Journey or Destination – What is more important?
Posted by Alok on March 31, 2007
That day, rather night, I was having a discussion with a friend on this topic. She was of the opinion that journey is more important and the end result is only secondary to that. I do not totally disagree with this philosophy but according to me what’s the use of a journey with a pre-defined destination if you do not reach where you were headed to, to be more precise what exactly is gained when the dream you pursued via that journey remains a dream.
To put in my point more firmly, let’s take the example of a bus journey. Let’s suppose I take a bus to reach a certain destination. Now if I keep on roaming around in the bus for the entire day, I may have seen the entire city and I may now know the place better, but did I reach the place I intended to? Will I be happy that after wandering around for hours and hours I am still away from where I wanted to be? The most probable answer is NO. It would have been much better had I also reached the destination I always wanted to reach. I would have cherished the journey and experience much more had that been the case.
A second example can be a job interview or an interview for admission into a B-School. We all prepare for months to crack the interviews. We introspect, we study, and we read what we have never bothered to care about. We know ourselves better; we dig out instances proving we are the right candidates. We try to put on a new avtar of someone who is pro-poor and who will help the unprivileged ones once he is out of a business school. Does this help in becoming a better person? Agreed, it does make us know things we don’t know about ourselves. We become richer in experience. The journey is enjoyable. But if at the end of all this, we don’t have an admission offer, I can bet on the percentage of people who will cherish this journey. How many of them will truly say that even if I am not there, I am happy? How many will say “The journey was very enjoyable so the destination doesn’t matter”? To these people, if there are any, I ask the same question: Did you achieve what you looked for?
A farmer toiling in the fields for months, hoping for a bumper crop is happy only when the crop is good and the fruits are ripe. He doesn’t cherish the journey if the crop is spoiled by rain or by the lack of it. Imagine the face of an employee who after working for one full month is told that since you enjoyed the work, you won’t be paid. After all journey is that what matters.
I believe that “Journey was enjoyable” is an excuse phrase used by people to console themselves once the destination is lost in translation. Even out of people quoting this, how many actually believe in this is questionable. I am sure these people would not want to take this enjoyable journey again if they know that again they won’t reach at the destination. Journey is enjoyable only when the purpose of it is fulfilled. Achievers value destination more, journey being only a medium. Let me see if that friend of mine is a little more convinced about this. That will make the journey of writing this piece much more enjoyable to me.
April 2, 2007 at 5:37 am
sometimes journey itself is the destination
Bschool interviews and all are an experience in themselves whether they yield a positive result or not
Life the biggest exam is also a journey whose destination 99.999% ppl dont even know let alone reach it
April 2, 2007 at 5:46 am
Destination is the end of road or the end-point…Can you tell me wats ur end point? Is it MBA or the rating u rcv at the end of yr or ur love or the end of it all-DEATH or the life itself?
April 2, 2007 at 5:46 am
True, agreed for the case of life being a journey and people not knowing the destination in life. But even for things where destination is known and decided, like a B-school intw etc, journey is just a way to reach there. The distinction here is “for a visible destination, what is more important?”.
When somebody is on a journey to a larger goal(like self improvement etc), journey is that what matters, but for 99.9% of destinations and goals, reaching the destination is more important.
April 2, 2007 at 5:57 am
Its not about end points, its about the destinations which are pit-stops in the longer journey. An MBA or the rating etc are milestones which need to be achieved, people work hard to earn them, and if they dont get what they want to it leads to dejection.
Death is not a destination, its the end of everything. Nobody treads the journey of life preparing for death.
April 2, 2007 at 6:03 am
alok a quote from geeta
“karmanye waadikaaraste maa faleshu kadachann
ma karm falheturbhumo maat sangosatv karmini”
means in life destination or results are not something that one should worry about just follow the duty that is yours
hope that helps
April 2, 2007 at 6:06 am
and one more thing “When somebody is on a journey to a larger goal(like self improvement etc), journey is that what matters, but for 99.9% of destinations and goals, reaching the destination is more important.”
rnt ur 99.9% goals subservient to the large goals
or to put it differently i cannt see how can be the 99.9% of even the remotest of importance unless and until its not in accordance with ur benefit/improvemnt as an individual(larger goal)
April 2, 2007 at 6:06 am
“destinations which are pit-stops in the longer journey.” -Hey u hv answered it urself…….
April 2, 2007 at 6:18 am
“destinations which are pit-stops in the longer journey.”
It just means that these pit stops are important. I have already said life is a bigger journey. But that does not reduce the importance of these pit stops. And somebody who follows F-1 racing would agree with the importance of these pit stops
April 2, 2007 at 6:22 am
“rnt ur 99.9% goals subservient to the large goals”
Again agreed, but these 99.9% goals are important in order to reach that larger goal. A subservient thing is as important as the larger thing it is supposed to serve.
And somethe mbody just reminded me of a statement made in the movie Guru, “Main sehat ke liye nahi daudta, jeetne ke liye daudta hun”.
A journey however enlightening or enriching it may be, is not totally fruitful until u reach ur destination.
April 2, 2007 at 6:32 am
But who said that pit stops are nt important…we were only talking in terms of more or less..the very fact that they are too many make them less important…few of them here or there dont make a difference at all…
April 2, 2007 at 6:38 am
u discussed abt a situation in which one works hard but still doesnt get the desired result….lets take a vice versa one….u r assured with everything that u desire at the time of ur birth itself….wud it satisfy u then?
April 2, 2007 at 6:40 am
wudnt u want to live thru it then or something we call as “experience”
April 2, 2007 at 6:41 am
Goals of life keep on changing,
but the traits u require to reach those goals i.e. hardwork, patience, introspection, fight-back attitude, dealing with fear of failure etc.
remain same to fulfill any aim.
