Do you define it as “value added” or the “awesomeness of the journey”?
I think it's both. If you see the short term, we are rewarded based on the value we add. But in the long term, say when I'm fifty, the only thing that may matter is the awesomeness of the journey of last half century. Values will tend to average out :) Interestingly "value" is often a misnomer. We, the engineers, may be bit more myopic on definition of "value". We define something (which is just an implementation detail) as valuable, and in turn miss out the "Big Picture". Next time you're thinking of stretching yourself for that "valuable" item, please think "wider" and "long term" too before jumping!