The Reward is The Journey

I’m sure the above statement has been said by someone else. At least in many different ways, by many different people. It is central to bringing about mindfulness in your life. We typically focus on the results, the end game. Why are we doing this? What will we gain from doing it? Goals are nice, they help motivate us. Unfortunately, we can lose part of the reward by skipping the journey. Some things we want or need can be uncomfortable on the way to obtaining them.

Exercise is a great example! We can sometimes enjoy the physical discomfort of lifting weights or running for miles, but more often, we simply want to “get through it”. We want the result of working on our mental health. Going to therapy, reading, meditating and exploring our inner self. This can be uncomfortable, really uncomfortable at times. So we focus on the result. “This is good for me.” Yes, it is typically “good” to strive for personal development and evolution. We all want to show our authentic self to the world.

What about us? If we sacrifice ourselves along the way, we are usually unhappy with the reward. Part of rushing through the journey is this sacrifice of self. We are not honoring our own experience. We are not mindful of the discomfort and how amazing it is we would do this for ourselves or put ourselves through something we don’t necessarily “have” to. What about “getting” to do this? How fortunate are we to have the opportunity to choose discomfort in order to build our character? Pleasure and pain are both subjective. We choose to feel a certain way about things.

So next time you find yourself focusing only on the end result, think about the gift of the process. Embrace the pain of strained muscles at the gym or the tears that roll down your face when you realize you’re not proud of something you’ve done in the past. This is all part of your reward.