Of course the question is: where? "If you don't know where you're going, you might not get there," said Yogi. When you go someplace on vacation, you're just going to come back again, so why spend the time going? In order to make progress, you have to know where you're starting and where you want to end up. Do you have to make progress every day to be a success? When I go to bed at night, I have to be wiser or richer or smarter or more beautiful or . . . what . . . than I was the day before? And who is going to evaluate that progress?

Me. Because it is inbred that I need to make progress every day. When you look at a thermometer, you can evaluate if the temperature is going up or down. You can measure the temperature. When you look at a bank account, you can easily evaluate if the pile is getting bigger or smaller. When you count the number of steps you take in a day, you can quickly (and constantly) tell if you are moving toward your goal. (If you walk backwards, does it deduct steps?)

So we need a life scale, a life thermometer. I suppose that's why there are all those "places to see before you die" or "bucket lists" or travel stickers on the suitcase. I am convinced that most of us just want to live through the day, eat or sleep, laugh occasionally, get up the next morning and do it all over again. "Write a 250 word essay on buying apples." There's a goal. "Write a 500 page novel." "File your taxes by April 15th." "Lose twenty-seven pounds." "Bench press a hundred pounds." Add up all these short term goals and pretty soon you have a life. But do we want it to just be measured in days, months or years?

I don't know about you, but I'm still working on where I'm going.