Journey as beautiful as the Destination

I was on a 10 day trip to Sikkim along with my family and friends. It is one of the most beautiful places in India for sure! To see maximum places possible, we kept our itinerary jam-packed. From one hotel to another, from one tourist spot to another, just travel, travel, travel. The initial days were fun, but then it started to become a bit tiring. The journey was getting boring and irritating. The boredom made me wonder, “I am in one of the most beautiful places in the world, and yet, why is it not making me happy? Why do I feel like this?” It clicked my senses back and I started noticing things rather than waiting for the next destination. I started noticing the beauty of the place during the journey, the drivers and their mannerisms (which is way better than Mumbai standards 😊), the freshness in the air and the flowers all along the road. Soon, before I knew it, I started enjoying the Journey as much as the Destination.

This experience got me thinking. Am I following this pattern in life? I set my dreams and goals as I will be happy once I achieve them. But when I think about the road to achieving those dreams, I realized that I spend more time in negativity than positivity. I am stressed, irritated, impatient, angry. And then once I achieve them, how long am I happy? Probably for a few days or months.

Remember the time, when you finally bought your dream mobile phone or your dream car or your dream house. How long did this feeling of happiness last? The longevity of contentment depends upon the importance of the dream. But then, we zero in on our next aspiration and start working on it. Eventually, to achieve our every dream, the journey becomes stressful, and we stop enjoying it. And hence, the time we spend in negativity while chasing our dream is longer than after its fulfilment.

Let’s take a moment and think, “Is the time spent to achieve my dream longer than the life of happiness once I have achieved it?” If yes, then why don’t we decide to spend more time enjoying the journey instead of drowning in negativity? That day, I decided to enjoy the challenges and obstacles that came along in my way of reaching my destination. I started to celebrate even my small victories way before I reached my end goal. And thus, my happiness time increased.

On our flight back home, my son Vivaan asked me, “How much time to reach Mumbai?” And as usual, he was disappointed to know that it will take more than 3 hours to reach. And I smiled. Taking a deep breath, I said,” Enjoy the flight Son, we will reach our destination on time.”