Utopia Syndrome

"The psychology of the unattainable necessitates that every actual fulfillment is experienced as a loss, as a profanation: for the devout Jew the political reality of the State of Israel is little more than the bana parody of an age-old, messianic longing; for the romantic lover who at long last conquers the beautiful woman, the reality of his victory is a far cry from what it was in his dreams. George Bernard Shaw put the same thought even more succintly and pessimistically: 'There are two tragedies in life. One is not to get your heart's desire. The other is to get it.'" - Watzlawick, P., Weeakland, J., & Fisch, R. (1974). Change. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., p. 50.

I thought this statement does a good job of illustrating the challenges we face as we strive to achieve our goals in life. We have in our mind an image of what things will look like when we meet our goals. Not achieving this goal is unacceptable. However, we often find that achieving this desire is unacceptable as well - because a "perfect world" is not what we find when we get there. For example, I was so excited when I recieved my Bachelor's degree from Oklahoma Christian. I was one of the few in my entire family to do so. Although it meant a lot, I literally chose that particular major to prepare me for my graduate studies - which had quickly become my heart's new desire. I did it! And everything happened the way I wanted it to. I got a good job, my family came up to celebrate this accomplishment, and I have nice diploma that says "Master of Science" hanging on my wall. I was living in Utopia. But that was short-lived. I often forget I have a master's and most of my friends and family probably don't think about it much either. When I meet new people and they hear about my education, they don't throw me parties and pop fireworks. Today, my degree is simply another milestone I had to cross to get the job and education I wanted. And with every accomplishment comes a variety of new challenges. But this is how I want it. I am content with the journey. I always want to have an adventure. I think people often get caught up in finding Utopia that they miss the journey or at least create a miserable one for themselves. We won't find Utopia; we won't discover perfection; and we won't find rest in this life. God has called us to be content as pilgrims in this life, not settlers. In the end, Utopia will be something He will willingly give to us, not something we discover on our own.