There are no quick fixes in the World. It just does not work out that way. Unless we, that is us Human Beings, are ‘fixed’ we will be unable to fix anything else. I interpret being ‘fixed’ as being in harmony with ourselves, having some balance between the various aspects of our lives and with other sentient beings.
There are no “Nine easy steps to happiness.” No “Follow my proven program to inner harmony.” Sorry, but life is not like that. What works for me may not work for you. I have my views of the world – because I am the sum of my thoughts, which determined the choices I have made during my life. You too are the sum of your thoughts which determined the choices you have made in your life so far. And my thoughts and your thoughts will certainly not be the same. My thoughts have been influenced by my upbringing, by my parents, teachers, siblings and peers, my education and of course by my life experiences – wars, witnessing death, personal injury and suffering, by emotional and physical pain. Your thoughts will have been similarly influenced. So there is no way that you will view the World and Life the same as I.
The fact that we do not, in fact cannot, have the same view of the world is good. It shows that we are not clones; it makes for a richer and more interesting place to live and provides fertile soil for our creative abilities, both in business and the arts. Depending on our (personal) world view and how we react to our life experiences we can also become emotionally richer and better human beings. Those who have been badly treated and are traumatised by their life experiences react in ways that we (hopefully more ‘normal’ people) may consider strange, will need therapy and lots of TLC. They are not happy and have no harmony or balance in their lives. The trouble is that for many of us ‘normal’ people it does not take much to make us deeply unhappy, to lose our life balance and our harmonious relationships with those whom we contact daily.
We may consider ourselves to be business men and women, but we are really men and women engaged in business – this is quite a difference in emphasis. Humanity comes first not business. This is for a very good reason – it is essential to realise that humans make us happy, things do not. Possessions give us pleasure. We collect possessions for this very reason. But then we feel we need more, faster, better possessions, because desire can never be satisfied. The danger is that we, personally, may begin to consider the acquisition and collection of possessions as more important than our relationships with our fellow human beings. How many jokes are there about selling your mother in law, about people who would sell their mother, their wife and their children for $1.00 million? This is unfortunately tragically true is a few cases – it is called ‘human traffic’ or slavery. The misery that this causes is unbelievable - all for money and possessions!
All of us fall into the ‘possession’ trap at times (advertising does not help!), but most of us have the good sense to try and balance things out – to have some possessions, for comfort and pleasure, but also try to maintain good relationships with our families, friends and business associates. This is because we have values, we recognise virtues, we understand the importance of morals and ethical behaviour. Anything else will cause disharmony and bring unhappiness to our lives. The calamitous financial events of the past few weeks and months in this year of grace, 2008, just high light what I am trying to say. No one is happy. Not the wheelers and dealers and schemers ensconced in financial ivory towers in Wall Street and other major centres around the world and now shown to be what they are, very shallow men (and presumably women), with heads shot full of knowledge but without common sense. Not the victims (individuals like you and I) caught up by the cascade of bank failures. Not the banks themselves. Not the regulators. Not the politicians. No one is happy.
How did this come about and why is unhappiness so general? Because, generally, we have become so bound up in our world of ‘must have now’ that we have forgotten, or never learned, what Life is for. Life is for Human and other sentient Beings to experience their being what they are, to the fullest extent and this includes being happy and content and tranquil and living harmoniously with our fellow beings. Helping others to be happy makes us happy. Helping others by easing their pain and suffering makes us happy and gives us a feeling of fulfilment. This is the natural way of things – I didn’t invent it – it just is.
If you are inclined to covetousness (to use the biblical expression) you will never be happy. To change, however, will not be easy. As I said in my opening statement there is no ‘quick fix’ solution. This change, if you feel it is needed, cannot just be a wish – it must come from the heart. It means time spent on reflection and introspection - evaluation of who you are; it means time spent determining which virtues and values guide you; it means determining which moral precepts you follow – in other words your ethics. Believe me this is not easy and can be very confronting! It is, however, an essential process if you consider contentment, living a life in harmony with your fellow beings and being happy, to be worthy accomplishments.
If on the other hand you are quite ‘happy’ to make as much money as you can, as quickly as you can, having no regard for the means used to acquire the money (or possessions) then go for it – but don’t expect to enjoy the consequences. They may linger and affect your well being for a long time to come, and here is the irony of it all – it will cost you a great deal of money!!
Balancing possessions and life harmony - To learn more about this author, visit Andrew Campbell-Watt's Website.
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