One thing about goats is they love to climb.
No matter what it is, if they can climb it, they will.
Even if it seems impossible. They will find a way to do it.
The perfect example of this is a dam some goats climbed up, in Italy.
The wall of this dam is pretty vertical. It's crazy these goats can climb it.
Goats will find all the footholds or hoof holds.
In the spider-man/spider-goat song, it goes:
"Wealth and fame, he's ignored. Action is his reward."
Which brings me to something else I was reading today.
About a mountain climber named George Mallory.
He died trying to reach the top of Mount Everest in 1924.
He was last seen only 800 feet from the summit.
It was his third attempt.
Goats are known to be stubborn and some people are, too.
Especially Capricorn and Taurus. I guess all earth signs are known
for being hard-headed. I don't know if Mallory was an earth sign.
I think he was a Gemini, actually.
But the point I was trying to make was that he kept going.
He didn't give up and died doing it.
Nobody even knew how far he got until they found his body 75 years later.
He may have been the first person to ever reach the top of the mountain.
Some say that he had reached the top and was climbing back down
when got struck in the forehead and died.
They think that his ice axe accidentally hit him in the forehead.
Anyway, there was something he said that I wanted to share.
He was asked why he wanted to climb the mountain. He said:
"The first question which you will ask and which I must try to answer is this:
'What is the use of climbing Mount Everest?'
And my answer must at once be: 'There is no use.'
There is not the slightest prospect of gain whatsoever.
Oh, we may learn a little about the behaviour
of the human body at high altitudes,
and possibly medical men may turn our observation
to some account for the purposes of aviation.
But otherwise nothing will come of it.
We shall not bring back a single bit of gold or silver,
not a gem, nor any coal, nor iron.
We shall not find a foot of earth
that can be planted with crops to raise food. It's no use.
So if you cannot understand that there is something in man
which responds to the challenge of this mountain and goes out to meet it,
that the struggle is the struggle of life itself. Upward, forever upward,
then you won't see why we go.
What we get from this adventure is just pure joy.
And joy is, after all, the end of life.
We do not live to eat and make money. We eat and make money to enjoy life.
That is what life means and what life is for."
My son once asked me what the purpose of life is if we are all just going to die.
So I told him that the point of life is:
to enjoy it and to be happy,
to help those we can help,
and to let others help us when we need it.
Mallory said the same thing. Life is for enjoyment.
The challenge of surpassing the struggle.
We don't have to all be mountain climbers to enjoy life
or take on a tough challenge like mountain climbing to enjoy life.
Life itself is the challenge. Meeting the challenge brings satisfaction.
People can get joy from satisfaction. But mostly from gratification.
Like how I'm happy when I finish a project. It's very satisfying for me.
Finishing the project is satisfying,
but being able to achieve something, on my own, is gratifying.
Now here's another question:
What is the difference between satisfaction and gratification?
Gratify is to please and satisfy is to do enough to meet basic requirements.
In my example, just climbing the mountain in of itself would be satisfying,
reaching the summit would be gratifying.
Many of us are 'satisfied' with our lives,
but in these times of instant gratification, we end up appreciating less
of the things that are supposed to bring pleasure. It's fleeting.
Especially if the things we are getting our 'gratification' from are of no use.
It's supposed to be about prolonging the gratification. If it is always so instant,
the effects of the stimulation won't last. Arrives instantly, leaves instantly.
It stops being effective almost immediately. Because we got it immediately.
Like how kids will get some new toy for Christmas, and only play with it
for a short time because the gratification was instantaneous.
A kid who has to work towards earning and saving money
for something they really want, chances are they will appreciate having it.
Because the gratification was prolonged. So the effects last longer.
In this modern world of technology, things become instantaneous.
They end up losing meaning after so long. We take things for granted.
Like Instant Messages... Also, Fast Food.
People start to expect things to be fast and that makes them impatient.
Having to wait for something becomes unacceptable.
People give up on things because they 'take too long.'
They rush in and out of things looking for satisfaction.
But even if they find something satisfying, they find out it doesn't last.
What they are looking for is gratification.
But they don't realize that instant gratification also doesn't last.
So they keep looking for all those things that are instantly gratifying.
Just to satisfy their 'needs' or 'desires.' They don't know it is a trap.
They don't know that in order to prolong the pleasure,
they have to prolong the gratification.
Otherwise life stops becoming the search of the best,
but it starts becoming the search of 'this will do, for now.'
And I'm not talking about the best money can buy,
I'm talking about the things that money can never buy.
That's where the gratification is.
Prolonged gratification = prolonged enjoyment.
