Of course, there is a caveat. Many would say that the very pursuit of a goal is a fulfilling lifestyle, like Woolf's To the Lighthouse. We are likely to at least get somewhere toward our goal: even if we do not win the Nobel Prize, we make some great discovery and are respected by our scientific colleagues, even if we are never appointed to the Supreme Court, we become a great federal district judge. But we are still bound to end in disappointment, insofar as we fail to achieve the goal. Perhaps we can make an argument in favor of this lifestyle nonetheless, because it is necessary for human progress for there to be individuals who are driven to attain the highest social achievements. Yet, I wonder how many people actually need such a narrow drive, how many people who became great were driven by such a narrow goal--I suppose this is an empirical matter.
Perhaps what we can instead do to define self-fulfillment was suggested by Yaron: the pursuit of valuable activity. If we enjoy every moment of our lives, and can find contentment in our day-to-day activities, perhaps we can n this way be fulfilled. That does not mean stoically lowering our expectations. And it does not mean that we do not need to have some achievements in order to find a position where we can begin to engage in meaningful activity (we do live in society, after all!). But it does mean finding meaning in the activity, without reference to any goal that is very specific or very long-term. For me, those things include teaching, litigating, making big decisions on an everyday basis, etc.
But Yaron is right, I think, that this observation is, for many, crushing.
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