We live in a world where we want everything now. We want Amazon Prime shipping, Get-Skinny-Fast diets, the ability to order groceries through an app, and once we post a picture on Instagram, we want 200+ likes immediately. Although some of these things can be more efficient and convenient, some of these searches for instant gratification can be detrimental to relationships and self-growth.
Take social media, for example, you take a picture and post it on Instagram, and immediately people start liking that picture. This sets off dopamine neurons in your brain, making you crave more. The problem with this is that we do not know when to stop. We don't know when enough is enough. Is it 100 likes? 300? The thing is, there's no stopping point. You hit one goal, say 100 likes, and then you are constantly moving to the next one. For example, if your last photo got 100 likes, you hope your next one gets 150. If you fail to meet the next goal or the picture you post after the previous one has fewer likes, somehow that picture is deemed unworthy, and you might delete it. We are so caught up, as a society, in taking the "perfect photo," rather than living in the moment. We seek that instant gratification based on the number of likes we get on a picture. This practice can be detrimental to relationships because when you're spending time with someone focused on your Instagram feed, your body might be present, but your mind sure isn't. We miss out on making memories when we're so caught up in capturing "perfect" moments.
Another form of detrimental instant gratification is the quick fix now. What do I mean when I say that? I mean that as a society we have become foreign to the concept that "good things take time." All we want is the end result. We have grown bitter towards the journey. Take fitness for example. No one wants to accept the fact that in order to lose weight healthily, they need to eat right and workout over an extended period of time. It can be weeks or even months, depending on a number of factors, before you begin to see a change in your body. It does not happen overnight. It is not only fitness where we as a society crave quick fixes. We want a quick fix for depression, grief, injuries, relationships, and many other things. We often forget that healing takes time. Whether that healing is physical, spiritual, mental, or emotional. There are no quick fixes. There are pseudo-fixes, but in the long run, they do not work. Patched up wounds get reopened if not properly healed over time. They look fixed, but then all someone needs to do to reopen it is simply rip off the band-aid. This form of instant gratification is detrimental to self-growth. There is no journey, all there is, is now. But it isn't about the now, it is about how far you've come.
There are many other forms of instant gratification that are present in today's society, but the main points to be made are; don't miss out on the memories, and learn to appreciate the journey rather than falling victim to the now.
