Learning to Not Be Consumed with Consumption

Have you ever stopped to notice the interesting actuality that society tends to measure our worth in terms of "things?" Funny when you think about it, really, that success sort of hinges on how productive we are and how many THINGS we procure. Material items and the accumulation of such has become a fixated goal in this modern-day civilization. Artwork by crusty-punk

• If I can work more,

• I can buy more,

• I can own more,

• I will have more to exhibit,

• and this will prove my "value."

Hmmm...what a backwards way of thinking, I say. This whole concept sort of hit me yesterday when I was pushing my oversized red cart through the corridors of Target. Checking off items on my little list, I cruised along, noticing the enticing price point products that capped off the fluorescent-lit aisles. Sure, the gist of my list included "the essentials," but it still made me think about the mass of THINGS that we fill up our homes and lives with.

When we get to the end of life's road, just HOW important will those THINGS be? Will we sit before it all and add it up? Pat ourselves on the back and round up the neighbors to show it all off? Of course not. It will be the least of our concerns. It will be the faces of those whom we love that will matter. The memories of the happiest of our days. The gratitude and appreciation that we feel in our hearts. It will be the internal sentimentality that matters; not the external accumulation of our consumption.

Believe me, I know that this mentality is hard to escape from and tough to break. We are so conditioned to go, go, go...work, work, work... buy, buy, buy...that stepping back from it all is unequivocally tricky. But maybe if we just think, reflect and make an effort to steadily refrain from partaking of that engrained mantra of capitalism, we will learn to fill up our baskets with more truth, more love, more memories and more happiness.

When all is said and done, the conglomeration of material goods is no match for true happiness and experiences. We don't want to miss the most vital opportunities that life has to offer by being too consumed with consumption.

I have the default signature on my email set so that each message I send ends with this quote:

"Happiness is not to have more, but to be more."

I strive to live by these words, because I truly believe that when all is said and done, that the "things" in life are just that...thing-a-ma-bobber THINGS.

Photo by kalandrakas