I earn money but all around i see people are substituting money for happiness, they are running around meaninglessly running after brands... doing stuff that they hate...!! because it gives them money...!! the eternal spiritual quest? the purpose of your life?? how do you find it??
2007-12-09 23:49:34 · 15 answers · asked by nipun b 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
Welcome to the real world of confusion! You have just woken up! Do we not all ask this question at some point in our life? Sit and ponder at the futility of it all? Yes!!! But do we all find the answers we seek? No! Slowly but surely we all get sucked into the vortex of life, get desensitised and start living like robots---following the path trodden by millions before us, mindlessly. Its true that after sometime we stop minding it...UNLESS, you find the urge to break free so strong that you chuck it all and begin to follow your heart. Now many have done that TOO. Believe me. Few have found happiness and most have been disappointed there also and have come back to the life of robots. (Like Vinod Khanna, the Hindi Film Actor of yesteryears, relinquished the film industry while still at the top of his filmy career and followed Osho Rajneesh to his Ashram, did a gardener's job BUT came back. Mahesh Bhatt, the director is another example. Mahesh found solace with UG Krishnamurthy, later).
Our student years are the best. We are young, naive and so full of hope!!! We think we have a purpose, and our eyes are shining with dreams of reaching stars, and our brains are at sharpest best, and there's courage in our heart to change the world. We get that coveted job also. Family and friends celebrate our success!!! And THEN...we realise we've joined the rat-race. Scales begin to fall from our eyes. Realities do not follow the course taught at the prestigious B schools. And we wake up...to question it all...like you do at this point.
I recommend you read "The Monk Who Sold HIs Ferrari" by Robin S Sharma. You'll appreciate it...Maybe you'll find your purpose and happiness away from this mad race for money...
2007-12-10 00:51:48 · answer #1 · answered by P'quaint! 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Well, lets face it, money is important! But, only to the extent that you can provide yourself with what you consider necessary.
I am one of those people that you are talking about...not chasing the brands...just the doing something that I don't really enjoy.
So, I decided to do something about it. I am in the midsts of changing careers again. This time I am going backwards. I am going back to the one I enjoyed the most. And I hated it when I was forced to do it for a living. But, have now realized it was the time when I was the happiest. I like to make things grow. Still doing it for free now.
I grew up...the grass is not usually greener, after all. There are just different weeds.
This will be the fourth time I changed...well if going back to a previous one counts. I have 33 years of work experience on my resume and I am just 46. I have had a professional position for the past 18 years.
My advice is to keep looking and try new things...you will find something that allows you to grow as a person.
2007-12-10 00:14:35 · answer #2 · answered by Russ B 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
What do you love?
What gives you feelings of extreme satisfaction?
What "feeds" your soul?
When were/are you the happiest, and, what were you doing/ what was going on then?
Several quotes spring to mind:
"Remember that your deepest inner longing, that which you want to do more than anything, is precisely what you have come into this life to do. Your best assurance of health is to do it." (Barbara Ann Brennan in her book, Hands of Light)
...and...
..."wish that what you know you should do and what you really have fun doing become one and the same. Whatever grand vision you have...becomes attainable there." (Darrell Calkins)
You don't say what you studied or what your career is. Do these things bring you any emotional fulfillment while they build your bank account?
While money can't buy happiness, everyone needs food, safe shelter, health care -- and all that costs! If you have to worry constantly about when your next meal is coming or where you'll sleep, you may have little time and even less energy to contemplate your life's purpose.
My basic needs are covered. I'm very low maintenance and, luckily, very healthy. It's people, not things, I care about most, and the people in my life refuse to be branded!
2007-12-10 00:53:52 · answer #3 · answered by pat z 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
People so often confuse money with happiness…so sad…and so pathetic…
Happiness is a choice where money is just the means to buy the daily bread and butter. One may even add the daily caviar and still be no happier than before.
Choosing to be happy just because I’m alive has nothing to do with how much money I can spend to buy branded products.
Happiness is a state of beingness, one that we assume or negate by choice.
2007-12-10 00:00:02 · answer #4 · answered by MARY B 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The eternal quest for meaning.
Something consummer society is completely incapable of providing, despite the promises of the neon signs. Welcome to the painful world of enlightment - this is where you discover we live in a society that is ultimately nihilistic.
I like to think in terms of a Nietzschean answer. Nietzsche posited that after the death of God, man's challenge would be to find a replacement for Him. The idea of God, for all its flaws, did provide meaning. Nietzsche's solution is that you envisage yourself as both artist and work of art. You create your life as an object of beauty.
Whether that means actual artistic creation, travel, pursuing a passion or a lofty goal, the idea is to find something that gives you meaning.
There is a further problem posed in your question in that what we deeply feel gives us meaning is not often what society at large expects of us (parents, spouses, bosses) - We live in a world obsessed with status. You know that status is empty, but part of you will be attached to it because of deeply-ingrained fears that make it difficult to detach from the values of the world around us. Mainly, the fear of finding oneself without status in the middle of the plutocracy. The bum in the street serves as a warning to all those who would not obey the Gods of the market. He is an absolutely necessary element of our society.
For more on this I would recommend Status Anxiety by Alain de Botton - an interesting exploration of the values of modernity and how "rich" has come to be synonymous with "good"
2007-12-10 00:07:42 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Some people find leisure through money first, and then later find spiritual needs fulfilled.
Don't be too shaken by the immediate surroundings. People change over time. They are young and seeking youthful fulfillments, that's all. They may not spend money as wisely (investing in retirement), but that is up to them and future government costs....
If you think doing things with money is evil, it isn't evil necessarily. Without money, people would be in worser predicaments, i.e, starvation.
2007-12-10 01:01:46 · answer #6 · answered by Pansy 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It sounds like your already getting the idea. All that- IS Meaningless and SUPERFICIAL... Harm no one or no thing...Do what's right in your heart...Do what you enjoy...Surround yourself with people that have the same interests & hobbies ...Don't waist your time trying to conform to others that don't have the same ideals.They might not have your best interest at heart, only their own. It's a waist of your life. Enjoy being you and what YOU have to offer the world...The meaning of life is - what gives life meaning - Do what makes you happy!
2007-12-10 01:01:31 · answer #7 · answered by dianeb1020 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
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2016-11-15 03:26:12 · answer #8 · answered by zeckzer 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
By looking within.
"Life goes on within and without you." (George Harrison)
People often try to fill the voids in their lives with merchandise, but it never works. Remember, man is the only creature on the planet that believes it must aquire money to survive.
2007-12-10 01:37:56 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's about "Being" fully present in the "Present Moment". No path, no goal, Life fully present as "Presence".
2007-12-10 00:08:56 · answer #10 · answered by Premaholic 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