Looking at my parents (and mostly all people), I see one recurring problem – money. There’s always never enough money to feed the family and keep the adults happy. Forgive me for the stereotype.
For the lower class, fathers drink all the time and mothers complain. The couples either separate and remarry other people of the same class whilst the children are left to scramble on their own. A few families go through life successfully and the kids graduate and get jobs enough to raise the status of the whole generation.
For the middle class, working overseas generates a bounty of money that everyone seem to benefit from. Of course there’s enough money going around to purchase luxury; like travel or expensive meat loaf.
But are both classes truly happy?
Perhaps in the honeymoon phase, you can feel genuine happiness.
But as soon as reality sinks in, and children need to go to school, and mothers need to feel taken care of, and fathers need someone to pet their ego, one must say unhappiness arise.
So how can you be happy, ergo, stay happy through life?
Attachments
Let go of all of life’s attachments.
Seriously, we need to stop being brainwashed by media and get stuck in the cycle of consumerism. We consume too much resources, information and even television (I mean netflix). Say, how many articles of clothing does one really need? Is it really mandatory to be beautiful because of cosmetics and creams and products that only advertise that we are ugly, hence we need the product? Wax, laser procedures, cosmetic surgeries, macho, protein shakes, gym – did our ancestors even need all of these in the past?
Say, for instance, do we really need to live as close as possible to the city?
Protect yourself from caring how others think of your life
Often we do what we do because of emotions.
That is why salesmen know how to get to our core. They KNOW that we want to feel a certain way or that we care about how others think of us. So they advertise us this real cool nissan navarra to let us feel we are cool on the streets with the big trunk and wheels.
But the truth is, the more stuff we have, the more problems we get.
Take for example an expensive mountain bike. The expenses don’t stop the moment you purchase the bike. Instead, you need more equipment such as gears and accessories and even the weekly trails take a whole lot more out of our pocket.
Even an expensive dog is more than just a dog. The pup needs caring and monthly grooming and toys and a good place to sleep.
Declutter
Take an inventory of everything you own. Do you even need most of the stuff?
All you need in life to be happy is to be healthy, generate enough income streams to sustain the simple lifestyle, and give back.
You need to be healthy to enjoy life to the fullest so if one is sensible enough they would know they’d need a few simple things: a good 7-8 hours of sleep, daily exercise, positive relationships, and nutrition. That also includes removing toxic relationships in your life.
Generating passive income streams is good, although becoming a salaried employee is not bad, too. Let’s admit it, we need money to feed our kids. So why must we deny that money is important? Having enough money is indeed needed for a harmonious life. But take note, you only need money to sustain the most basic lifestyle. Anything beyond can be excess and might not affect happiness at all.
Giving back then gives you fulfillment. Living on earth not for yourself but to help others, make others happy or being a friend to others. Humans are social creatures so we yearn for connections. And fulfilling connections to all kinds of people from all walks of life could be the truly satisfying gift one can give to one’s soul.
Conclusion
So if you see yourself slipping away, unhappy and not looking forward to what life can offer. Perhaps there’s something you need to reconsider. Take an inventory of your current life and observe what are the things that are causing unhappiness.
I think if there’s one way to live life, it’s that we should live as if everything could be taken away from us anytime. So why should we get attached to the material things. We need to prepare by building a healthy body, skills that could generate wealth and also a giving heart – instead of pumping up our soul with useless stuff like media, beauty products, macho products, buffing, luxuries that don’t add up to our experience and knowledge.
Live life as if everything could be taken away from you anytime. And I mean material things. The car, the home, the luxury. At the end of the day, you get your self. So should you get yourself used to “stuff” or “things”? What if you start over tomorrow? Will you be in denial for eternity thinking it’s not what you deserve or would you immediately start re-building your life with the values and principles you have? Take care of your health, build up your skills, develop good connections with good people. You fall down, you can get back right up. You didn’t need that triple-fat cappuccino anyway. You only need your self.
We think we are safe. We think that everything we have, we will own forever. But economies fall, and then rise back up again. Adapting is mandatory. Acceptance is key. Fuck what other people think so that you build a life that is not influenced by the insecurities of others. Build a life that is good that even if the life gets taken away from you, you know that you can re-build it. You can get right back up. And that takes good character and a strong heart. For people who go through life not caring what other people think are surely the strongest. It’s not easy. But it’s the only way to be happy and stay happy.
