Monday, June 15, 2015

5 THINGS YOU DON’T NEED TO LIVE AN AWESOME LIFE

by STEVEN BANCARZ

The pursuit of happiness is the greatest pursuit in life.  Everyone is searching for something to truly fulfill their soul and quench their thirst for meaning and purpose.  Everyone wants to wake up being in love with life and excited for what the day has in store.

But from the moment we are born, we are programmed into thinking that “happiness” comes in a variety of forms that prove time and time again to be hollow and empty.  We grow up wanting to live “the dream”, which usually consists of a bunch of dead end pursuits and egoic pleasures that end of numbing and burdening our spirit.

Here are is a list of 5 things society tells us we need to live an awesome life, when in reality some may actually prevent you from having an awesome life:

1) Fame/popularity

When we are in high school growing up, peer approval is so important to us.  We all want to be seen as “cool”, “wise” or “trendy” by the people around us.  We desire to be desired, and want to be seen as important in the eyes of our peers.  Sometimes, this deep-rooted need to impress others sticks with us into our early adulthood and persists throughout our entire life.

A huge weight gets lifted off your shoulders when you realize that you don’t need to be liked by everybody around you.  You don’t need to be popular and famous.  You just need to be you.  Don’t define yourself in relation to your position within your social network or even within society as a whole.  You came into this world as an individual, and you will leave this world as an individual.  Discover yourself and love yourself, and you will find that the pursuit of popularity and fame is just another burden preventing you from living a happy life.




2) Riches and wealth

We all want to be “rich”, but does wealth really equal freedom?  Does being buried head deep in bills, payments, and material items really satisfy the spirit?  Money can’t buy you happiness.  It can buy your ego contentment for a short while, but it will never be able to make you feel alive. It can only buy you things that give you the imitation of happiness.

If you are sad, depressed, lonely, or angry and think that winning 1 million dollars will make you  feel better, consider this:  It will only give you a more luxurious environment to feel sad, depressed, lonely, and angry in.  Whether you are unfulfilled in a 2 million dollar house or in a $200,000, it doesn’t really matter.  Happiness does not come from possessions.  It comes from your relationship to yourself.


You might like

How to Have a Great Day: 5 Simple Steps for Daily Happiness!

So you came here looking for more information on how to have a great day? Good on you! Let’s face it – in our 24/7 non-stop world of deadlines, accountability and stress, great days can be hard to come by!  But what if you could change that?


I’ve written about the topic of choosing happiness in the past and the importance of embracing different parts of ourselves.  A major message of this blog on Reaching Life Goals is to help you live your life to the fullest, using mindfulness as a conduit for change.



No comments:

Post a Comment