Is life more about the journey than the destination?

[wolfcat87]

Which matters more to you? The destination or the journey you take to get there.

This saying may mean different things to different people.

It can mean that stopping to smell the roses and and enjoy your way to your goals is important.

It can also mean that the little things you do on your journey add up to get you to your destination.

On the other hand, it can also mean that all of life is a journey that never ends. There's only the illusion of there being a destination to reach.

What does it mean to you, and how do you feel about this saying?

I'm inspired by the philosophical alternatives it inspires for different perspectives on what life really means, what we are all doing here, and how we go about it. When I first heard it, what I do in each moment became more important than rushing towards the next goal. No more missing out on all of the little things.

I packed the kids in my car and took a spontaneous trip to join a Rainbow Family Gathering and just breathe, live, relax, and enjoy the here and now.

I no longer had end goals for working out, just learning to enjoy the act of working out and viewing fitness as a side effect of that rather than a goal. Fitness suddenly became a fun habit rather than a chore.

I focused on just enjoying the simplest natural foods rather than dieting. Having a massive bowl of fresh fruits and veggies for breakfast and lunch without any obsession. Just enjoying the taste and look of something healthy for me. Again, my health and fitness became side effects rather than stress ridden goals.

On road trips it became much more common to pause many times along the way. On vacations, winging it on a daily basis became normal.

Big career goals and pushing to work harder and harder became things that either happen or don't based on our own personal enjoyment with our work.

Journey

Destination

Both

Neither

Unsure

[DJB72]

The biggest issue in Western culture is the idea that it's the journey that matters.

The problem is that eventually the journey ends. Good person or bad person, eventually we all end the journey of Life. And THAT'S the destination.

If this life is all there is then it doesn't matter how we live. Why bother being a moral person if all we are ultimately is roughly 3lbs of dust held together by water? Why bother having rules? Why not just take anything you want from anyone else - after all, 80 years from now who's going to care?

But if there's something more than this existence, if this world is just the first act and the big show comes next then it's more about the destination than the journey.

Until about 120 years ago humanity understood that. We recognised the physical sciences were a way to make sense to a finite mind the concepts of an infinite creation. Theology was originally considered to be the greatest study of all because it seeks to draw together the findings of physics, chemistry, biology, sociology, etc and unite them in a cohesive singularity to understand our origins and the intelligence that created not only us, but everything we see around us.

We used to recognise that entropy and decay are the result of nature taking its course. We understood that the "big bang" was the result of God saying "LIGHT BE!!!" in Genesis. We understood that physical laws were written by something intelligent and yet somehow that's been forgotten.

Nobody ever detonated explosives around the raw materials needed to build a 747 and had one be the result of the explosion. Yet modern physicists expect us to believe the universe with all its intricate wonders was the result of an explosion that "just happened" with no external cause?

Our journey - life - has a destination. And yes, how we live along the path is important, but only because it determines what that destination will be.

[wolfcat87]

The point is to be good to others, not make their lives worse, and leave behind a legacy of good works and services to others. Making the world better for everyone.

[DJB72]

That's the journey, sure. What about the destination?

What profits a man who gains the whole world but forfeits his soul?

There's no heaven without the concept of hell

[wolfcat87]

I don't plan to go anywhere. There is no version of heaven that I'd want which means there's no point in working for something impossible for me to get. I would rather just help every living thing I can while here and be recycled at the end..

[sawno]

Considering the destination is death the journey is what matters.

[IslaTheWitch]

Taking into consideration that there is death at the end of life, I would focus on the journey itself :D

I don't have to go the most straight way to get to the destination; I can choose other directions and explore countless possibilities before reaching the final stop.

[WhiteSteve]

Shout out to the 70-some kids in my high school yearbook who said “Life’s a journey, not a destination” as their senior quote because Aerosmith said it in one of their hit songs with Alicia Silverstone in the music video a year or two beforehand😂

As others have said…. death is no kind of destination, even though it’s the destination for all of us. So I’m trying to enjoy the journey for sure.

[Andres77]

If the destination is shyt then the journey doesn’t matter. Destination sets the path. It’s up to one to make the journey enjoyable

[NathanDavis]

absolutely, yes...

[Sabretooth]

if one is lucky.