WORK IN PROGRESS

All of us have an agenda. Quite simply, we can't sit still or nothing will get done. Even a nihilist will try to make a point at one time or another. As a member of the human race I've noticed that we believe in and have invested in progress and we become pleased with the results we see from that progress- be those results good or bad, they are results nonetheless. Sure, a meditating Buddhist monk or a homeless person sitting in one place expecting some charity does not embrace progress the same way most of the world's active economies do, and those at rest are prone to make the rest of us a little confused and uncomfortable; however, they are woven into the same social fabric simply by being human.
We want to achieve power, respect, and some bragging rights by being active. On a more romantic level we hope to find the meaning of life through science, philosophy or religion. Maybe we can look further into space than we did before. Maybe we can even go to those places that once seemed so far away. It certainly gives us hope, and hope certainly fuels progress, and progress fuels an economy that allows us to create or sustain a community on some level no matter how frail that community may be. But we do go forward and we would maybe look back more often if time wasn't coaxing us into the future along with it. It's 11:27pm as I'm typing these words and I expect to be finished by midnight or I won't get enough sleep for tomorrow! See what I mean? It's hard to look back when there's so much to try to prepare for (which is a feeble attempt more than half the time.)
It's interesting to think that we are capable of so much and that we rarely fail to impress each other with great feats previously forgone by our precursors generations ago. We are always proving that we can and we usually don't give up until we do (resources and technology permitting, of course) but what does that really mean? Does that mean that we are a superior being on this planet? Does that mean we are winning? I honestly have a hard time understanding this sometimes. I think we are still driven mainly by very primal instincts and behaviors but the ego has managed to cloak those instincts beneath all the flashy stuff we've made to trick us into thinking that, yes, we are winning... something. For example: If in the future we finally win a ticket to the edge of the universe and we could stand there and turn around and see everything and grasp even just 70% of all knowledge and perspective available to us; would anyone be impressed, and why? At that point everything would be sorted out and we could have our power respect and bragging rights, but what is the worth of those things there at the edge of the universe?

Maybe if we take this moment to consider that we don't have our priorities straight we'll see ourselves from a skewed perspective and realize that we're not too different from a single celled amoeba. This isn't to say that life is pointless, but instead we may have billions of years of evolution ahead of us. Make sure to keep those days open on your calender.