what does the journey continues mean

Journey vs. destination: Motivation experts break down which one to focus on to reach your goals

New studies reveal how to use metaphors to motivate yourself.

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There's nothing more natural than using path- and travel-related metaphors. We've all spoken of "long roads ahead", "heading in the right direction", or "taking a wrong turn." Szu-Chi Huang and Jennifer Aaker , psychologists at the Stanford School of Business, say that path-metaphors aren't just a convenient way to describe our goals. They recently conducted six studies involving over 1,600 people who were pursuing fitness, diet, and educational goals and found that whether people focus on "the journey" or "the destination" makes a big difference to motivation and success. We reached out and asked about the differences between the two kinds of metaphors, and how we can use them to motivate ourselves at each stage on the way to our goals.

Journey versus destination

The destination is "like a dot on the map," says Huang, "It's the desired end-state of all our striving." If you're trying to lose 20 pounds, then 20 pounds lighter is the destination. According to Huang, thinking about the destination highlights the difference between where we are now and where we want to be: "Knowing there is an ideal state and they are not there yet, that gap motivates people," she says. It's not just the beauty of our goal, it's the pain of not yet having achieved it.

Journey metaphors, by contrast, "draw a line from your current state to your future state and illuminate what it looks like." Thinking about the journey calls our attention to all the things we'll need to do, the obstacles and milestones, the highs and lows along the way.

Starting the journey

Big goals can be exciting, but they don't come with directions. It's easy to say "I'm going to get into great shape this year," but that doesn't tell us what to do tomorrow. Therefore, thinking about the journey is especially important right at the beginning.

If you're setting out on a fitness journey, for example, Huang recommends prepping the same way you would for an actual physical trip. "What do we do when we're going on a trip? We buy the equipment we need: the appropriate shoes, the gym membership, whatever tools we need. We prepare by reading books or taking a course." Also, notes Huang, most people don't like to travel alone, so this is the time to find travelling companions with similar goals.

Focusing on the journey also "helps us to map out the milestones and sub-goals that we'll need to reach along the way." At the outset, focusing only on the final destination can be discouraging if we don't have a clear path to get there. Huang says setting out milestones gives us immediate direction, allows us to experience small successes along the way, and builds in opportunities to review whether our companions and equipment are still right for the next stage in the journey.

On the path to victory

According to Huang, whether we should keep our eyes on the prize or focus on putting one foot in front of the other depends on where we are in the journey.

In research for a 2017 article, she found that thinking about the destination can be demotivating in two ways. When our goals seem unattainable, "we tend to disengage because we don't like to commit to things that are impossible." This is especially a problem in the early stages of a journey when the destination is still far-off and we haven't proved to ourselves that we can hack it.

Yet we also disengage when goals are too attainable. "It's a tortoise and hare effect," says Huang, "Losing one more pound sounds simple and I won't care about it much, so maybe I'll just go grab a dessert." When a journey is going well and the end is in sight, small sub-goals seem less relevant and we start to slow down.

When this happens, "It's time to bring back that big destination." Huang suggests using visualization to help bring your final goal to life. "If I want to lose five pounds, I visualize the dress I want to look good in or imagine myself in a situation where my friends can compliment me on feeling so much fitter in my workout class." When we visualize things, it engages our emotions and makes it personally relevant. For Huang, saying she wants to "lose five pounds" won't do the trick, "A number is just a number. There's no emotion around it, no relevance."

How to keep climbing once you've reached the summit

When we reach our goals, it's normal to relax and forget about the long slog that got us there. This makes sense when our goals are limited in scope. But many goals are really about lasting personal change. As Aaker puts it, "The point of education is not the diploma, it's to keep learning in the future. The point of getting in shape is not to lose the extra five pounds, it's to keep the weight off and maintain your healthy habits into the future.… In this light, success isn't the short-run win; it's the subsequent activity that you adopt after you achieved your goal."

If we're trying to establish long-term changes, focusing on a destination that we've already reached might hurt our chances. We've closed the distance where we are and where we want to be that used to motivate us. This is why people tend to revert to their old behaviours once they've achieved a fitness or weight-loss goal. 

The six studies on fitness, dieting, and educational goal that Aaker and Huang recently published revealed that, "Across each of these studies thinking about success as a journey helps people see greater change and personal growth," says Aaker, "which fuels them to continue eating healthily and continue learning after achieving their original goals."

