You all have probably heard many ways in which to obtain true forms of happiness or actions to implement in order to achieve happiness. This is not another one of those blogs. What this blog is about however is the importance of making sure your source of happiness comes from within you instead of external sources. Allow me to elaborate.
How many times have you said to yourself "If ONLY i had that house i would be happy" or "If only i had that car i would be happy". So you obtain that house or that car and then what happens? In about a month or two you get over that material item and focus on other items to possess. You then repeat the exact same thing you said about that car or house.
This constant cycle my friends is never ending and always only provides you with short term happiness. Material items will continue to come and go and as you obtain them your happiness will come and then your happiness will go once you own it. I'm not saying owning a nice car or a nice house is bad. I would definitely like to have a nice car or a nice house BUT the failure lies in always thinking or placing your hopes of happiness in these material items.
The only reason i am even writing about this is because of my observations in life as well as my own personal ventures of placing sources of happiness in material items. I always said to myself growing up "If ONLY i had that game i would be happy!". Then i would get that game, play it and i no longer cared for it after it was done. This process was repeated literally over 100 times! I even said to myself "If ONLY i had that car i would be happy". Then i got the car i wanted and sure enough in about a month it became just a car and my mind went on to the next venture. I even thought that if i bought a house as a young adult that it would make me happy and sure enough it did because it made people think i was doing well but to me, after about 2 or 3 months, it just became a house. What i am getting to is that all sources of happiness that you place in material items are always temporary. No material item that you ever obtain will ever lead to long term internal happiness (at least for me this was the case). It is GREAT to have all these things, truly it is but if your only source of happiness is coming from these items then it will never be long term and always be temporary. I realised for myself after many years of buying the simple things that i wanted and never truly being satisfied or happy that all these source were finite. The problem with pursuing happiness from material items is that there is an end goal. There is a finish line and once you reach the finish line, the source slowly begins to deplete and does not replenish. If i never took time to self reflect i probably wouldn't have analysed this as thoroughly as i have. When i began to reflect on what actually brought me happiness continuously, it always came down to a few simple things: 1. Spending time with my loved ones 2. Helping others
3. Constantly striving for self improvement in all things that speak true to me These 3 things i listed all have something in common to me, they are infinite. They are sources of happiness for me that never end as no matter how much time i devote to any of the 3, it never ceases to bore me or bring me anything other than satisfaction and joy.
These 3 things also have another thing in common, they are not material items or sources that have an end. I made this post because i feel that if people are constantly receiving their happiness from temporary sources and not from infinite sources, it will only lead to more and more unsatisfied lives.
The 3 things that i have listed don't have to be the same for you but the ONE thing i challenge you to do who reads this is to reflect on your current life. Identify what sources of happiness you have that are infinite and what sources of happiness you have or are striving for that are finite.
Constantly practice this my friends and search for your infinite sources! It is not always easy but it is always worth it once you identify your infinite sources.
