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Lesson 3

Goals in Life

What is it that you want in your life the most? If you have to choose

between wealth, health, time or satisfaction, what would you choose? In
fact, these questions are ageless, and since time immemorial, philoso-

phers have been looking for the answer. Socrates said,” It’s better to be
a dissatisfied philosopher than to be a satisfied pig”. By this, he implies

that spiritual satisfaction is better than material wealth. In contrast,
the hedonists seek the avoidance of pain and the pursuit of pleasure.

Since life is short, carnal satisfaction is the goal of life. Life is short, “lets

eat, drink and be happy, for tomorrow we die” As time passed, the question is still being
asked and the answers are still pretty much the same-and contradictory. For many people,

they want a fat bank account, a cool car, and the time and the means to travel the world.
For others, they just want to be happy, regardless of being rich or poor. They say,” a rich

man who is dissatisfied is always poor, and a poor man who is satisfied is always rich.”. But
what SHOULD be our goal in life? These days where realism and pragmatism seemed to

have become the norm, many people desire material wealth as the prerequisite for happi-

ness. Many females gauge a man’s desirability as a spouse with his financial status. Men in
turn evaluate women on their looks. But neither wealth nor beauty is what the older people
seek: they desire health and time. But the paradox of life is that we can’t have it all. A friend

of mine said,” when you are young, you have health and time but no money. In middle age,

you have money and health but no time. And when you are old, you have wealth and time
but no health.

Comprehension

1. What is the thing that people desire as a prerequisite for wealth?
2. Explain the paradox of life.

Questions

1. What do you want in your life? What’s your goal?
2. Do you think you can have it all? How?

Vocabulary & Expressions
ageless: lasting forever; eternal; undying
immemorial: extending back beyond memory, record, or knowledge
implies: To involve by logical necessity; entail
hedonist: a person whose life is devoted to the pursuit of pleasure and
selfgratification
carnal: pertaining to or characterized by the flesh or the body, its passions
and appetites
pragmatism: character or conduct that emphasizes practicality
fat bank account: an account with lots of money involved

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