“Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done And on the labor in which I had toiled; And indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind” (Ecclesiastes 2:11, NKJV). This is the Preacher’s honest assessment after chasing achievement for its own sake.
It’s a sobering verse, especially for anyone who’s built a life around accomplishment as the source of meaning. All that labor, evaluated honestly, came up empty.
This isn’t an argument against work itself. It’s an argument against expecting work, on its own, to supply the meaning only God can actually provide.
Is there an achievement you’ve been chasing that, if you’re honest, might turn out to be grasping for the wind rather than lasting substance?