Happiness and 5 Dollars

If a child got $5 they might be excited to buy them self a candy bar. Or a teenager with $50 would get the latest XBox game? Maybe a college kid getting $500 would pay for their spring break to Mexico? I could go on, but in every case you see someone who is restricted by some cost which, when overcome, would make them happier or provide some momentary gratification.

I'm having difficulty in figuring out what that is for me. I'm not saying I'm rich, but have come to realize that further contentment won't be achieved for me through financial means. Which makes life difficult for me (yeah poor me). In the past few years I've totally curbed my materialistic cravings. Not that I don't "have" stuff, just that at times I almost feel like I'm forcing myself to go for a well deserved splurge. I know it's perfectly healthy to "want" but what do you do when you don't know what to want?

And this "problem" (if you call it that) manifests itself in other ways. It might become easy to care less about your career or your health when you know realistically that continuing your default course of action will still make you much better off than most people. All I can say is that life without some challenge to overcome is almost pointless.

Hopefully I don't come across as some self-medicating blogger. I really shouldn't complain when the truth is that I live a really nice life. But I just know that there must be something I really want to "buy" that I don't have the "means" to pay for. What that is and how to obtain it are a total mystery to me.

Posted in: Life, Philosophy,

4 Comments:

• Stick on December 21, 2010 ~ 03:15 PM

  Two ideas, both (mostly) tongue-in-cheek:
  
  1) Motivate yourself to be richer than the five richest people in the world: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbes_list_of_billionaires
  
  2) “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” –Matthew 19:21

• Jeff Schiller on December 21, 2010 ~ 05:17 PM

  Continuing with the tongue-in-cheek established by “Stick”…
  
  3) Move to California and try to buy a house
  
  4) Change jobs (either move up or move sideways)
  
  5) Have a family.
  
  In any of these cases, you will not have this restlessness problem, but they will be replaced by other problems.

• Mangy girl in SF! on December 22, 2010 ~ 12:00 AM

  So, you don’t know what makes you temporarily happy or you know and don’t want to pursue that which gives you temporary happiness? And why do you assume you are better off, I mean what is your yardstick for comparison? Is that written in platinum? You can’t always pursue permanent happiness coz there no such thing, such is our human nature!
  
  You’ll figure it out, someday but there can never be a world where you are perfectly content, it would be so boring if that day came, if you’re totally content, you can’t be challenged and yada yada … It doesn’t necessarily have to be what you can buy and as clich?d as it sounds you can’t buy what you need the most … so keep pursuing what you can or what comes your way.

• chigga on January 11, 2011 ~ 08:20 PM

  happiness and contentment are 2 diff concepts. da former requires a higher std. & i dont agree u “must” have som u could buy dat would make u happier.
  
  da other comment i wanted to make was u jump around from various ideas in ur blog. i count 5 (happiness/gratification/contentment/buying-stuff/life-challenge), all of which r similar but still quite diff concepts. tackling ‘em as if der all under da same umbrella i think is a mistake.
  
  i realize da blog was probly just ur thoughts spilled out on cyberspace, so iz k if it doesnt come across as being coherent.