The Happy and Prosperous Blog

What did you do yesterday ? My guess is that many people will have gone shopping. Perhaps you went to the supermarket. Perhaps you started your Christmas shopping or perhaps you were browsing for clothes or gadgets. Shopping (aka having things) seems to have become a national pastime. Not surprising really given the amount of advertising that there is. There’s so much more advertising now we’re coming up to Christmas. We can so easily be ‘hooked’ into wanting things we don’t need.

Want or Need ?

I’ve noticed people (myself included) say that they NEED a new shirt/pair of shoes/car/camera/phone/house etc. when what they really mean, I think, is that they WANT and new shirt/pair of shoes/top/car/camera/phone/house etc. This difference between want and need seems really important to me. If I ever catch myself thinking that I need something new, I try to change that to I want something new, then I can check that desire. Need, somehow seems absolute and can’t be argued against whereas want is less definite, more open to debate.

I’m not saying we don’t need some things, we do, but maybe we don’t need as much as we think.

Balancing the Internal and the External

All this focus on things - what we have, what we wear, how we look, is all about the outside, the external, making ourselves attractive, putting on a show. That’s where most people put the vast majority of their effort and that’s where their ego is invested.

I would like to challenge everyone to look at the balance between the internal and the external. Looking inside and putting time and effort into making the inside attractive and interesting is, in my opinion, time well spent. The benefits are much longer lasting and more satisfying that things that are bought.

And it is a balance. There are things that I want to have, certainly. At the same time, I continue to look at myself, understand myself more and, hopefully, improve myself so that my relationships with other people are easier, more productive, my self-esteem improves and generally, I have a happier life.

That’s what this blog is about - being happy AND prosperous. Finding the balance between the internal and the external. What about you ? Where is your focus ? Where would you like it to be ?

Thanks for reading.

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