Description
For many of us, the goal of life isn’t ultimate wealth, a
massive amount of stuff, or the perfect car. Though we
strive to gain materialistic possessions and a social status,
often times we find that the achievement of gaining
such objects has little effect on our lives. There is always
something which is better that needs to be obtained.
Why is this? What is it that drives people’s ambitions and
motivation in life? What are we all striving for but many
can never fully gain?
It’s happiness, plain and simple.
iii
30 Steps to a More Fulfilled Life, Ava Brown
The reason why the materialistic does not
hold is that it is temporal. I once knew a man that won
5 million dollars in the lottery. Most people would
say that this would be the achievement of a lifetime,
right? Well, it turns out that this guy was miserable,
depressed, and wrenched. His happiness could not be
sustained as he could not determine who his friends
were. Everyone wanted a dollar. The taxes on everything
he bought stressed him out. Family member’s debts
were always being placed at his doorstep. Guilt, stress,
frustrations, and paranoia is all that the lottery gave the
man. Consequently, he ensured that all the money was
liquidated within 10 years. 10 years and he was back to
square one. But you know what? He was happy.
I am not saying that happiness can only be
gained by selling your possessions or getting rid or
your hard earned wealth (cult leaders do that and this is
definitively not a cult book), but that our motivations for
happiness should be based upon something other than
worldly dependent factors.
massive amount of stuff, or the perfect car. Though we
strive to gain materialistic possessions and a social status,
often times we find that the achievement of gaining
such objects has little effect on our lives. There is always
something which is better that needs to be obtained.
Why is this? What is it that drives people’s ambitions and
motivation in life? What are we all striving for but many
can never fully gain?
It’s happiness, plain and simple.
iii
30 Steps to a More Fulfilled Life, Ava Brown
The reason why the materialistic does not
hold is that it is temporal. I once knew a man that won
5 million dollars in the lottery. Most people would
say that this would be the achievement of a lifetime,
right? Well, it turns out that this guy was miserable,
depressed, and wrenched. His happiness could not be
sustained as he could not determine who his friends
were. Everyone wanted a dollar. The taxes on everything
he bought stressed him out. Family member’s debts
were always being placed at his doorstep. Guilt, stress,
frustrations, and paranoia is all that the lottery gave the
man. Consequently, he ensured that all the money was
liquidated within 10 years. 10 years and he was back to
square one. But you know what? He was happy.
I am not saying that happiness can only be
gained by selling your possessions or getting rid or
your hard earned wealth (cult leaders do that and this is
definitively not a cult book), but that our motivations for
happiness should be based upon something other than
worldly dependent factors.