Tanvi Surti @tanvisurti: What would you say is your greatest achievement?
ANSWER:
I don’t have any achievements I think are great. I’m mostly just ashamed of my past.
I hope one day my greatest achievement will be that I want to have absolutely no achievements.
For many people, what separates them from where they are now and “happiness” is that they want to achieve something.
Like: “I want to be the best swimmer.” Or “the richest billionaire”. Or “the best at yoga”. Or even, “I want to be enlightened like Buddha”.
That’s a lot of distance to cover between where you are now and the achievements that will make one happy.
Think of it this way. Let’s say you want to be able to say, “I am the best swimmer”. Or even “I am a plumber”. By definition then, you are not the best swimmer. Or you are not currently a plumber (because you want to be able to say it). And even if you say it, you know it will only be temporary. So the goal/achievement/obstacle to happiness will only be fleeting.
Anytime you want to say “I AM X”, the X is your obstacle to happiness. So the only thing that’s left is the one thing you are certain of: “I AM”. If you can be happy JUST saying that then that’s a great achievement. And that, in itself, is a paradox which cannot be solved by the human language.