Pursuit
"An object in possession seldom retains the same charm that it had in pursuit." - Pliny the Younger
We live in motion, chasing distant goals or short-term escapes.
The pursuit of happiness. Chasing more.
How rare it is to pause and ask why? To be still and simply appreciate where we are.
As a nation we just spent a day being thankful for what we have, only to wake up the next day in a mass fever to buy more of what we don’t.
How quickly the shine of the new fades. How quickly discontent returns; to our jobs, our relationships, our closets.
Why are we always chasing more?
It’s not a moral failing. It’s biology. Pursuit is baked into the brain. It’s helped us evolve; driving innovation, exploration, and survival.
But any strength overused becomes a liability.
As Pink Floyd sang: “And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but it’s sinking / Racing around to come up behind you again.”
Our endless chase pushes fulfillment just over the horizon, again and again.
Addiction as a Teacher
I’ve come to understand pursuit by watching how addiction has played out in my own life.
Nicotine. Alcohol. THC. Different substances, same story.
The anticipation was always better than the experience.
With nicotine, the itch would demand to be scratched, only to immediately feel a wave of disgust.
Alcohol wore the mask of fun but left a residue of anxiety.
THC was sneakiest—one moment I’d feel content and the next, a subtle, almost imperceptible tug would begin. Sometimes it lasted hours. Sometimes days. But it almost always ended with me back at the dispensary.
A few joints on the weekend might not seem like a big deal. But that quiet habit stood between me and who I wanted to be.
The Shift
What finally helped me break free was mindfulness.
I didn’t call it that with nicotine. But a book, Allen Carr’s Easy Way to Stop Smoking, gave me a framework to understand what was happening in my body and mind. I learned to observe rather than react. And after ten years of smoking, quitting was, astonishingly, easy.
Nicotine was the most physical. I could feel and name the cravings.
Alcohol and THC were rooted deeper. Psychological. Emotional. Subtle.
That’s where meditation came in. Mindfulness is just the act of paying attention to what you’re paying attention to.
Over time, it helped me build the awareness to pause, notice, and investigate the thoughts behind the cravings.
Simple in theory. Fiendishly hard in practice.
But every time I felt that tug toward THC, I used it as a cue. Where is this coming from? What triggered it?
Each time I got curious, I built a little more strength. Even when I gave in, I learned something.
Change is a process. And the process lives in the brain.
The Chemistry of Pursuit
Whether we’re chasing a substance, a job, a feeling, or a future, the same neural mechanics are at play.
Dopamine is the molecule of more - our brain’s gas pedal. It is the neurchemical fuel of pursuit.
Serotonin is the chemical of contentment -our brake. It’s released when we feel safe, connected, and at peace.
Dopamine surges in anticipation. It peaks before we get the thing we want. Then it drops.
That’s why the buzz fades. That’s why the new job, the new thing, the new partner never quite matches the promise of the chase.
Companies know how dopamine works and create their digital products to leverage it.
Meanwhile, serotonin rises when we feel grateful. When we’re in nature. When we’re helping others. When we’re truly present.
Not many companies peddling that product these days.
Is it any wonder why feeling at peace is such an exceedingly rare state of being?
The Teeter-Totter
If you picture dopamine and serotonin on opposite ends of a teeter-totter, you’ll start to see how this dynamic plays out in our daily lives.
Pursuit vs. Presence. Desire vs. Contentment. Craving vs. Peace.
The key isn’t to eliminate pursuit. It’s to recognize what it’s soothing.
I’ve spent most of my life avoiding discomfort - seeking escape from anxiety, restlessness, or unspoken feelings. Especially the unpleasant kind.
That avoidance kept me locked in the chase.
But what finally shifted the balance was sitting with them. Allowing them. Feeling them.
Releasing them.
I used to think awareness would lead to a clean break. But the truth is: it’s a gradual, granular shift. A daily balancing act.
The cravings still come. The pathways of emotion still fire.
But the signal is weaker now. And I recognize it and have developed strength to redirect it.
Away from the pathways that kept me in place me and toward the endless potential of new ones.
Tis the Season…
This time of year invites reflection.
As we wind down the calendar and consider who we want to be in the next one, it’s worth asking:
What do I find myself constantly pursuing?
What feeling am I chasing?
What do I believe I’ll finally feel when I get there?
And what need—right here, right now—is driving that pursuit?
Because as sages have taught for millennia; Nothing external can fulfill the deepest longings of the soul.
Rumi writes “You wander from room to room, hunting for the diamond necklace that is already around your neck.”
The answer has always been, and will always be, within.
If we’re willing to sit still long enough to hear it.
-Coach Kris
P.S. After a holiday weekend full of Wicked, I finally got that soundtrack out my head writing this AM when the lyrics from Pink Floyd’s Time popped into my head.
I’ve been singing the lyrics to this song, and whole album, for every 30 years. I realize the profound truth expressed with each passing year. We only have so much time for these earthly pursuits…
Time
Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
You fritter and waste the hours in an off-hand way
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way
Tired of lying in the sunshine, staying home to watch the rain
And you are young and life is long, and there is time to kill today
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun
And you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again
Sun is the same, in a relative way, but you're older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death
Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time
Plans that either come to naught, or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way
The time is gone, the song is over, thought I'd something more to say
