In this world every person is running only to obtain something. But the important question is this that what is he running for. And what method is he adopting to get that desired thing. Alongwith this, what is his actual goal. 
                    Yes, what are the means and what are the ends. Everybody is just confused about it. A child takes birth and grows innocently under the guidance of his parents but when he grows up, all cunningness surrounds him. Owing to cunningness, he runs after money relation and respect. It's fine, that he is running after these things. They are necessary also for life. But after attaining these things, he wants to preserve them.  First question in his life is, how to earn them and then second question is how to keep them safe. His whole life is spent running to and fro after these two questions. And the human life is wasted. 
               Now, the question arises, why we say that the human life is wasted. Just because if we brood over the question and it's answer, we find that he is running after means not ends. All material assets, all worldly pleasures are only the means to  lead a rich and peaceful life that everybody wants, that everybody desires for. 
                But just stop and give a thought to the point that did he come on the Earth, had he taken  birth to achieve these worldly pleasures only. Certainly not, these are only the means and he has come to attain his goal. The goal is to get salvation from this cycle of birth and death. 
                 To attain this goal of salvation, he has to work hard and gather all these commodities to make his world materialistic rich first. He thinks after gathering all these, he can sit peacefully. But lust and greed do not allow a man to sit peacefully. Every time new desire pops up and he has to run to fulfil that. There is no end to it. Ultimately, he gets tired and sits aback. Now, he thinks within himself and comes to the conclusion that all that he was running after, was only an illusion. The truth is something else and the goal of life is something else. Then he understands this all with patience and after that he starts pursuing his goal, the end of his life.