The reason that focusing on the journey helps people keep up their good behaviour is that it reminds us of the distance we have crossed, the gap between who we were when we set out and who we are now. "When we have positive change, we want to hold onto it. We don't want to go back to how we were," says Huang.

It also helps us internalize the behaviours that we used on the way. As Huang puts it, "If I think about the journey, I feel like I've changed. I'm now the person who works out or is mindful about eating." And when the behaviours become part of her identity, Huang says "I'll do it with or without reward. You don't need to incentivize me and give me points for going to the gym anymore, this is part of who I am."

How do we take advantage of this powerful effect? When you've achieved a goal, take some time to reflect on how you got there. Think of the ups and downs on the way and link the behaviours that you used with the positive change that you experienced. To make this reflection more powerful, Huang recommends documenting your progress along the way. "Take photos if it's a physical change. Journal and take notes along the way, the more personal the better." If you haven't recorded your journey, says Huang, it's still worth doing. "Close your eyes and think for a few minutes about what happened last month. What changed in the last month? These are the things we want to make a connection to using this journey mindset." Either way, the key is to find a sense of positive growth and link it to the behaviours that helped you achieve your goals.

Clifton Mark writes about philosophy, psychology, politics, and other life-related topics. Find him  @Clifton_Mark  on Twitter.

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Bible Verses About Journey

Photo credit: © Unsplash/Fancisco Delgado

1 Kings 19:4

Deuteronomy 10:11, exodus 3:18, exodus 40:36, genesis 29:1, jeremiah 29:11.

Proverbs 22:6

Psalms 23:4

Psalms 91:11

Psalms 119:105.

Psalms 146:9

Romans 15:24, numbers 9:13, proverbs 3:5-6.

Judges 18:5-6

Genesis 12:1-2.

The Journey Summary & Analysis by Mary Oliver

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis
• Poetic Devices
• Vocabulary & References
• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme
• Line-by-Line Explanations

Mary Oliver's "The Journey" first appeared in her 1963 collection No Voyage and Other Poems . The poem is about the importance of taking charge of one's own life and leaving behind negative influences. Despite being one of Oliver's more personal poems, and including references to real events in Oliver's life, many readers will identity with its themes of self-reliance and integrity. This has helped to secure its place as one of the most popular poems from one of America's most popular poets.

• Read the full text of “The Journey”

The Full Text of “The Journey”

“the journey” summary, “the journey” themes.

The Importance of Self-Reliance

Line-by-line explanation & analysis of “the journey”.

One day you ... ... bad advice —

though the whole ... ... at your ankles.

Lines 10-13

"Mend my life!" ... ... had to do,

Lines 14-18

though the wind ... ... was terrible.

Lines 19-22

It was already ... ... branches and stones.

Lines 23-26

But little by ... ... sheets of clouds,

Lines 27-29

and there was ... ... as your own,

Lines 30-32

that kept you ... ... into the world,

Lines 33-36

determined to do ... ... you could save.

“The Journey” Symbols

• Lines 6-7: “though the whole house / began to tremble”
• Lines 14-16: “though the wind pried / with its stiff fingers / at the very foundations,”

• Lines 25-26: “the stars began to burn / through the sheets of clouds,”

“The Journey” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Lines 3-4: “though the voices around you / kept shouting”
• Lines 14-15: “though the wind pried / with its stiff fingers”
• Lines 17-18: “though their melancholy / was terrible.”
• Line 33: “determined to do”
• Line 35: “determined to save”

Extended Metaphor

• Lines 19-26: “It was already late / enough, and a wild night, / and the road full of fallen / branches and stones. / But little by little, / as you left their voice behind, / the stars began to burn / through the sheets of clouds,”
• Lines 31-32: “as you strode deeper and deeper / into the world,”

