Delay of Gratification

Life is like a box of chocolates, said some boy in that movie, Forrest Gump. Truly, that is something everyone can concur with. But not all of those chocolates are sweet. Some are sweet, but most are not. Some are bitter, black, and foul in taste. An assortment even comes with different size, shape, not to mention flavor. We can likewise laugh in triumph and satisfaction, or grimace in pain and failure. And in the mist of these crossroads of emotions and mixed feelings are expectations and goals. Whether it is scoring in your first soccer game, getting an A in your chemistry test, or counting down the days till Christmas, goals remain as goals to be achieved, and goals remain as profound sources of happiness and satisfaction when we achieve those goals. But I can daresay that these goals have different degrees of happiness and satisfaction involved. It is hard to describe in words the entirety of the concept of delay of gratification. The longer we wait for something, the happier we are when we get that or achieve that. But I recently realized something. I realized that sometimes, the excitement of the anticipation and the expected happiness that comes just at the moments before the actual “thing” itself is sometimes more sensational. Sometimes, it just so adds up to be that the actual “thing” is not really as good as what it expected to be. In that case, the moments leading up to that, the hours, days, or weeks waiting for that “thing” to take place is more worthy. This unorthodox form of delay of gratification can be used to tell what really is worth it for you. If the happiness and satisfaction of that actual “thing” exceeds that of which you get from the moments leading up to that, then voila, your pursuit was well rewarded and for good reason and purpose.