
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This article got my attention quick. Adventure! Don’t we all strive for some adventure in our lives? I think yes. But the problem, as Gen. Satterfield points out is that we don’t know what adventure really is. And if we cannot “see” adventure, then we cannot have it in our vision of ourselves. And so it will be nearly impossible to stay on the narrow road to adventure.
I got to say “wow” becuase I’ve never seen this before.
You find it in truth. Why? Because you don’t know what will happen if you tell the truth. It’s a mystery. Now that is a thought that I’m going to have to bang around in my brain for a while.
Definitely the adventure of you life. And, BTW, the truth is a calling for adventure and who does not like to have an adventure.
“The Narrow Road to Adventure” and standing on the line between safety and danger. Now that is indeed an adventure. Love the title of this article and I would like to read more.
Great website you have here and wonderful folks in the leadership forums. I’ve enjoyed it now for years.
Good to know that Lady Hawk. I’m new but continue to enjoy even the older articles.
Welcome Ron. Glad to have you aboard.
Happiness is not the goal in life. I know that the US Constitution says “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Maybe the key word here is ‘pursuit of.’ Even they knew that happiness is not the goal in life. Because when there is no happiness there is nothing to fall back onto.
Your life is worth it but no one is going to hand you a solution, you have to find it yourself. OThers will help but that is all they can do. Today, we now have our education system indoctrinating kids into anti-American values and trashing the family too. They are taught to believe in the govt and reject tradition. That is going to be a huge problem in the future and no one is doing anything about it.
Hi Max. I agree with the problem but disagree that nothing is being done. Just look at Florida where their governor put a stop to it.
“What is ‘The 1619 Project’ and why has Gov. DeSantis banned it from Florida schools?”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/what-is-the-1619-project-and-why-has-gov-desantis-banned-it-from-florida-schools/ar-AA16O2Ka
MSN is a terrible “news” organization because they are all propaganda and nothing is given about what is really happening so this article only gives us a tip of the iceberg. Thank you max and Stacey.
Good to know that there is at least one politician who is willing to stand against the WOKE mob.
Got that right. ✔
“And, where do you find the great adventure of your life? Where do you find that very narrow road to adventure?
You find it in truth. Why? Because you don’t know what will happen if you tell the truth. It’s a mystery. You have to let go of knowing what’s going to happen.” by Gen. Doug Satterfield, a great thinker.
Got that right Watson. That is where the adventure of your life begins. Don’t miss it.
Nailed it Nick. Cheers.
Another excellent article that made me think by Gen. Satterfield.
Fyodor Dostoyevsky, a great man.
Got that right and we all should be reading more about him and his ideas. The insights just keep coming. Thanks to Gen. Satterfield, we can get a glimpse into the mind of Dostoyevsky. And make sure you get a copy of “55 Rules for a Good Life” and altho not on the level of Dostoyevsky, it is a masterpiece in itself.