Personification

• Lines 1-2: “knew / what”
• Lines 3-4: “you / kept”
• Lines 4-5: “shouting / their”
• Lines 6-7: “house / began”
• Lines 7-8: “tremble / and”
• Lines 8-9: “tug / at”
• Lines 14-15: “pried / with”
• Lines 15-16: “fingers / at”
• Lines 17-18: “melancholy / was”
• Lines 19-20: “late / enough”
• Lines 21-22: “fallen / branches”
• Lines 25-26: “burn / through”
• Lines 27-28: “voice / which”
• Lines 28-29: “slowly / recognized”
• Lines 30-31: “company / as”
• Lines 31-32: “deeper / into”
• Lines 33-34: “do / the”
• Lines 35-36: “save / the”
• Lines 1-2: “you finally knew / what you had to do”
• Line 13: “You knew what you had to do”
• Line 23: “little by little”
• Line 31: “deeper and deeper”
• Lines 35-36: “to save / the only life that you could save.”
• Line 1: “One,” “finally,” “knew”
• Line 6: “whole,” “house”
• Line 7: “to,” “tremble”
• Line 8: “felt,” “tug”
• Line 9: “at”
• Line 15: “stiff,” “fingers”
• Line 16: “foundations”
• Line 17: “melancholy”
• Line 18: “terrible”
• Line 19: “already,” “late”
• Line 20: “wild”
• Line 21: “full,” “fallen”
• Line 22: “stones”
• Line 23: “little,” “little”
• Line 24: “behind”
• Line 25: “began,” “burn”
• Line 30: “kept,” “company”
• Line 31: “deeper,” “deeper”
• Line 33: “determined,” “do”
• Line 34: “do”
• Line 35: “determined”

Alliteration

• Line 15: “fingers”
• Line 22: “branches”
• Line 23: “But”
• Line 1: “knew”
• Line 2: “you,” “do”
• Line 3: “you”
• Line 10: “life”
• Line 11: “cried”
• Line 13: “knew,” “you,” “do”
• Line 14: “wind”
• Line 15: “with,” “its,” “stiff,” “fingers”
• Line 20: “wild,” “night”
• Line 28: “slowly”
• Line 29: “own”
• Line 31: “strode”

“The Journey” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• (Location in poem: Lines 10-11: “"Mend my life!" / each voice cried.”)

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Journey”

Rhyme scheme, “the journey” speaker, “the journey” setting, literary and historical context of “the journey”, more “the journey” resources, external resources.

The Poem Out Loud — Listen to a recording of Oliver reading "The Journey."

Oliver's Life and Work — Learn more about Oliver in this biography from the Poetry Foundation.

The Summer Day — Another of Oliver's best known poems, which similarly touches on the theme of taking charge of one's own life and happiness.

Mary Oliver and Amazement — An article by Rachel Syme about Oliver's legacy for the New Yorker.

Oliver's Obituary — Read Oliver's 2019 obituary in The Washington Post.

LitCharts on Other Poems by Mary Oliver

Good-Bye Fox

The Black Walnut Tree

The Summer Day

Ask LitCharts AI: The answer to your questions

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Definition of continue verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

• If the current trend continues , that number will increase 165 per cent by 2050.
• Police have not yet made any arrests, but investigations continue.
• + adv./prep. The exhibition continues until 25 July.
• Fighting continued for four years .
• The rain will continue into the evening.
• Unions declared that the strike would continue indefinitely.
• Life continued on as normal.
• Work continues apace on the second phase of the development.
• The tradition continues to this day .
• + adj. The violence continues unabated .
• continue to do something The economy is continuing to grow .
• The number of car accident deaths is continuing to decline.
• Costs continued to rise .
• The rain continued to fall all afternoon.
• continue doing something The rain continued falling all afternoon.
• The process continued throughout the day.
• Work continued until nightfall.
• The trial is expected to continue for three months.
• Work on the new road is expected to continue for another two months.

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6 Stages of the Journey of Faith and Why You Need to Know Yours

I love following trails. The less traversed the better. The woods of North Idaho, the lake trails of Minnesota, the four-wheeler paths of Alaska, and the jungle routes of Northern Thailand are my happy places. If you tell me there’s a path to follow my feet are almost compulsively drawn there.

This hasn’t always been the same source of joy for those who love me as it has been for me. Take that one time in Israel, for example. I was seventeen (and perfectly capable of taking care of myself, thank-you-very-much) when our tour bus stopped in a quiet parking lot. We were at The Gates of Hell. I’m not kidding. This was the physical location where Jesus stood with His disciples when Peter proclaimed that He was the Son of God and Jesus replied, “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” ( Matthew 16:18 )

It was a wild declaration in a wild place: a place where a pagan temple once stood and children were sacrificed at the gates of hell. Jesus stomped all over that playground of idolatry with the feet of the Living God. The gates of hell will not prevail… 

Just sit with that thought for a moment.

