The chase is full of blazing hope, simmering excitement. And the goal holds the promise of immense happiness. But once it is achieved, the joy often turns out lesser than imagined. Which means that the thrill is more in the journey than the destination.
Confirming this is a recent study by a team of researchers at the University of Chicago, who attest that whether the goal is to get the girl or simply the latest gadget, the excitement lies in the chase.
Why is the journey more memorable when extra effort is required to reach the destination? Human nature since time immemorial has been aspirational and we instinctively desire things we presume would make us happier, says Vikrant Dutta, an Armed Forces personnel.
“The feeling of possession is a short-lived joy before the heart settles next on something else it desires. The entire circle repeats itself. Desires are directly proportional to our imagination, hence there can be no limits to this pursuit. When things are easily available, we don’t value them and expend time and effort in chasing something we don’t have, something not in our realm. That is actually the driving force,” adds Dutta.
Since we are genetically programmed to walk the path, passing from one transient target to another, the pain along the way has its own pleasure. It’s the hunger that makes the food delicious. If you are full, the choicest of delicacies seem tasteless.
Blogger Arnab Ray avers, “It is always the journey and almost never the destination for human beings (even though we would like to believe otherwise) that is more blissful. We start out our lives with certain financial goals. When we attain them, we don’t feel really happy because the goal was never really the goal, it was the journey. Which is why we then set higher goals and embark on yet another journey. Replace ‘financial goals’ with ‘achievement’ or ‘love’, and you can see a pattern emerging.”
Struggle is a way of life and an inherent part of our existence, says lyricist, singer and writer Swanand Kirkire. “It’s in man’s nature to keep struggling. It differs from person to person. My struggle is all about making myself better in whatever I do. It’s a journey to learn and put myself in a better position and I am quite happy with the struggle as in the end it’s worth every sting.”