Let’s face it, everyone’s life is different. Each of us have our own material objects, health, family, jobs, etc. Nobody out there has an exact duplicate of your life. It’s impossible or at least improbable. The truth is that some people may have more than you, while others may have less. In order to be truly happy you have to learn to be content with what you have.
So many times I have found myself comparing aspects of my life with other people. I’ll list a few things that I have compared with other people whether it be friends, family, or a complete stranger.
- Money or financial situations
- Personal property not listed below
- My house
- My job
- My family
- My car
- The health I’m in
- Where I live
- How my childhood was
The list could go on forever. A good example of one that caused me a lot of pain was comparing my money to others. I could sit there and imagine having a mansion and private jets to fly to wherever I wanted. I thought of having millions of dollars in the bank. Then I made a plan to get all the money and have all those nice things at any cost. I ended up working a job I hated and working 6 days 12 hours each or more every week. I worked this way for about five years. I did everything I could imagine on the side to make that money and I put it in the bank. In that amount of time I made a lot of nice purchases and saved up a ton of money in the bank. Here is my result from that lesson. I was more miserable after I got that then before I ever had it, let me explain why.
The first reason was the more I had the more I wanted. This kind of mentality caused me an overwhelming amount of stress. I would get one step up from where I was and then I would see someone else with more. This became a never winning cycle of more and more desire for things I didn’t really need or even want.
The second reason was that once I got to that point I had spent so much time getting there that I forgot to live my life. What’s the point in living if all you do is grind away for money everyday? I lost a lot on that path and I was on target to lose so much more. I lost countless friends, ties with family, my wife, interest in hobbies, most of my happiness, time, etc. Most of these things I will never be able to get back.
So what’s the solution to this? I’ll tell you now I am no longer geared this way and I have become content and happy with exactly what I have. That doesn’t mean I don’t strive to do my best and sometimes I get rewarded with more. Here’s a list of tips and advice to help you get started.
- Learn to give thanks for everything you have, everyday
- Never focus on what anyone else has
- Remember that whatever you see on TV or read in books could be fake or way exaggerated
- Live a minimal lifestyle
- Learn the difference between a need and a want
- Learn to value your relationships with family and friends
- Never give up something that makes you happy for some gain of material gain
- Remember time can never be made up
- Don’t get to wound up in work or ever put a job before your family
- At all costs put your happiness first
I hope this article could shed a little insight into your life and help you become more content with what you have now. Good Luck!