After being introduced to the significance of the place, I heard our tour guide say, “We’ll gather back on the bus in thirty minutes. There’s a trail over there that leads to a stream and the bathrooms are by the shop in the parking lot.” Now, this is apparently not what everyone else, including my parents, heard. I heard “go explore” while they heard “head for the bus.”

However, there was that trail, and without a second thought, I was off.

A blonde teenager.

At the GATES OF HELL.

Well, we all have those moments when we’re not so smart, right?

I remember it so clearly: the meandering dirt path, the sunlight through the trees, the dancing brooke, the sweet conversation I had with Jesus. I was in my happy place.

I didn’t stay long, trying to be mindful of the time, and as I emerged from the woods onto the open trail, a man approached me. He was walking briskly and looked amused when he saw me. He said something into his radio, turned around, and motioned for me to follow him quickly. 

We jogged back up the path and when the bus came into view he simply pointed.

Everyone was on it. Waiting for me. Praying I hadn’t been kidnapped for ransom. My parents were thrilled that I was fine, and I was mortified.

Who knew a trail could cause so much trouble? I try to be a bit wiser now, but I still maintain that a trail is an invitation that should not be passed up. It’s leading somewhere. Maybe to a waterfall, a mountain top, a camping spot, or a placid lake, but if there’s a trail there it’s usually because people have trod that path before in search of the something that lies beyond the asphalt and concrete.

GROWTH AS A CHRISTIAN

So it is with the Christian life. We are all on a journey to the heart of God. We know it all starts with the exchange of Christ’s life for our own and it ends in the glorious eternity of dwelling with God in heaven, but what of the in-between? This messy, mucky, mixed-up middle ground? Is there sense or order to our development as Christ-followers?

The Bible speaks often of growth and development. As believers we move from milk to meat ( Hebrews 5:13-14 ), maturing from receivers of simple truths to teachers of the Word, and Paul regularly prays for the church to grow in wisdom and understanding so they (we) can bear fruit ( Colossians 1:3-11 ). Even the meta-story across Scripture of God’s plan and process through Creation, Fall, and Redemption paints the idea of movement through stages.

Our great Creator loves order. I think He even loves a good story with a beginning, middle, and end, and all the plot twists in between.

And it just makes so much sense to me as I see countless parallels between our lives lived in the body and our lives lived in the spirit. Parenting would be chaotic at best if we couldn’t foresee the predictable stages our children would progress through: infants to toddlers to children to adolescents to young adults. Can you imagine working on potty training if you had no hope that it was only for a season?

The Christian life would be uncertain at best if we had no hope of future glory and the sanctification process along the way. We need markers of development to assure us that we are making progress and that we are indeed on the same path of faith our spiritual role-models walked. Especially when we hit that really gnarly bump in the middle (more on that in a bit).

THE 6 STAGES OF THE JOURNEY OF FAITH

While what I’m about to present to you isn’t specific biblical truth, I do believe it is spiritual wisdom. Saints throughout the ages have looked for ways to understand the journey of faith, including John of the Cross and Bernard of Clairvaux. More recently The Critical Journey: Stages in the Life of Faith by Janet Hagberg and Robert Guelich has provided helpful commentary on the predictable path we find ourselves on as we walk toward Christ-likeness.

Here is Janet’s comprehensive description and recent podcast if you want to dig deeper.

For our purposes, I’ve simplified their model a bit. And I really felt that it needed a map, of sorts. So here it is, in the best stick-figure glory I could muster:

As with any model, it’s not perfect, and we don’t always fit neatly into the categories, but much like how personality profiles can help us understand ourselves and operate with greater understanding toward others, this spiritual-life profile can help us navigate the work of God in our lives and move forward with greater trust and hope.

STAGE ONE: THE SEARCH FOR GOD

We recognize our need for a savior and accept His invitation to new life. This is the point of belief, of being born-again.

STAGE TWO: THE LIFE OF DISCIPLESHIP

We are hungry to learn everything we can about God and what His truth means for our lives. We want to belong and will search for a community of faith where we are fed from the Word.

STAGE THREE: THE PRODUCTIVE LIFE

We want to give back to the God who gave everything for us. We start looking for ways to share our faith and do good deeds. We ask if we have a personal calling from the Lord and take a step of faith to pursue it (i.e. taking a role in the church, starting a home Bible study, helping a neighbor in need, focusing your craft more on spiritual matters, becoming a pastor or missionary, viewing parenting as discipleship).

