Yes, it’s true and correct. As a Chinese warlord Sun Tzu said: "an arrow without a goal would not strike through even fine silk." That's why we want our children to make the right choice at the right time and set themselves worthy goals. Therefore, we carefully choose where and what should they learn. Animal trails are as different from the high-speed motorways with developed roadside infrastructure as a parochial school from the modern university.
We believe that everything is working out for us, if we know what our goal is and we are steadily and comfortably moving towards it trying to avoid potholes. We prefer not follow the wheel track made by others more successful, even though this method suits many.
I have to admit that most of my life I adhered to similar views. You set a goal, you have to reach it. Here is the train: fast and comfortably. But the car is better: you can drive at 140 kilometres per hour, and you do not have to wait for hours at the airport. On the other side there is a plane: you take your seat, close your eyes and there you are – you have already arrived. Excellent!
Is it really that impressive? Well, yes, you quickly and comfortably reach your destination. But did you become better because of this? Who were your fellow travellers? Do you remember them? It seems that some old man said something important but what exactly?
"You," they say to you, "passed through the most beautiful cities and picturesque natural landscapes." Passed! In other words, left behind what you haven’t notice. Can you go back and see it? You cannot. You are heading to other cities and landscapes. Anyone who believes in higher consciousness - Christian, Buddhist or Muslim - knows that nothing happens by itself. If the Lord or Fate provides you with an opportunity to meet someone, it’s rather stupid to believe that it happened by chance and does not mean anything. Thus, would it be wise to skip this meeting?
I am the descendant of the nomadic people and Buddhist by conviction. Therefore, I understand the example of Prince Siddhartha Gautama, who travelled around India seeking the truth. Eventually, he found the truth, attained enlightenment and become the Buddha Shakyamuni.
Anyone interested can easily find the Buddha’s enlightenment history. I only want to note that his enlightenment was mostly the result of his journeys. Moreover, the Buddha’s enlightenment was not the end of his journey.
It is known that the Buddha could choose to immerse himself in nirvana or return to people. And, having decided to share his knowledge of attaining eternal bliss with countrymen, he travelled to Indian cities until the end of his earthly journey, stopping his travels for the duration of rainy seasons. It is believed that he sought to spread his teaching as widely as possible. But could it be that at the same time he himself continued to study? It seems to me it could not have been otherwise.
I deliberately overlooked the fact that the Buddha began his journey rather late – at age 29. Until that time, according to legend, his parents tried their best to isolate the Prince from the outside world. He indulged in a life of pure pleasure but he could not leave the palace. Nevertheless, the legend says, Gautama was ahead of his peers in spiritual and intellectual development.
The Buddha himself, of his own free will, left the golden cage. Well, that’s why he is the Buddha. How many of us are able to break out of the comfort zone and get on the road, which possible (just possible!) would lead us to something important? I do not think there are many such brave souls. Therefore, sometimes fate sends us something that (from our point of view) may look like a disaster. But in reality it is a chance.
Everything should have its time. Sometimes it’s really worth hurrying to get to the goal first if it makes sense. But one day you will inevitably have to slow down and answer yourself a simple question: do I really need to get to point B in such a hurry?
In general, the most important thing that I understood is that the road is the greatest blessing given to us from above. The road, no matter how long, is a way to know life and learn many new things. From this point of view, the progress that enabled us to rush on roads trying to achieve our goals, only leads us away from them.
We fall asleep sitting in a plane in one city and wake up in another. What is so good about it? What did we learn about the road we took? We flew half the world and did not notice it. We did not pay attention to our fellow travellers; we did not notice how beautiful the nature was around. We bring from the travel magnets on the refrigerator. And that is the only impression left after trip and the only memory about the road that we did not perceive.
I am not a retrograde. I am not advocating people driving the carts. I only say that the road is not just a part of the journey from point A to point B. If you do everything right, then there definitely would be a prize waiting for you at the point B. We will get it only if we could see the road through the eyes of children. As something good, an amazing adventure, an unknown miracle.
Ah, the roads! It's not just dust and haze of mist... (Lyrics of a Russian song, - Ed.)
As a nomadic people’s son, I perceive the road not just as an integral part of life, but as a life itself. Therefore, is not important to me where the road leads. I will tell you later what exactly is important to me.
I did not count my trips, but I think that I spend precisely a third of my time travelling. I visited more than a hundred countries a year. I make trips to another country every three days. One day, I will share my life hacks on speedy acclimatization or organization of a mobile office. But today I would like to tell you something different. Perhaps nobody knows when people began to pay particular attention to roads. Possibly it happened soon after the great human migration out of Africa. At least the concepts of “road and path” and values associated with them are very ancient.
It goes without saying that every road has a goal. And it is very desirable that such goal be worth the effort. It is not without reason that we often repeat Lenin's words: "We are on the right road, comrades." On the contrary, when we disapprove someone we say: “He is on the wrong path."
It is believed that to "drag oneself a long way on a wild goose chase" is very upsetting. That is, the goal may seem very tempting from the starting point, but when you reach it you realize that it was not worth trying. And you must be very lucky to "Go I Know Not Whither and Fetch I Know Not What" (Russian fairy tale, - Ed.) and come back with a trophy.
