On Consumerism and Happiness
by Roberto Esponja on Sunday, May 29, 2011 at 3:31pm ·
(From a FB Status and reply)
(Status): If money can't buy happiness and is, thus, not happiness, why is the insatiable desire for it and the avaricious mentality that often comes with it so prevalent in so many people today?
(Me): Well, you asked for this…
I believe that it is purpose that we actually desire, and the pursuit of money gives us a sense of purpose, however shallow and hollow it may be, it is a purpose of sorts.
Money is needed to live in our culture, and gives us a certain type of security, as well as comfort, and that’s always nice. But what we often fail to recognize is the more we consume, the more we are consumed, because enough is enough, but too much is never enough.
Happiness however, is not an object to be bought, or a place at which we arrive, it is a state of being. To seek happiness in itself is a fleeting objective, and it slips further away from us the harder we try to grasp it.
What we are actually seeking through consumerism, is to fill a certain void through self gratification, (Consumerism is only one means of many, by which we do that, but it is the subject at hand.). In the end we find that it is hollow and without meaning. This void is apparent to us,when we first start to become conscious of a world far bigger than our own. For we are created incomplete, detached from our creator, and at a certain point, we begin to question what our purpose is. Consequently, we are left with a void, a need to be known by, and to know, our creator. An unhappiness.
Happiness is often confused with contentment and fulfillment, both of which are only found when we look beyond, and outside of ourselves. We may find those things in many ways, but when (or if) we find meaning and purpose, we begin to find contentment and fulfillment. However, it is only when we find contentment and fulfillment in relationship with the creator, rather than the creation, that we find our true purpose and meaning. It is at that point that our pursuit has ended, and it is only then is that our inherent void is filled, leaving us free to fulfill that purpose.
d(-_-)b
(Status): If money can't buy happiness and is, thus, not happiness, why is the insatiable desire for it and the avaricious mentality that often comes with it so prevalent in so many people today?
(Me): Well, you asked for this…
I believe that it is purpose that we actually desire, and the pursuit of money gives us a sense of purpose, however shallow and hollow it may be, it is a purpose of sorts.
Money is needed to live in our culture, and gives us a certain type of security, as well as comfort, and that’s always nice. But what we often fail to recognize is the more we consume, the more we are consumed, because enough is enough, but too much is never enough.
Happiness however, is not an object to be bought, or a place at which we arrive, it is a state of being. To seek happiness in itself is a fleeting objective, and it slips further away from us the harder we try to grasp it.
What we are actually seeking through consumerism, is to fill a certain void through self gratification, (Consumerism is only one means of many, by which we do that, but it is the subject at hand.). In the end we find that it is hollow and without meaning. This void is apparent to us,when we first start to become conscious of a world far bigger than our own. For we are created incomplete, detached from our creator, and at a certain point, we begin to question what our purpose is. Consequently, we are left with a void, a need to be known by, and to know, our creator. An unhappiness.
Happiness is often confused with contentment and fulfillment, both of which are only found when we look beyond, and outside of ourselves. We may find those things in many ways, but when (or if) we find meaning and purpose, we begin to find contentment and fulfillment. However, it is only when we find contentment and fulfillment in relationship with the creator, rather than the creation, that we find our true purpose and meaning. It is at that point that our pursuit has ended, and it is only then is that our inherent void is filled, leaving us free to fulfill that purpose.
d(-_-)b
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