Journey gives u an opportunity to polish urself in these fundamental elements of success.
The more u can imbibe these traits, the better is ur success:failure ratio
April 2, 2007 at 6:47 am
Okey so let me clarify. I only said “Journey is more cherished and becomes more enjoyable, when it leads you to your desired destination”. I said destination is more important, i never said journey is not at all important.
April 2, 2007 at 6:53 am
U havent told me yet wats ur destination(nt the pit stops)???For a F1 Racer its winning the race…..wats urs
April 2, 2007 at 6:54 am
“u r assured with everything that u desire at the time of ur birth itself….wud it satisfy u then?”
Desires and goals keep on changing as we grow up. So destinations also change. very small and trivial desires are also important which are person/ situation specific. So i don’t believe that anyone can assure me of whatever i want to at a particular stage of my life.
April 2, 2007 at 8:05 am
ur Destination????? is there one? or are there only pit stops
April 2, 2007 at 9:25 am
for sum its an excuse but for others its being positive…not carrying the burden of the past…
btw i agree that u r more happy when u reach ur destination….but ya every journey is a learning whether successful whether unsuccessful…in life learn from your mistake, do swot analysis and move on….Be happy and motivated watever the outcome is…..
April 2, 2007 at 11:44 am
“ur Destination????? is there one? or are there only pit stops :-)”
My destination is not meant to be shared on public posts. Since there are some journeys which are treaded alone
April 2, 2007 at 1:26 pm
fine….then will take that with u offline…
April 2, 2007 at 1:29 pm
And yes,it was a nice post and interesting too…but next time I must get very careful …..it can be publicised….
…
Waiting for some more of them…
April 3, 2007 at 8:07 am
I think these examples of monthly salaries and farmers toiling his land are absolutlely no-fit for the situation…a recurring process can never be a destination….are you saying that our destination today is the monthend salary…… god pitty, if monthend salary is the destination for someone…then y would that person leave a handsome salary given by companies like HLL or Schlum…after all the destination is what he/she cares for!!
The monthend salary is one of those things that makes the journey enjoyble…we all work here because our ultimate destination is a happy life that fulfills our expectations….and to achieve that we chose the paths where the journey is most rewarding or most timely rewarding.
Today, you may not achieve what you have destined for as your short term ( or may be long term-for some people)…but this will led you take a path which might be more rewarding for you..given that you are totally unaware of that.
Ask yourself…Do you regret today, that you did not get through the IIMs 2 years back, n joined Inductis?
The destination that you aim for today might be different from what you had aimed for 2 years back..Didn’t the journey change that thought?…..May be its more rewarding for your long term destination…..or may be it will again change tomorrow!!
The crux is everybody does not get what he/she aims for because his/her decisions might not be right,always. The final destinations are written, man can only dream and try his/her best to fulfill that dream..and for that he sets some smaller milestones. He might have set wrong milestones, but had he never done that, he would have never been directed towards the right milestones. Thats when he learns that “Journey was Good” and People say “Its an excuse!!”
April 3, 2007 at 9:23 am
a good live wire touched dude.. i just want to add that it’s actually about perception and attitude towards life(however cliche it may sound !!).. as i can see that neither you nor your commentators could budge each others’ stands on the subject.. i prefer the middle path though.. the world still remembers columbus for discovering the great land of america even if that was not ‘his’ destination.. then we have the eg. of santiago in alchemist or the monk who sold his ferrari.. napolean had everything that men crave for as ‘destinations’ in life- power, riches, fame, women- yet he reached saint helena and declared “i have not found 6 happy days in my life”.. so i just want to say that your perception of the word ‘destination’ is very tangible or material in nature.. B-school entrances- the destination here is not reaching Harvard/Stanford but doing a good MBA, having a good higher education, in the long run ‘value-addition’ to you as a human being.. afterall, you would agree that brands do not automatically mean value right ?.. perception again i would say.. at the same time it’s important to understand that whatever you consider as your goal/destination- be it self-improvement or winning F1- that should not waiver.. for instance, i set out to become a singer and in my struggle realise that hey, i can play guitar too and because i have networked with enough musicians(journey part) now and my chances of being a guitarist are better than being a singer(courtesy, market), let me be a guitarist and conclude that my journey was more important due to the learning/networking/experience/crap.. hope u got my point.. moreover, u may or may not last till the destination so its very important to ‘enjoy’ your journey to call it life at the end of the day.. cheers !!
April 3, 2007 at 10:40 am
oye meri jaan hit ho gayi teri post to
May 24, 2007 at 2:35 pm
Intersting hai! People fighting over journey and destination, when half the time they dont know what the journey is like, or what the destination is going to be like!
“The definite destination” is an illusion, because you think its the beginning of another journey to another destination! (Even, for instance, you MBA is nothing but another journey to get a job, or be respected by people for what you’re worth!).
Well- for me, the distinctions are clear. For the materialist, destination is important. For the idealist/spiritualist- journey is. But for the practical/realist- there isn’t much of a difference between the two
January 3, 2008 at 12:27 am
Is mans destiny, to journey to a finite destination or perhaps our destiny is an infinite journey. A destination creates dimensions. ( A start and end) An infinite journey dissovles all bounderies. Life flows in an infinite journey, since we are part of life so do we flow. We have reached our final destination because we never left it.
March 7, 2008 at 4:15 pm
buddism teaches that when you go to nervirda that means you reach your destination.one person has one soul when you die your soul is still around to be born because you still have greed.they sometimes say death is the destination of life and the important thing is that how much you can do before you die.you know the middle way?no happy or no sad.