Do people really want to be happy?
From the perspective of the United States, would have to say no. Our media, every advertisement on the internet, in the grocery stores, on the highways...huge billboards promote the idea that we should all be dis-satisfied. That everything is not well, and the only way to fill the gap, that roaring hole that has been created by the advertising execs is to buy, buy, buy and consume just a little more. Not happy? Put it in the closet somewhere, forget that you have it and go out and buy a new one.
It's all a big lie. We are better than we ever have been. We have running water, electricity, we can FLY in the sky! Getting sick doesn't mean you may die. A toothache is not also a death warrant. Wake up and look around. We are rich beyond our wildest dreams. But people would rather moan and complain about all the things that are lacking-imagined concepts, ideas, or even real problems. Instead of seeing what we have that makes life worth living.
Has it always been this way? I don't know. Perhaps there was an idyllic time when everyday was measured in how much a man or woman had made with their own two hands. They could take pride in what they had done, instead of what they had bought, what they possessed, or how they thought other people saw them.
The true solution to this quandry is a change of attitude, a change of lifestyle. Turn off the TV. Block advertisements and refuse to shop in grocery stores that use aggressive advertising. That should get rid of all the negative messages that you aren't good enough, your life is lacking. If you want sex, get it. Quit buying products that are supposed to give you sex appeal. They won't. If you want love, give it. If you want to be important, lead. Be that which you want to be. Nothing you buy will give you that. No piece of paper, whether it be a college degree or a marriage certificate will make you "happy" unless you choose to be "happy" without them.
"Be Happy with what you have, and you shall want for nothing." ~Lao Tzu
It's all a big lie. We are better than we ever have been. We have running water, electricity, we can FLY in the sky! Getting sick doesn't mean you may die. A toothache is not also a death warrant. Wake up and look around. We are rich beyond our wildest dreams. But people would rather moan and complain about all the things that are lacking-imagined concepts, ideas, or even real problems. Instead of seeing what we have that makes life worth living.
Has it always been this way? I don't know. Perhaps there was an idyllic time when everyday was measured in how much a man or woman had made with their own two hands. They could take pride in what they had done, instead of what they had bought, what they possessed, or how they thought other people saw them.
The true solution to this quandry is a change of attitude, a change of lifestyle. Turn off the TV. Block advertisements and refuse to shop in grocery stores that use aggressive advertising. That should get rid of all the negative messages that you aren't good enough, your life is lacking. If you want sex, get it. Quit buying products that are supposed to give you sex appeal. They won't. If you want love, give it. If you want to be important, lead. Be that which you want to be. Nothing you buy will give you that. No piece of paper, whether it be a college degree or a marriage certificate will make you "happy" unless you choose to be "happy" without them.
"Be Happy with what you have, and you shall want for nothing." ~Lao Tzu