Friday 13 April 2012

Just like gravity, wanting more, will always bring you down

Why do we always want more?  What stops us from being genuinely content with what we have right here at this very moment?  Each one of us is guilty of wanting more, more time to spend with our children, more money, more time on earth, more clothes, more friends, more youth, more productivity from our employees .... more, more, more.  Society has become consumed by the desire for more but we have a responsibility to stop it right now otherwise we are condemning future generations to disappointment and sadness because we can’t always have more – it is not physically possible.
A few years ago the Reserve Bank of Australia figures showed mortgage, credit card and personal loan debts stood  at $1.2 trillion, equating to $56,000 for every man, woman and child in this country.  This figure keeps growing, but at some point it will stop.

We get distracted by what the media tells us is important, they want us to get distracted by politics, terrorism, power, fear and materialism, all these things keep us spending money which keeps them in business.  In fact, I believe the greatest risk to our happiness, financial security and the well being of our family and the future of the world is our constant and insatiable desire for more.

The European sovereign debt crisis is something I don’t really understand but it seems whole nations could possibly go bankrupt due to people’s desire for more.  I watched a show on the situation in Ireland and it reported that people were so desperate for more growth and wealth they built more houses than there were people in Ireland to live in them with money that never actually existed – seems strange but not in today’s world.

Just like you I am absolutely guilty of wanting more.  We just realised a long held dream of moving slightly out of town so we can raise our family in a peaceful and beautiful rural environment.  The minute we settled in I focused on wanting to extend the house, wanting a new bathroom, wanting an established garden.  When I get all these things there will be another list, we will never get to the end of our list of wanting more unless we consciously stop ourselves.

The only day any of us are guaranteed of living is this one.  We have come to expect we will have millions of moments to really enjoy life, when we get everything we want and need.  However that moment may never come, we have to enjoy it now, with what we have in our hands right now.  One of my favourite songs is All Your Need is Love by the Beattles, and one of the lines is “Nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be”... so true.

So do yourself a big favour.  Release yourself from the trap of wanting more.  Look at what you have and be truly, deeply happy.  Rest your soul and your mind, smile and be glad, with all that you have right now.

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