On why we never truly “arrive” at happiness, success, or peace—and why that’s liberating

There was a time I believed that life would eventually lead me to a grand moment of arrival.

A day when the noise would settle.
A day when my purpose would be clear, my body strong, my relationships balanced, my mind content.
A day when I could stand still and finally say—this is it. I have reached. I have arrived.

So I waited for that day.
Sometimes in ambition. Sometimes in meditation.
Sometimes in lists, goals, and checkboxes.
Sometimes in stillness, in hope, in silent prayers whispered into uncertain nights.

But arrival never really came.

Instead, life continued to evolve.
New questions emerged, even as old ones faded.
Peace came for a while—then it left.
Success brought joy—but also pressure.
Even love, when deeply felt, asked for more vulnerability than I was ready for.

And slowly, I began to see that the concept of arrival was never about geography.
It was a mirage on the path. A trick of the horizon.

We keep thinking that “after this,” life will begin.
After the promotion. After the children settle.
After the healing is complete. After the bank account is ready.
After the mind calms down.
But what if there is no after?

What if this—this messy, unfolding, imperfect, unpredictable dance—is the real arrival?

I think we inherit this illusion early.
We’re taught that life is a ladder.
Climb hard, reach high, and finally—you’ll be free.
But ladders, by design, are vertical.
They don’t allow you to look around. Only upward.

True life, however, is a field. A forest. A river.
It meanders. It circles. It repeats. It surprises.

To walk through life with awareness is not to arrive—but to inhabit.
To be present.
To let each step count.
To understand that even the pauses, the detours, the setbacks are not side stories—they are the story.

This shift is not easy.
Because the ego wants a destination to claim.
And society loves milestones to measure.

But the soul—
The soul asks only this:
Did you live today with presence?
Did you show up?
Did you feel something real, even if it hurt?
Did you allow yourself to be fully here, without waiting for the perfect moment?

Arrival, I’ve realized, is not a door you walk through.
It is a window you open inside.
The breeze that touches you as you finally exhale.

So let us stop chasing arrival like a train that might be missed.
Let us return to the platform of now, again and again.
And find in it the sacredness we were always seeking elsewhere.

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Letters for the Inner Journey by Pushkar

If something lingered in your heart while reading this letter, I’d love to hear from you.