It seems that today, we all want so much stuff – I include myself in this – but why are we all so seemingly dissatisfied with the things we already have? However large our house, whatever techno gadgets we have, it never ever seems to be enough. Are we so brainwashed by advertising that we have all effectively, lost our minds? Or at least the abililty to say ‘no, actually, I don’t really need anything else to make my life better’.
Perhaps it’s partly due to our need to feel as though we belong, or maybe it’s our need to simply, keep up. When we visit friends, sometimes we feel envious. While we may compliment them on their house, and be absolutely sincere when we do, I think there is sometimes a part of us that feels that our house doesn’t live up to expectations or stand comparison. Whether it’s our own expectations or those of our friends and colleagues, hardly matters, as either way, the outcome is a sense of dissatisfaction. Houses, cars, clothes, jewellery, the area we live in, and so it goes on. Are we being foolish? Well, if I’m absolutely honest, then yes, a bit! Bigger, better, newer, faster most of the time, doesn’t necessarily equate to happier.
I am living proof that all this stuff we acquire is a road to nowhere in terms of how it makes us feel. I have had EVERYTHING, but it certainly didn’t make me happy. Why? The bottom line is that, although, in terms of the things I could buy, there wasn’t any real limit and anything was possible, my home life was not happy. As a result, it really didn’t matter how much I had in material terms, the things I really needed were cerebral and therefore the material stuff only went so far in dulling down the real problems.
So finally, yes, the things we own do say a lot about us but mostly what they are saying is that the more money we need to spend, most of the time, it’s a substitute for other areas of our lives where we are unfulfilled. In order to really make ourselves happier, we need to look for happiness from within and to work hard to ensure that those close to us are also happy. And after all of that, should we expect to be happy all the time? Of course not. In fact, for me, the path to happiness lies in a feeling of contentment that comes from our interpersonal relationships.
One of the best feelings in the world is when we see that our children are happy and trying to help others to achieve a better way of being. Whoever said, ‘It is better to give than to receive’, was right. I choose to interpret this as meaning to give of oneself. It doesn’t hurt to remind ourselves of this from time to time.
bettiebelle 