The "Happiness Factor"

Our economy seems to be driven by dissatisfaction and unhappiness. If an advertiser can make you unhappy or dissatisfied with something about yourself they get you to by their product.  Advertisers will try to convince you that your teeth are not white enough and that their tooth whitening product will make your teeth bright as the new fallen snow.  But what they are really getting you to buy into is the "lie".  The "lie" is that by buying a product, any product, will somehow make you feel better and happier.  They tell you,"Want happiness?  Use or buy our product". We just can't be happy without their product.

People spend far too much of their income buying things they don't need to try to impress people who don't care.  As we buy more and more into the lie, we become more and more disillusioned to discover that instead of feeling better we actually feel worse.  We use the "magic" product and it does not work.  We are no happier. We start thinking there must be something else wrong with us, so we look for some other "magic" product that will make us happy.  The cycle goes on, never ending because happiness does not come from anything we can buy.

Happiness, true happiness, comes from within.  It is not dependent on the what you wear or the type of car you drive or even how much money you make.  If most people were really honest they would admit  that the reason they drive a particular car or wear a brand of clothing has everything to do with trying to impress others. 

True happiness is learning to be content with what you have and how you look.  I am not saying that we should not try to look our best or, in my case I could loose a few pounds, but to find true happiness we need to focus on seeing and rejoicing in the blessings we have.  We have a roof over our head, we have a car to drive (even if it is old and out of style), we have a job, and have family & friends.

Do you realize if you make $20,000 per year your are richer than 88.84% of everyone living on the planet? If you make $30,000 you are wealthier than 92.84% of the planet. (This is according to the website www.globalrichlist.com).  

So count your blessings and start to "see"and appreciate all the great things you have!  You might not drive a new BMW, but you are living in a country where everyone is truly blessed.  Do you know that 1.3 billion people on this planet live on less than $2 per day?

Our personal happiness depends on us getting our priorities in order and to stop buying into the "lie".