Flourishing

Picking a path and making a decision is one of the most difficult obstacles I'm facing at the moment. Part of it is that there's too many options to choose from.

My dad said to me not too long ago that to live one needs food. To acquire food, one needs money. It's a simple cause and effect relationship. He said the challenge is that, in this country, food is abundant and doesn't require much money.

Sometimes, well many times, it's really difficult for me to not see things his way. He's right. All we do need to survive is food. Shelter is good, but food more important. All the extras or luxuries of our culture are unnecessary. Again. I see his point. And. It's difficult for me to not feel drawn to his theory. I mean, do we really need that brand new flat screen TV, do we really need the most updated and swanky furniture, do we really need the luxury car or the giant house. No. The answer is really really simple, we don't need them. Not at all. Actually not in the slightest.

Maybe by going after all these things we're feeding into a compulsion, kind of like a monster. We're drawing ourselves away from our true selves, our potential, what we can most freely and authentically contribute to this world to both help it and advance it. The process of wanting, then acquiring, then using, then disposing of these things clutters our mind. Or does it?

One can argue that it's part of who we are to have things. It expresses our personality. It individuates us. I guess the answer is that, sure, it does. One can say that their profession, their sense of style, what they choose to purchase is all a way of expressing themselves.

I say yes, but the key is that it should be done in moderation, it should be done because one truly and genuinely gets happiness from it, and last, it helps the person be a better person. It supports and fosters their purpose.