Live in a Box, Be Happy. Problems with Materialism

// October 26th, 2008 // 1 Comment » // Personal Development

Photo by Ogglog

Let’s assume that you aren’t hungry, thirsty, in pain, or any other problems at this moment. You are completely happy with your life in this present moment. If you achieved that level of happiness then you wouldn’t need to buy anything. You would be completely satisfied in your current state, so you wouldn’t need to alter it with material goods. Your desire for possessions is a way to bring you pleasure, but most likely not happiness.

Pleasure v. Happiness

There is a difference from pleasure and happiness. Sometimes things that bring us pleasure will make us unhappy, such as eating that last donut when you are worried about your weight. You can receive pleasure from buying items, but you might end up in debt which will lead to unhappiness. At other times it is harder to identify the difference of pleasure and happiness. Will that iPhone really bring happiness or a short term pleasure? Can a bigger car really provide happiness? Can seeing your TV from the other side of your house make you happy? These are often short term pleasures (until you see the bill perhaps) don’t bring a lasting sense of happiness. Happiness will come from within you, rather than from the objects around you. You can get a feeling of happiness being around your loved ones, but are you truly happy with the time you spend with the television.

Attachment to Objects

Not only do you gain pleasure from buying the item, but you are attached to each item. It isn’t easy to get rid of things that you use often, such as a computer, television, stove, and more. If anything happens to these items then there is a feeling of pain. The degree of pain will vary depending on how attached you are to an item. You might not care if you lose a book that you didn’t care much about, but you will feel some pain if you try to turn on the computer and it doesn’t function correctly. These things can hold you back from happiness, because you are preoccupied with the attachment to the objects around you. You can’t be happy if you are worried about your broken car. In some cases you need the item, such as a car, but you can get by with less. You can always ride a bike, then if it breaks you can fix it easily if it is essential to you. The less you have, the less to worry about.

Post Materialism

So, if objects don’t truly make you happy and you might even feel pain because of them, then why keep so many around. I am not suggesting you should sell everything and move into the woods with just a tent, but there is most likely room for improvement unless you are reading this from your local library and do live in a tent. We often disregard advice to only buy things we need rather than want, but you can easily confuse wants with needs. You may think you need the car, but you can survive with a bike. You may think a large house is needed, but you could downgrade your house which also allows you to own less stuff. I find it to be very inspiring to think of people that are content only with the items that can fit in a backpack. This lifestyle doesn’t look pleasant since you will be giving up comfort. You do adapt though, and in the end is it less comfort? You might have to bike to work, but you will feel better. You might sell your television, but you find new hobbies with the free time. These objects make life nice, for a limited time, but they are not needed. You can still be happy without them. You might just have a room with a box, candle, and a book. Who says there isn’t happiness there?

Larger Picture: Your Life

Each time you buy something, then you are trading your time or effort for that thing. That car could take many many hours of your life. You could feed your materialistic needs in exchange for your time, or you could live with less but find things that make you happy. Is the new iPhone worth the 25 hour of your life ($199 cost of the iPhone 3G divided by 7.95, the minimum wage in Oregon.) or would you rather spend that time with friends or doing something you enjoy. You literally just spent 25 hours of your life on some item that might not even bring you 25 hours of pleasure. I have had friends that didn’t have a job during school. They often wouldn’t be able to purchase things they wanted, but they survived fine. They seemed to be the most happy because my other friends that had jobs and these things they wanted would often complain how much they dislike their job. You waste a little part of your life with each object you by and even by the objects you already own.

Every day you are influenced by advertisements, people, and other things to tell you want you want. It is tough to overcome the nagging voice that tells you that you need all the items. Often you will have a strong attachment to your current items and a strong pull towards new items. When you think of times that you are happiest then I doubt it was the time that you bought your TV or new kitchen. Try to use your time for happy moments, not to work for short pleasure inducing objects.

Blog Action Day: You can change Poverty. You count.

// October 15th, 2008 // No Comments » // Volunteer

Photo By nicasaurusrex


Today is Blog Action Day. The theme is poverty, and I think this is a wonderful topic to write on.

A little boy was on a beach after a storm. Thousands of starfish had washed ashore, and he picked up one after another and threw them back into the sea. A man watched him work and after some time said to the boy, “Look at all these starfish. You’re never going to be able to save them all. Do you think all your work will make a difference?” The boy thought for a minute as he looked up and down the beach. “I don’t know,” he said as he picked up another starfish and flung it into the brine, “but it sure will make a difference to this one!”

You can change the world, one person at a time

    It is a hard to know that you can’t change the world (perhaps you can.), but you will not change anything if you don’t try. You could be living without a home or any shelter. You could be hungry half the time and wonder when your next meal will be. Now, if you someone comes up to you and offers to take you to lunch or give you some money, would this make any difference? Yes, it would. It might not end world hunger, but it would help you which is very important. Think of how someone else will feel. You made a difference to that person.

    How many people do you have to save to be considered changing the world, a few hundred a few thousand, a few million, every single person in the world? You cannot just draw the line and call that changing the world, because you do change the world even if it is only one person you help. If you are from the United States then I assume you have heard that your vote counts, that one vote out of over 300 million other possible votes. If you believe your vote counts, then you shouldn’t need any encouragement to know that one person can make a difference. Those that are not so sure then think that if you encourage enough people to vote then your vote does make an impact. If five million people do not vote because they do not think that their vote counts, then it truly doesn’t count, but those five million votes do count if you do cast them. You have to make the effort because you aren’t the only one that is thinking that you don’t matter. Many other people are thinking that same thing, but if you do try then at least you did something. Who knows, if you have the courage to try to make a difference then other people might be doing the exact same thing. Who knows how many people could be making an impact.

    It can be hard to know that you can’t make a huge impact. This is easily discouraging, but don’t allow it to not let you take action. You can make a difference to one person and that is important for each person. Try playing at FreeRice, this might not seem like a big change, but you just gave someone food. They think that is pretty awesome, so you should too. You are only one person, so how would you feel if no one paid attention to you, just the group you were in. No one would help you because they can’t help everyone. You would greatly appreciate the help, so someone that you do help will appreciate it also. You can make a difference to someone, and that is important.

     Your actions do make a change in this world. This change may be small, or this change might be large. No matter what, it still is a change. The dollar that you donate could feed four children. This could make the difference of life and death; I hope that is a good enough difference for you. Every single life is important to not only themselves but the people around them. You could change someone’s world, if not the world. Don’t let anyone stop you from making an impact on our world. We are too preoccupied with the concern if we will make a large impact, but any impact is an impact. Your actions could do more than you ever dream possible. You might only help one person, you might only influence one person, but you made their life better and then they may make someone else’s life better. This starts a chain reaction which could go on for awhile.

     You have to make an effort. That is the simple first. Don’t worry about the size of your influence; instead focus on just doing something. It can be simple or it can be as grand as starting something like Blog Action Day. You are not limited, but you just have to start somewhere. Go donate your time, money, possessions, or even ideas. The effort starts with you. Poverty cannot be solved without help from you. Yes, you. I mean this to every ‘you’ out there. Go help.