Have you noticed?
No matter how great the goal is that we strive for, once we achieve it there is an initial feeling of euphoria. Soon after, this feeling starts fading and slowly gives way to a sensation of emptiness. The sheen of the recent success quickly loses its luster, and we are urged from within to set our sights on a higher goal in order to reclaim a sense of meaning, otherwise we start feeling adrift and restless.
It is paradoxical that accomplishment can give rise to emptiness, while the pursuit of an unaccomplished goal can give a sense of meaning and purpose. Hence, accomplishment can give a lasting meaning and purpose only when there is a new unaccomplished goal that requires fresh energy to pursue. As the good shepherd must always leave 99 sheep in search of one, so must we always leave the 99 sheep of an accomplishment in pursuit of the 1 sheep of a new goal.
Through experiences, we realize that real bliss is derived from the intensity of energy we exert in the process of achieving a goal that contains furthering values. A goal that, just like the horizon, will forever stretch before us into new distances the closer we approach it.
This is the universal law of movement.
~Ikenna Q. Ezealah
Foundation for Ascent 