Throwing a MacGuffin

Life is full of these complicated points that seem so important, and lead only to a dead end.
Movies are full of them as well: From the big, important necklace belonging to the matriarch of the house, that somehow ends up in the possession of the maid, or some gruff guy who usually would have nothing whatsoever to do with jewelry, to "Special Important Top Secret" papers in spy flicks. (Cue the pork pie hats and the big, stinky stogies, eh?)

We call these "Seemingly important details that end up being nothing whatsoever" by the title, "MacGuffins".
What is a MacGuffin? Let's ask the master of suspense, himself, Sir Alfred Hitchcock.

Two men are on a train. One says to the other, "What's that weirdly shaped package you have in the baggage rack?" The other says, "It's a MacGuffin." "What's a MacGuffin?!" says the first man. "It's a special device for capturing mountain lions in the Scottish highlands." "There are no mountain lions in the Scottish highlands!" "Then, that's no MacGuffin!" 

Basically, what motivates and directs us, perhaps to tragic ends, is many a time, not the important thing.
I will focus on the future, on continuing growth. The MacGuffins can sort themselves out.