This is what you are looking for in life, and it is the only thing you are looking for...

Have you ever asked yourself; what am I looking for in life?

Why do I get up in the morning? Why do I do what I do?

What motivates me to work? What is the purpose of my activities?

Why do I want more money? Why do I want better position at workplace?

Why do I want a new car? or a bigger house?

Why do I want a pretty girl by my side? Or a good looking guy?

Why do you want a lavish vacation, and post about it on Social Media?

Why do you want to be an "entrepreneur", or a high-ranking government official?

Here is the breaking news:

In all the endeavors of life, out of everything you do...

You wish to relax. That's all.

Let me repeat; through everything you do, you only seek relaxation.

Its a simple thought, but very profound. I'll explain how. And you will love it.

Say for example, you want to make more money and buy a new car because somewhere inside you want to show it all off to your relatives. Some people have such aspirations. You could have some thought similar to this too. Actually its very few enlightened and conscious people who are content with themselves. Almost everyone wish to prove something to their relatives. And if you are born and raised in India, you do aspire to prove yourself to your relatives. So now that we have identified an aspiration, lets move forward and understand how your only intention is to relax.

The reason you wish to prove your worth to your relatives is because somewhere in your life, your relatives have made you feel small. They have hurt you or your parents because of your shortcoming. Or you must have had parents who were never content with whatever you did and demanded more and more out of you (not to bring the best out of you, but because they measure their success among their peers with the metric being your achievements). Now you are not at ease. The thought of your relatives insulting you or your parents aches. Or your upbringing that has molded you to never be content with anything has become a sore. You seek relaxation from this ache. Therefore, you think the only way out is to actually prove yourself in front of your relatives. Hence, you want to make more money and buy a new car. Because car, and house, and promotion, all of these are a symbols of success. You don not seek these substances directly, you seek only relaxation. And in the absence of the right path to attain relaxation, you set out to seek these substances.

Learn to relax: That is all you seek in life!

Here is another example. This is what most people do: Someone works a job they do not like. They have created a lifestyle with the money they get from their job. They have bought a car they are paying for. They have got a house. They have a family to support. This lifestyle they have created needs financing. That financing comes from the money they get from their job. The moment they no longer have that particular job, and no other job better than the existing one (either one in a bigger company or one that pays more), they run the risk of losing what they have built. They are scared that they won't be able to have the same status in the future which they currently have and would be thrown off the status race.

In this pursuit, one is not trying to optimize ones time and contribute to the best of one's ability in a sector of one's choice. One seeks to manage the status quo of one's current lifestyle. Though feeding the family doesn't take much resources, but maintaining a lavish lifestyle does. Here in this example, the person seeks relaxation from the uncertainty that could come when the person jumps ship.

Another example: One likes to help poor people and the animals. The person thinks that s/he is obliged to do so. This could be because somewhere in life, that person could have felt as if s/he could have done more towards others. S/he feels inadequate that earlier s/he couldn't. Here the person wants relaxation from the feeling of being inadequate. Although this entire activity of helping others is net positive and more people must do so, but you must at least be aware about the actual ache you are trying to soothe with your actions.

How does one relax?

Well, relaxation comes from realizations. There are some key realizations one has to have in life. But that is for another time. That is all for now.

Remember: People seek nothing but relaxation from almost all of their endeavors.

Practice: What ache are you trying to soothe with your actions everyday? Take a note of that and keep a journal along your path to a more conscious existence.