Escaping Materialism
It
temporarily may for those who lack the basic needs of clothing, food, and
shelter. But once you’ve secured those essentials, having more money may not
give much more happiness.
Today’s
world urges us that the solution to everything is buying. With advertising at
its peak, materialism seemed to become inescapable.
All around us are messages telling us to buy, buy, and buy.
All around us are messages telling us to buy, buy, and buy.
Turn on
the TV, radio, flip open a magazine, look at the internet, even on most blogs,
there goes advertising and its message of buy, buy, and buy… to make us
happier… drilled into our heads from waking to sleeping.
But
this is the wonderful truth: We have
everything we need for happiness right now.
The
typical desires for money, a nicer house and car, nicer clothes and gadgets, a
big screen TV, a super-successful career or business... deep inside we know
none of that can give us happiness.
Happiness
is simple pleasures. It is spending time doing what we love with those we love.
It’s realizing that the world around us is a miracle, is beautiful and filled
with sources of joy.
Do you
have eyes? Then you have the ability to enjoy the sky, the ocean, mountains,
and the greenery of nature. Do you have ears? Then you can hear music, laughter,
and conversation.
These
are tools for happiness… use them, and realize that you are blessed beyond belief.
How
should we live, then, in a Materialistic World?
1. Remember the real purpose of life. The purpose of life
is more than being entertained, more than having fun, more than experiencing
thrills, more than feeling good or getting to retirement. I challenge you to find
your spirituality and get to know God. From this you will find real meaning in
life.
2. Enjoy balanced living. In the book of
Ecclesiastes, chapter 3, it was said that there is a time for everything. A
time for play, a time for work, a time for seriousness, and a time for
silliness. Personal development is holistic: mental, emotional, physical,
social, and spiritual. Exercise this by contributing to the welfare of others.
3. Avoid destructive pleasures. If you don’t plan
for healthy pleasures in your life, the world will continually seduce you with
unhealthy ones. Refuse an unhealthy lifestyle – the inability to say “No” is
called an addiction.
The
world today has been offering us trivial pursuits that seemed solving our
problems with depression, anxiety, and desolation.
We all
have a reason for being here. We all matter. We have a purpose.
Our
life is not trivial, it is intentional.
