Fulfillment does not mean that one should live without Achievement and Success. However, one who is on the fulfillment journey doesn't become greedy for more and more success. One on this path is content but is still inspired to achieve more without greed. One aspires for success – noteworthy success – but one does not make this the only obsession of life. One stops at one's need and transcends beyond Achievement to Fulfillment.
The ultimate gift of Fulfillment is peace and tranquillity. How can a person living with love and laughter, faith and freedom, and energy and enthusiasm ever be unhappy? Peace and tranquillity surround people on the Fulfillment journey.
Together the 11 principles that define Fulfillment are enough to guarantee far more happiness in the Fulfillment journey than in the Achievement race.
The Difference between Achievement and Fulfillment
While those who enjoy happiness coming from the pleasure that is born out of Achievement, the ones whose happiness sprouts from contentment and Fulfillment are far happier. The difference is that pleasure is the raw material of the achievers, while peace is the foundation of Fulfillment. For those people whose joy shines on the Fulfillment peak – they don't see so many valleys of sorrow because essentially, they are content. The greed and craving of the achievers no doubt creates excitement, but also creates heartache and pain that comes from disappointments.
What is the main cause of misery? It is unfulfilled expectations. Therefore, while achievers may have tons of happiness, this happiness is interrupted with sorrow that comes from dreams and goals that are incomplete. Those who evolve from Achievement to Fulfillment learn to base their happiness on contentment. They eliminate the greed that causes misery by being satisfied and content. They realize that it is far greater to be content with the happiness they have than to lose their priceless peace to desires and cravings.
Therefore, the key difference is that the achievers keep climbing their happiness peak with desires, cravings, dreams, and goals, whereas those climbing the Fulfillment peak live a life of joyous acceptance and surrender. It doesn't mean that the ones who are content have no aspiration at all, but it means that their aspiration is devoid of the passion and obsession that pep up the achievers. They no more need a motivation to succeed. They are inspired to live with Fulfillment. The end result is that the fulfilled ones go through less misery, and their happiness bottom line is much higher.
“When we let our GREED become our NEED, we can never be HAPPY indeed!” – RVM
If you look at people who are content and fulfilled, you will see them smiling and cheerful, whereas the achievers are stressed and tensed although they say they are happy. It is not a very complicated difference, and it is seen in day-to-day life. Somehow 80% of the world continues on the Achievement peak probably because they do not realize that there is a Fulfillment peak that can generate far more happiness. Or is it the design of the world that prevents people from exiting the first journey? Or further still is it Karma – the universal law of cause and effect? What grips 80% of humanity from living a life that causes less pain and misery?
It is so simple! Why does a millionaire need another million? Why do we need more and more and more? We don't! But we seem to be animals of habit that want to live by greed rather than by need. Therefore, we become jealous and angry comparing our happiness with others, and our material possessions become the barometer of our happiness.
We all want to be happy! Who doesn't? But when there is a way that is simpler, more joyous, and more peaceful that takes us to a higher peak, why do we humans choose a winding path that makes us cry till we die?
We know we become miserable when we compare our car with those of our neighbours, our house with those of our friends, and our income with those of our peers. Still we continue to do it as if we are searching for ways to be miserable.
If only we chose a life of contentment and fulfillment by living with love, laughter, cheerfulness, faith and hope, we could live a much happier life.
Isn't it strange? The millionaire continues to make money in far more quantum, but cannot equate the quantum of happiness that his own employee enjoys being content and fulfilled. How often do we find the rich and famous going on a quest of happiness amidst the poor and ordinary? They search for the “extra” in the “ordinary” that creates “extraordinary” joy without realizing that it is fulfillment and not achievement that leads to enhanced happiness.
A wealthy businessman was surprised to see a fisherman sitting beside his boat, playing with a small child.
“Why aren't you out fishing?” asked the businessman.
“Because I caught enough fish for one day,” replied the fisherman.
“Why don't you catch some more?” quizzed the businessman.
“What would I do with them?” answered the fisherman with a smile.
“You could earn more money,” said the businessman. “Then with the extra money, you could buy a bigger boat, go into deeper waters, and catch more fish. Then you would make enough money to buy nylon nets. With the nets, you could catch even more fish and make more money. With that money, you could own two boats or maybe three boats. Eventually, you could have a whole fleet of boats and be rich like me.” “Then what would I do?” asked the fisherman.
“Then…” said the businessman, “you could really enjoy life.”
The fisherman looked at the businessman sheepishly and asked,
“What do you think I am doing now?”
Isn't it strange? We all want to be happy, but instead of finding happiness in simple ways, we go through complicated methods to ultimately arrive at the simple happiness that is easily within our reach.
“Life is not Just Meant to Run – Have Some Fun.” – RVM
People run and run and run till life is done. They hardly have any fun. They try to be an ace in life's race and get caught in the maze. They earn and earn and earn only for others to burn what they earn. They regret…. They have no time because they were busy making their wealth, and now when they want to use their wealth, they have no health to use their wealth. Before his death, as one of the final wishes, Alexander the Great had asked his marshals to keep both his hands empty and out of his coffin to let people understand that he came to this world empty-handed and he will leave this world also empty-handed. So it is with all the human beings – we come and go empty-handed. We take the success game too seriously, not realizing that in the end, life is only a game!