Life Without Life Is Not Life

Life Without Life Is Not Life

Last update: 08 January, 2017

Life is much simpler than we think, but the society in which we find ourselves pushes us and encourages every day to “get”, to “succeed”, to compete imaginatively with others and thus exalts us to be “the best”, “the one that has the most”. We have created a world that is so artificial that we suffer from stress, anxiety and psychosomatic diseases because of the absurd idea of competition, pride and ego.

In fact, man is merely an animal. What distinguishes us from other beings is the ability to reason in a complex way, but it is true that often our irrational part is victorious and we carry out illogical actions that go against our best interests.

One of these actions is experiencing losing almost everything good that the Universe gives us. That is, we are alive, we have the world at our feet to use it as we wish. However, instead, we become obsessed with goals, with being better than our neighbor, with producing and producing more.

In the end,  this causes us to wear out our resources, preventing us from enjoying the process of undertaking or diving into some activity. It causes too many distractions, creating artificial cords that bind our ability to feel and at the same time makes us robots. Obviously, this is not life and it would do us good to try not to fall into this trap.

The problem is that it is difficult to not be swayed by the demands of today’s society and even more so if we have that need for success and triumph, which is so prevalent today.

Need to succeed?

You don’t need to succeed, you need to live. Nobody sent us to this world for us to triumph and have others applaud us. That is just in our fanciful heads. We are here to be happy, to interact with our surroundings and enjoy it. Success is not a necessity for human beings and those who believe that will cause themselves many headaches and perhaps a stomach ulcer in the end.

happy couple running through the sea

You must be thinking that’s easy to say, but unfortunately we are required to work long hours and at high standards to live with dignity. That is true, but the problem is that there are limits and we tend to surpass them unnecessarily and against our physical and psychological well-being.

We need to be clear on what our real needs are. In fact, they are basically eating, drinking, having shelter, moving and little else. The rest are not necessities, they are desires. Legitimate desires, which are fine to have, fight for them and try to get them, but do not let them fall into the category of needing them to live and to be happy, they are just for fun extras.

If I magically convert the desires into needs, at the end I will fight for them as if it were my life; as if without them, I could not function or survive and this is false. By trying to live better, with the biggest house, the most modern phone, the most powerful car, in the end I lose the essence of living. None of that makes us happy because external things are unimportant.

We invented our needs

In sales, there is what is called “sheep factor”. It is that commercial that tells the potential buyer that their neighbor already has that product so he desperately needs it and is very happy and has the admiration of the whole neighborhood for it. In this way, since we do not like to be “less,” we will probably buy it, even if we don’t need it.

In the end it becomes a spiral: I think and I believe at face value that I need to accomplish something, buy something, undertake such a story and I become obsessed with the idea of doing it at all costs. I break my back to have it, with anxiety and without enjoying the process. I have it now but it’s not enough and I need something better and so on without any way to cap it.

woman in a spiral staircase

For the journey, I’ve lost the enjoyment of the little things, the act of just living, of being in the world. I have become obsessed with something I do not need, believing that it would give me happiness and precisely what I missed was happiness.

Having this very clear makes us free. The less you need, the more complete and happier we will be. We can enjoy much more of everything around us and be more grateful for what we have, which certainly is not bad. Changing our mind about our needs in a mind of desires and preferences will deliver us from the obsessions and anxiety and allow us to discover the true art of living.

Make sure that life does not pass you by while you’re trying to earn a living because life is not life without life.

 

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This text is provided for informational purposes only and does not replace consultation with a professional. If in doubt, consult your specialist.