Process or Product?

Does the Journey matter more than the Destination?

Or is it simply a means to an end?

You could argue either way I guess:

"And I'm so glad that this has taken me so long, 'cause it's the journey that has made me so strong"

"It's not the long walk home that will change this heart, but the welcome I receive with every restart"

If I walk to uni or get the bus there, either way I arrive at my lecture. So then the journey counts for nothing, I arrived all the same.

But if I walk I'm exercising and getting stronger, I can breathe in fresh air & arrive refreshed and ready to concentrate. And then the journey matters alot, it changes how effective I am at studying.

Ultimately my end goal is heaven. Whatever happens to me now is of little significance, I will still make it, I have been saved for eternity. How I live my life appears not to matter, after all it's not the long walk home that will change this heart... I could easily leave here & spend the rest of my days hiding out until the world ends or I die. If the end product remains the same no matter what, why bother with a journey?

Growing is part of the journey; asking, listening, drinking in the world, questioning, watching, learning, creating, loving, breaking & mending. These things are life giving, an innate desire of being human. If I don't take in the journey, how will I know when I've arrived? It's the journey that makes us strong, that teaches us how to live, to be alive. The journey is vibrant, colourful, messy & so worth it.

But which is more important? To simply arrive at the destination or to relish in the process of getting there regardless of where it is that I arrive?

I think the answer is....neither. I cannot deny myself the pleasure of living, to feel alive, hear the wind in the trees, soak up the sun & take shelter from the rain; but simultaneously I cannot forget the end result. To take joy in both...that would mean embracing all that is now & all that will be.