Chapter 9
Life-Altering Principle #3
The Sufficiency Theory
Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not.
Remember that what you now have was
once among the things you only hoped for.
—Epicurus
Many in the Western world are on a misguided mission of searching for the latest, greatest, shiniest, most desired pieces of crap that money can buy. Others won't rest until they have the biggest house, fanciest car, and largest bank account. Then the day comes when they attain what they've been pursuing. And what happens? Satisfaction and contentment kick in for a short while and then they begin the quest for the next item that is sure to provide fulfillment.
We've been programmed to believe that what we have is never good enough and we should constantly be striving for more. There's a destructive cultural correlation between the quality of our “things” and the quality of our lives. Yes, it's natural and healthy to want to better yourself. But our obsession with material possessions stems from Madison Avenue's advertising wizards, who adroitly lead us to define our sense of self by what we own.
That may be good for our economy. However, this mentality of dissatisfaction often carries over to our personal lives. Continually looking outside of yourself for your self-worth keeps you from getting in touch with your true needs and eliminates the possibility of generating happiness from within. Striving for external gratification prevents you from maintaining a feeling of contentment ...
Get What Is Your WHAT?: Discover The One Amazing Thing You Were Born To Do now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
