Why instant gratification is not just a word but a lifestyle.

He to whom the emotion is a stranger who can no longer pause to wonder and stand wrapped in awe, is as good as dead - his eyes are closed. i believe that is bracing and vital to live in a world in which we do not have all the answers. i believe that we are inspired by what we don't understand and i hope that there will always be an edge between the known and unknown beyond which lies strangeness and unpredictably and life.

- Albert Einstein

So what is Instant Gratification...... 

Basically it's when you want it; and you want it now. It is the opposite of what we've been taught and try too hard to practice - 'delayed gratification'. Waiting is hard, and there is an innate desire to have what we want it, which is usually without any delay.

I chose this topic to talk about today because it is something we hear a lot especially in this era of delayed gratification where we aren't getting what we want and when we want.

So how does it play a role in our anxiety and the tension we face and how does instant gratification play a massive role in our lives today.

I've realized that some of us have this serious issue where we want everything, now. We feel that if it's something which is taking longer to come to life than our anticipation or sounds super brady, then it is either not worth waiting for or it's not worth the effort because we want the results now. It has to be now.

Recap of my last week's existence led me to ponder over this ideology of gratification.

Writing this blog was one such experience. Normally, I'm wired to this principle of instant gratification unconsciously like any other person in my age cohort. Click a picture; get a snappy caption and post -  DONE. Tailoring a single article for this blog took me a couple of nights and a lot of research. After these laborious days, I wait yet another day to proofread it before publishing it. Even after publication, it takes hours and sometimes even days until I get a feedback from a reader or a critic. And this whole process is making me question and rewire the basis of my whole existence. Yes, it is difficult to work for something for a considerable amount of time and still be in a state of oblivion. But we need to have faith.

In instant gratification, the energy you are putting out, you expect a satisfying reaction instantaneously. And with the social media this has become very attainable. We log into Facebook or Instagram, we post a picture and see the likes flooding in, and that is instant gratification. And a lot of times we end up deleting the post if it did not get the anticipated likes or got an unfavorable  response. This is linked to this thing called 'The Pleasure Principle', in Psychology. The pleasure principle is basically the driving force that compels human beings to gratify their needs, wants and urges. These needs, wants and urges can be as basic as the need to breathe, eat or drink. But they can be as complex  as the 'need' for an iPhone 10 or some other cool new product. And it is a form of self-sabotage. Instead of taking the time to actually think and act rationally and really work n something that takes a lot of energy because it is something really amazing, we are all about the now.We are so invested in the now that we don't think long term or we don't wait for things to get good.

I'm sure this must have happened with most of us - when I open a browser and it does not load within the first ten seconds, I close the window and restart the browser again because I can't just sit there and wait for something to happen.

When we don't get what we desire from the action that we put our energy into, our psychological response to that is anxiety and tension and I feel that a lot of us are feeling this anxiety right about now. 

I personally romanticize this mysterious elements to life where we don't know when things are going to happen. We all know that there was a time when we had very little control of when things were going to happen, especially communication which now is so instantaneous and we text someone and if they don't respond to us within an hour, we get pissed at them - the prey to this irrationality, mostly being our significant half or someone important to us.

Half of the things which I've learnt which make me different from the crowd -  be it a new language, a skill or for that matter even a clinical subject which I'm good at, is the result of many days and months of hard work put together. Those things really get you places. It really takes you far. Of course you can survive in this work by knowing a bare minimum but what kind of life is that. We should keep building ourselves. Yeah, it sounds a lot of work because it is; but it will really alter your entire existence.

So, if you have reached until here - the end of this long piece, without getting any anxiety; congratulation, you've already started to practice this concept alienated by us millennials. 

Having patience with oneself is very important. And remember good things take time and delayed gratification is not synonyms with failure.

Have a great day ahead. 

And keep smiling because you look beautiful when you do!