No matter what it is, if they can climb it, they will.
Even if it seems impossible. They will find a way to do it.
The perfect example of this is a dam some goats climbed up, in Italy.
The wall of this dam is pretty vertical. It's crazy these goats can climb it.
Goats will find all the footholds or hoof holds.
In the spider-man/spider-goat song, it goes:
"Wealth and fame, he's ignored. Action is his reward."
Which brings me to something else I was reading today.
About a mountain climber named George Mallory.
He died trying to reach the top of Mount Everest in 1924.
He was last seen only 800 feet from the summit.
It was his third attempt.
Goats are known to be stubborn and some people are, too.
Especially Capricorn and Taurus. I guess all earth signs are known
for being hard-headed. I don't know if Mallory was an earth sign.
I think he was a Gemini, actually.
But the point I was trying to make was that he kept going.
He didn't give up and died doing it.
Nobody even knew how far he got until they found his body 75 years later.
He may have been the first person to ever reach the top of the mountain.
Some say that he had reached the top and was climbing back down
when got struck in the forehead and died.
They think that his ice axe accidentally hit him in the forehead.
Anyway, there was something he said that I wanted to share.
He was asked why he wanted to climb the mountain. He said:
"The first question which you will ask and which I must try to answer is this:
'What is the use of climbing Mount Everest?'
And my answer must at once be: 'There is no use.'
There is not the slightest prospect of gain whatsoever.
Oh, we may learn a little about the behaviour
of the human body at high altitudes,
and possibly medical men may turn our observation
to some account for the purposes of aviation.
But otherwise nothing will come of it.
We shall not bring back a single bit of gold or silver,
not a gem, nor any coal, nor iron.
We shall not find a foot of earth
that can be planted with crops to raise food. It's no use.
So if you cannot understand that there is something in man
which responds to the challenge of this mountain and goes out to meet it,
that the struggle is the struggle of life itself. Upward, forever upward,
then you won't see why we go.
What we get from this adventure is just pure joy.
And joy is, after all, the end of life.
We do not live to eat and make money. We eat and make money to enjoy life.
That is what life means and what life is for."
My son once asked me what the purpose of life is if we are all just going to die.
So I told him that the point of life is:
to enjoy it and to be happy,
to help those we can help,
and to let others help us when we need it.
Mallory said the same thing. Life is for enjoyment.
The challenge of surpassing the struggle.
We don't have to all be mountain climbers to enjoy life
or take on a tough challenge like mountain climbing to enjoy life.
Life itself is the challenge. Meeting the challenge brings satisfaction.
People can get joy from satisfaction. But mostly from gratification.
Like how I'm happy when I finish a project. It's very satisfying for me.
Finishing the project is satisfying,
but being able to achieve something, on my own, is gratifying.
Now here's another question:
What is the difference between satisfaction and gratification?
Gratify is to please and satisfy is to do enough to meet basic requirements.
In my example, just climbing the mountain in of itself would be satisfying,
reaching the summit would be gratifying.
Many of us are 'satisfied' with our lives,
but in these times of instant gratification, we end up appreciating less
of the things that are supposed to bring pleasure. It's fleeting.
Especially if the things we are getting our 'gratification' from are of no use.
It's supposed to be about prolonging the gratification. If it is always so instant,
the effects of the stimulation won't last. Arrives instantly, leaves instantly.
It stops being effective almost immediately. Because we got it immediately.
Like how kids will get some new toy for Christmas, and only play with it
for a short time because the gratification was instantaneous.
A kid who has to work towards earning and saving money
for something they really want, chances are they will appreciate having it.
Because the gratification was prolonged. So the effects last longer.
In this modern world of technology, things become instantaneous.
They end up losing meaning after so long. We take things for granted.
Like Instant Messages... Also, Fast Food.
People start to expect things to be fast and that makes them impatient.
Having to wait for something becomes unacceptable.
People give up on things because they 'take too long.'
They rush in and out of things looking for satisfaction.
But even if they find something satisfying, they find out it doesn't last.
What they are looking for is gratification.
But they don't realize that instant gratification also doesn't last.
So they keep looking for all those things that are instantly gratifying.
Just to satisfy their 'needs' or 'desires.' They don't know it is a trap.
They don't know that in order to prolong the pleasure,
they have to prolong the gratification.
Otherwise life stops becoming the search of the best,
but it starts becoming the search of 'this will do, for now.'
And I'm not talking about the best money can buy,
I'm talking about the things that money can never buy.
That's where the gratification is.
Prolonged gratification = prolonged enjoyment.
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