So I have been reading through Ecclesiastes Lately

So I have been reading through Ecclesiastes Lately. I am sure that in one of my OT survey courses I would have been required to read this book before but, I can't remember it for the life of me. There is the famous passage in chapter 3 that is in the song and people quote the verse about there being a 'time for everything' all the time. But I never really read through this book. I have been paying more attention to the pace of life and issues of the sabbath. Its been somewhat interesting as I read through this book about the futility of the things this world/life have to offer man (or woman). It makes life seem very sad. 'What is the point?' Now I know that, obviously, the things of this world are nothing compared to the eternal qualities of God. but to just read this book on its own could leave someone to think that there is no point to anything. Now, I am only through the first 4 chapters, AND I know that this is probably the direction that the author (probably Solomon) is intending to go. But, so far it doesn't seem to point towards the richness that is found in a life with God. I think I need to take a closer look.
But I have noticed this continual phrase that the author uses 'chasing after wind'. If you try to get a mental image of this it could be quite comical. But if you get past the initial chuckle, it is very rich in metaphorical wisdom. So, if you just went out and began chasing the wind you would be going no where very fast. Furthermore how would you know if you are chasing AFTER, running WITH, or completely off course? OK, so then you would say to yourself, 'I need to study this better and somehow get right in the middle of it. It is too unpredictable to go ahead of it. and I could never figure out where the end of it is. But if I am just tracking it from the middle of the stream then am I really tracking it, or is it just pushing me around. This is how life can be, the more we try to take control of such elusive and cumbersome, and even invisible things, the more we find ourselves either trying to go out in front of something that we cannot predict, trying to follow something that we will never find the end of, or just being tossed around. And what in the world would one benefit from by tracking the wind?