STAGE FOUR: THE WALL AND THE WILDERNESS

Often triggered by some form of suffering, we are suddenly made aware that what we are doing for God isn’t working anymore. We might feel burnt out from all our activity in the previous stage or we might be frustrated that we’re not seeing transformation in our own lives or the lives of those we are trying to reach. We often revert to more learning to become better equipped or redouble our efforts of service to hopefully see results. But eventually, we still end up at the wall with the choice to keep on looping backwards in the journey or to surrender to a major work of the Spirit in our lives.

STAGE FIVE: THE JOURNEY INWARD

We accept that deep change is necessary and we struggle through a season of deconstruction as God works with us to expose idols and egos and His heart in pursuit of our own. We begin to reconstruct our relationship with God based on intimacy, and a new sense of self-realization leads to more profound God-realization.

STAGE SIX: THE JOURNEY UPWARD AND OUTWARD

We learn to live out the greatest commandment: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind; and from that life of God-love the second commandment flows: Love your neighbor as yourself. ( Matthew 22:37-39 ) We may still revisit times of testing and refining in the wilderness, but hope is secure and our hearts are fully surrendered.

WHERE ARE YOU ON THE JOURNEY?

Can you see your spiritual life at one of the points on this map? The first time it was introduced to me at a Spiritual Director’s training, I felt incredibly relieved, perhaps like a puberty-stricken girl who was finally told that armpit hair was normal. I talked about it for days to anyone that would listen. Did you know that we have stages of spiritual development just like physical development? Have you ever heard that hitting the wall is a normal and even necessary part of Christian growth? My own story suddenly makes so much sense now! Oh yeah, I totally geek out over stuff like that. 

But even if you don’t get as excited about it as I was, I hope that you find it encouraging to know that we are all on this journey together . It’s a beautiful path, and not as dark or mysterious as you once thought. No, it’s not going to be easy, but the best things rarely are. 

So keep pressing on, dear one. Further up. Further in.

Try writing down the bullet points of your own faith journey. Where do they fall on this faith map? What is God saying to you about the stage you are in right now?

My own journey through the wilderness and how I made it over the wall is recorded in my book, Colliding with the Call: When Following God Takes You to the Wilderness .

Related posts

Am I Willing to Die?

Water from the Rock

A Wilderness Excursion Through the Bible: Part 2 – Waiting

The “map” of the journey of faith is simply profound and I so appreciate the sharing of your own experience to illustrate the concepts. As usual, your creativity and masterful articulation impress the reader, yet you are careful to direct our attention to Jesus as the Center and Focus of our lives and journeys.

Thank you, Debi. I’m humbled by such gracious words. As long as I keep pointing people to Jesus I’m doing okay!

This comment probably won’t add anything of spiritual virtue to your well written article, but it might help your readers to understand the depth of worry for those of us that were on the bus worried sick about that beautiful, young blond girl that had gone missing when we were visiting “The Gates of Hell”. Our visit to Israel was in the fall of 2000 and the Oslo Accord had just been broken. The President of the U.S. put out a travel advisory not to travel to Israel. My parents (Corella’s grandparents) pleaded with us to cancel our plans to go to Israel. Obviously we did not heed their advise and went anyway. So when Corella, who had always been very punctual and methodical about following instructions did not return to the bus on time, it was not much of a leap to jump to the worst conclusion. Praise God that the “lost” was found and “The Gates of Hell” did not prevail!!!

I love you, Mom. Thanks for taking me to Israel and for praying over me then as you still do now!

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• Cambridge Dictionary +Plus

Meaning of continue in English

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• add Would you like to add any further comments?
• go on He went on to say that there was little point in intervening at such a late stage in the process.
• state further He stated further that he felt honoured to be given such an exceptional opportunity.
• continue "Let me give an example," he continued.
• The repair work on the south-bound lane of the motorway will continue until June .
• Please resume your seats , as the performance will continue in two minutes .
• I'd like to continue this discussion but we're all out of time .
• Football's popularity continues to grow .
• The story continues over the page .
• (it's) business as usual idiom
• bubble away
• carry (something) on
• in the making idiom
• insist on doing something
• isochronous
• protraction

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

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tape measure

a strip of plastic or metal used for measuring that can be rolled up when not being used

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The Journey with Jesus to Transformation

Why does the character we long to have take so long to develop?

