We’re now two weeks into the AFL football finals season, and the Grand Final is less than a fortnight away. Four teams are still in the competition, and if your team is one of them you have a licence to dream about the glory which might be yours this year. The big day will come, and the big men will fly. Deeds of courage, athleticism and sportsmanship will be done, and one team will get to celebrate victory at the end of the day.
Then, once it’s all over, it will be time to start preparing for next year. If your team’s already out of the competition, you’re probably already looking ahead to next year. The problem is that, once the mighty deeds have been done, and once the cheers have died away, the prize doesn’t seem to have much lasting value. No matter how well you did this year, everything is still up for grabs next year.
That’s how it is with most things in life. You look forward and imagine in your mind how great things will be when you achieve a particular milestone. Then, once you have achieved it, it no longer adds any purpose to your life, because it is no longer something you can look forward to. The reward is more often to be found in the heat of battle, rather than in the celebration of victory at the end. Car’n the Pies!