Setting positive goals

This part of the text has a lot of information that we might not grasp at first glance. It is a long segment and reveals a lot of facts that help us build up our understanding of Gilgamesh. The character embarks on his voyage to Utnapishtim to ask him how he got his place besides the gods. He gets help from Urshanabi, who makes him build a raft to sail the sea of death towards the person Gilgamesh was looking for. There he meets the person that confronts him with a task that may seem easy, but he was meant to fail at it. He is told to stay awake for seven days, which he sleeps for most of the time. This is a very disappointing fact because it’s a failure that Gilgamesh wasn’t expecting, and it’s a big obstacle in his mental plan. Utnapishtim broke his plan for eternal life. “Then Gilgamesh said to him: What shall I do? Who takes us away has taken hold of me. Death is in my chamber when I sleep; and death is there wherever I set foot” (p.77). Gilgamesh is really worried about his future now that he couldn’t get the secret for eternal life out of this guy, although he did get a great advice.” A secret of the gods I will disclose. There is a plant that lives under the waters, thorny to seize, as a rose is thorny to seize. How-The-Old-Man-Once-Again-Becomes-A-Young-Man is the name of the plant that grows under the waters.” (p.79). Gilgamesh feels better after he learns about the plant; because even if it won’t make him immortal, it will help him be young again which is a good part of what he wished for. And this is the magic many people wish and expect, sort of like the search for the Holy Grail by our ancestors. Many people turn their lives to greed and desire for unlimited riches and power, and they end up wasting their time in useless ways. Like Gilgamesh, some people think that they are better than other and that therefore they should be able to live longer or have more privileges. Instead of wasting our time aiming for impossible, we should learn to set high goals and accomplish them, but goals that not only are possible, but beneficial to us and those who surround us. So learn to difference between useful and productive goals, and greedy and pointless ones. This will make the difference in your life and in the lives of theirs if you choose to impact them. Make right decisions, and seek good goals, because only this will take you to living a happy and worthy life.