Key to the door

“You think you’ve arrived, doncha?” he said. “I hate to break it to you but you’re only in the first room.” He paused. “It’s not nothing—don’t get me wrong—but it’s not that great either. Believe me, there are plenty of people in this town who got to the first room and then didn’t get any further. After a year or so, maybe longer, you’ll discover a secret doorway at the back of the first room that leads to the second room. In time, if you’re lucky, you’ll discover a doorway in the back of the second room that leads to the third. There are seven rooms in total and you’re in the first. Doncha forget it.” 

This was Graydon’s ‘seven rooms’ speech in the book and later film 'How to lose friends and alienate people.'

It does seem that to grow and move towards the next room is most important. Or else we keep going round the same room, rating the same rants, stuck with the same prejudices. And our state of being is not a dynamic equilibrium. We are not moved or surprised by events. We don't lose ourselves and later simmer down to our normal state. Instead, nothing seems to take us out of that room. We have closed down the windows and doors. We remain static. Set in a fixed temperament. 

Whatever we do in that room is less significant than getting out of that room. Growing out of it, rather. Just as individual achievements are secondary to the result - pass or fail. Have you moved to the next class? There you get more exposure. Eventually there will be a time when you can choose subjects which you love to study and ignore those that don't excite you. However, it is important to get there. And to get there, we have to keep moving to the next room.