• Come now — duete meaning "Come!"
• Follow me — opisow mou meaning "[Follow] behind me!"
• I will help you become — poieisow humas genesthai meaning "I will help you to become."
• I commit to Jesus now.
• I follow behind him to know him, to learn from him, and to take on his way of living, loving, and saving.
• I recognize that as I keep doing those two things, Jesus promises to help me to become whom he wants me to be
• I will help you become.

• The Journey with Jesus to Transformation .
• Keeping My Eyes on the Prize .
• Learning to Dance with the Spirit .
• Unleashing God's Holy Fire .

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Why Do We Say, ‘Life Is a Journey Not a Destination’?

No one else will live the same life as you because there is no one like you. Therefore, we say “life is a journey, not a destination” because it reminds us that life is an ongoing journey of learning and growing.

A common saying spoken is “life is a journey, not a destination.” This is a very popular phrase that is used across the world. If a person hears this saying often or it becomes overused, it can lose its effect.

The phrase “life is a journey, not a destination” is meant to be impactful and encouraging, but why do we say this phrase?

The Journey of Life

The poet Ralph Waldo Emerson, is credited with the phrase “life is a journey, not a destination.” These words are true because life is a journey, not a destination. Life is an ongoing journey. A destination is a place you arrive at or an endpoint.

Life has no arrival or final destination. Life is an ongoing journey and adventure. Throughout our lives, we are going to be constantly traveling, maturing in our faith, and growing older.

When we are living our daily lives, it is important that we step back from the hectic rush of life and truly enjoy the journey. Our journeys in our lives help us grow into the people we become.

In our Christian walks, we need to be striving to include Jesus in every aspect of our journeys of life. The Bible tells us we are only pilgrims on this earth. C. S. Lewis often spoke about how we as humans are only pilgrims passing through on our way to be with the Lord.

Philippians 3:20 says, “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.” Our lives are our journeys, yet our final destination is heaven.

During our earthly lives, we will never land at our final destination. As long as we have breath in our lungs, God still has a purpose for our lives.

God is constantly telling individuals throughout the Bible to “go” ( Matthew 28:18-20 ; Genesis 12:1 ). Throughout our lives, God wants us to keep going and to share the gospel with others as well as to disciple them and help them grow in their faith.

The Christian faith is truly a journey, and it is a hard one. Many individuals believe after one becomes a Christian that their life will automatically be made all better.

While life does get better after becoming a Christian because you know Christ, it does not automatically fix all of your problems.

In other words, the Christian life is a hard journey filled with many ups and downs. John Bunyan’s novel The Pilgrim’s Progress  does a fantastic job of illustrating the journey of life for a Christian.

The journey of life becomes extremely difficult at times, but God walks with us through every step ( Psalm 23 ). In our own pilgrimages, we need to lean on God and trust Him.

He truly does know what is best and we can fully trust Him. We have nothing to be afraid of because God loves us, and He will direct every step of our life if we allow Him ( Proverbs 3:5-6 ).

The Final Destination

The final destination of our lives lies in our own hands. Our eternal fate lies before us. It is up to us whether we decide to accept Jesus or not.

Throughout our lives, it does not matter how many “good deeds” we do if we do not know Christ. Our goodwill never outweighs our bad. Paul tells us “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” ( Romans 3:23 ).

As human beings, we need to carefully examine ourselves and see if we have placed faith in Christ. We can have amazing lives by our own standards, but if we don’t know Christ and we never lived for Him, our lives would not be pleasing to the Lord.

The world tries to tell us that our final destination is our job, finding the right spouse, or buying a huge house, but that’s not true.

This way of thinking causes individuals to have an incorrect view of life as they will always be striving for their “final destination” rather than living the journey of their life for Christ.

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It is a dangerous business to live our lives for ourselves and neglect Jesus’ influence in our lives. As Christians, it is important to know that our final destination is with Christ in heaven, but the journey of life is just as important.

The journey of our lives is beautiful and if we live our lives for Jesus, we will have the most joy in the Lord and we will make a difference for His Kingdom.

Why Do We Say It?

We say “life is a journey, not a destination” because life is the journey and through life, we learn and grow into the people we become. This phrase can also be used to tell loved ones when they are going through a difficult time in their lives.

We need to remember that our lives are a journey and there will be highs and lows. There will be sunny days full of happiness and there will be days of rainstorms and pain.

