Either you get to destination or get an experience of journey

Following poem in Hindi inspired this article, I don't know who is the poet but the lines touched my heart.

??? ?????? ?? ????? ??? ?? ??, ????? ?? ?? ?????? ??? ??.,* (On my way, I met an aquaintance)

*???????? ????? ??? “????” ??? ??,* (He asked me if I am enjoying)

*????? ???? ???? “????” ??? ???..,* ( I responded, I am with happiness)

           *?? ???????? ???* (then he asked)

*???? ?? ???? ??? ???? ?????? ??..?* (what is the difference in enjoyment and happiness?)

*???? ?????? ?? ????? ???? ??,* (I had to tell my acquaintance that)

*”????” ?? ??? ???? ?????,* (for enjoyment you need money)

                    *??* (and)

*”????” ?? ??? ?????? ?? ????? ?????."* (for happiness you need friends and family)

*????? ???? ???? ?? ???? ?????,* (One should try till his last breath)

*"?????" ???? ?? "???????" ????? ????? ?? ????? ????* (Whether you get to the destination or get the experience of travel, both are important)

When you undertake a journey to reach a destination it becomes your goal, however whether you get to the goal or not, but your efforts taken in reaching the destination gives you a great experience. Because they say goal attainment is a by-product of one’s journey. The journey to achieve a goal is governed by: both the person you become along the way, the skills acquired, the connections made and the inner growth which takes place. The underlying message is that life never goes according to plan.

The famous Australian Tennis star Arthur Ashe had said “Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome.”

When your focus is on the goal alone, you forfeit the lessons and wonderful experiences that lie in-between. Goals are meaningless without the intermediary process to get you there. The journey is where your goals are formed and realised. The journey builds your character: the character is shaped on the path to your goals. Strength of your character is developed throughout the journey via the trials and lessons experienced therein.

Helen Keller reminded us of the virtue of character in the following quote

“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.”

We all can see, the journey becomes the focal point, since you gain innumerable resources along the way which renders the goal far more rewarding in the end. You’ve heard it said that successful people are adaptable. They know what they want and pursue it with intense determination. They are receptive to the process of life and do not have fixed outcomes on how their goals will be achieved. More importantly the journey becomes a continual process of refinement, leading you toward your ultimate victory – the accomplishment of your goal and the strength of character to match.

Consider that the destination is like a fixed dot on the map, the journey started by connecting those dots. Journey is what happens while trying to reach a destination, i.e., life and the destinations keep changing sometimes as they can become obsolete and new ones appear on the way while the journey doesn't because it's the same one and it continues the same or other way but it is always forward journey.

The journey is the only thing real: it happens now. The destination is an illusion, that happens either in the past or in the future. Destinations are milestones and give direction in life. The journey is the life. Without our destinations, any road can take you anywhere, and at the end, the only thing that will matter is the way how you traversed the road: the journey.

Destinations will make you proud. The journey will make you wiser and stronger. Destinations come and go. The journey is one and unique. If you want to know someone deeply, seek and learn his/her journey and not his/her achievements. Everybody has some similar achievements, but the journeys are unique and distinct. Happiness is a state of mind that should be attached to the journey, and not to the destination: the destination will give you a sense of ephemeral achievement, the journey will give you happiness.

And therefore, the simple secret about life is that your happiness is in your journey, in your life, in what's happening now and not in your destinations, in the past or the future. Change your state of mind, and the world will change around you.Stay blessed! #kishoreshintre