Do you...

[easyguy]

...typically seek happiness or gratification instantly (short-term), or do you believe in and foster delayed (long-term) gratification?

[vandgsmom]

I don't think that I look for either, specifically.

 

I tend to accept the joys that each situation brings when they come, but I do understand that love and passion both grow more potent with age.

 

I don't understand the whole tantric viewpoint where waiting is a religion (and I mean in things other than sex, too). I mean, it proves your strength, but sometimes life dosen't offer the same opportunity twice... you know?

[AwdreeHpburn]

yes.

 

 

I mean both.....

[LostInMyThoughts]

i look for both.

[onewithbooks]

i am going against the grain here. I go for the long term.

[renaissancewoman101]

I have a bad tendency of seeking short term gratification because I am so afraid that i will lose the opportunity if I dont take it right then and there.

[rocio]

Delayed gratification often brings more immediate satisfaction than instant gratification.

 

Did you ever notice how the expectation of things to come is often better than the achievement of it?

[caro33]

Both, but I probably do the delayed thing more for career goals etc, and the immediate thing for food, exercise and health related aspects.

 

But now I think about it more, I define career, education as "delayed" because it takes longer, so the ultimate gratification (if we view the higher salary or actual degree as the goal rather than enjoyment of the process) is delayed. But that isn't my choice.

 

I guess delayed gratification is better if you worry at all about not being fulfilled even if you have everything. Building on hazey's last post, you get to anticipate the good feeling rather than just consuming it and then wondering what's next. This works for me, but it also conflicts with my impatience and hatred of uncertainty.

[finewhine]

Oh, I am all about delayed gratification! I'm 27 and I'm still working on getting the career I want, taking horrible pains to achieve it. By the time I have "everything" I think I want right now, I'll be at least 35.

 

Maybe I'm talking about "delayed adulthood," since at the rate I'm going, I won't have a kids or a husband or a house for at least another half-decade.