The beautiful thing about life’s journey is that it is ongoing, and we are constantly learning and growing with every breath we take — through the smiles and the tears.

As we grow older, we can reflect on the past and see just how far we have come in our journey, and look ahead to our continued journey of life. The journey of life continues until we are in the presence of the Lord.

God has created each of us uniquely with a unique purpose for our lives. Throughout our lives’ journey, He is going to have us complete His purpose for our lives. Even when our journey gets hard, we don’t need to give up.

Instead, we need to keep traveling through our pilgrimage ( 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 ). In your own personal life journey, stay focused on Christ and keep your eyes fixed on Him. The Bible tells us,

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross , scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God ( Hebrews 12:1-2 ).

Jesus knows life gets arduous, which is why He wants us to come to Him ( Matthew 11:28-30 ). Turn to God today, trust Him, and rely on Him in your daily pilgrimage.

Life is a beautiful journey, and we need to take in every second of it. Our time with our loved ones is precious and every second matters.

It is easy to take life for granted until it slips out of our reach, or we are faced with a terminal illness. In your own life, serve God through the journey and He will lead you exactly where He needs you to be and what He wants you to do. Your life is beautiful and unique.

No one else will live the same life as you because there is no one like you. Therefore, we say “life is a journey, not a destination” because it reminds us that life is an ongoing journey of learning and growing. Life is not a final destination because, without the journey, there would not be a life.

For further reading:

What Is the Meaning of Life?

The Non-Linear Christian Life

Is it Biblical ‘Where God Guides, He Provides’?

Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/Ben Taylor

How Can We Witness God's Presence in Nature?

3 Dangers of Prioritizing Influence Over Integrity from Acts 8

The Best Birthday Prayers to Celebrate Friends and Family 

Is Masturbation a Sin?

Morning Prayers to Start Your Day with God

10 Verses that Remind Us Who God Says We Are

31 Powerful Night Prayers to Pray for Rest in the Evening

Though we often don’t understand God’s timing, He always has a plan to work for our good and His glory.

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Example sentences continue a journey

The driver was quizzed but allowed to continue his journey .

Thousands of earlier arrivals are still waiting in the camps for permission to continue their journey .

I find plenty to interest me before ambling back to the station to continue my journey in a generally northwesterly direction.

Officers warned him it was illegal to walk on the motorway and drove him to a safe location to continue his journey .

I will return to opera and continue that journey .

Definition of 'continue' continue

Definition of 'journey' journey

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• continue a debate
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What is the difference between continue on their journey and continue their journey ?Feel free to just provide example sentences.

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Mostly style. I would use 'on' when there is a destination of the journey. I would not use 'on' if the journey had no destination; like a journey of self-discovery.

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They decided to continue on their journey. They wanted to continue their journey. It just depends on the beginning of the sentence

• What is the difference between continue and continued and continues ?
• What is the difference between keep up and go on and continuos ?
• What is the difference between to last and to endure and to continue and to go on ?
• What is the difference between continue to do and continue 〜ing ?
• What is the difference between to be continued and it'll continue ?
• I am going to begin a new journey in accounting soon in a new company Does this sound natural?
• give you the best daily journey towards progress 作为广告语 Does this sound natural?
• What is the difference between go for a journey and go on a journey ?
• What is the difference between a friend of my father and a friend of my father’s ?
• What is the difference between She and I, we go together sometimes. and Her and I, we go together...
• What is the difference between I could care less about him going to hospital and I don't care abo...
• What is the difference between sự khác biệt của do harm and be harmful ?
• What is the difference between come up to me and come to me ?
• What is the difference between Love means never having to say you're sorry. and Love means never ...
• What is the difference between much and may ?
• What is the difference between "rotten" and "decayed" and "spoiled" and "gone bad" ?
• What is the difference between "at that moment" and "at the moment" ?
• What is the difference between unaccountable and inexplicable ?
• What is the difference between will do and will have done and will be doing ?
• What is the difference between chang into and change out of ?
• What is the difference between I suppose it must be quite lonely. and I think it must be quite lo...
• What is the difference between human(s) and human being(s) ?
• What is the difference between persistent and stubborn ?
• How do you say this in Korean? A little
• What does 厚生労働省は喫煙を可能とする飲食店の具体的な基準について検討を進めた結果、「経営が厳しい店に配慮する必要がある」と言った自民党からの指摘も踏まえ、資本金などが5000万円以下...

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