It is a simple, but significant, question. To what end?

There is no end of things to be done. Things that could be done. Things that should be done. Things that can be done. Things that must be done. Things that niggle and exercise us left undone and things we would like to do but can rest without doing.

Much of the time, these things are not necessary. Many of these things are not so significant. Some of them are potentially helpful but most of them are not of great import in the grand scheme of things. So it is always worth asking when presented with these things, to what end are we doing them?

It is not only whether we do these things, but the timing of when we do them. Do they have to be done now or can they wait? Are they so vital they need dealing with immediately or can they be left until another time? To what end are we seeking to do them right now or putting them off for later?

It is not only about what we might do either. It is worth asking the question in our relations with others too. Sometimes conversations need to be had; other times we may well be better letting them slide. Sometimes there is a wrong that needs to be addressed; other times there are wrongs that need to be forgiven and overlooked without any ill will or rancour. The only way to know which it should be is to ask, to what end are we raising or overlooking these things?

Unless we know what we are hoping to gain, it is difficult to know whether we should do anything at all. Unless we know what we hope to happen from a course of action, it begs the question why we are pursuing it? If the hoped for end is not a remotely possible outcome, it helps us recognise whether the action is worth taking.

Similarly, if we have goals in mind with particular actions but we know that they will cause other issues, we have to ask whether the end we are pursuing is worth the fallout of the end we are likely to reach. We may get to the end we wanted but incur so many other issues in the process, the end we were aiming for becomes something of a pyrrhic victory. It’s important to know not only what we’re aiming for but whether the aim is credible and what the ramifications of getting there will be in reality.

It usually pays to ask, to what end?