The Price of Happiness

In today's fast-paced world, the pursuit of happiness is often masked by the allure of material possessions and societal standards. We measure our worth by money, fame, power, looks, and status, set by arbitrary standards passed down through generations.

We are bombarded with advertisements promoting cheap dopamine hits: alcohol, promiscuity, fast fashion, and extravagant lifestyles. However, true happiness lies in the priceless: deep connections and a purposeful living.

The Illusion of Material Happiness

While buying new things brings temporary joy, this rush quickly fades, leaving us in the cycle of endless pursuit. Materialism stems from cultural and intergenerational trauma.

• Cultural Trauma refers to the collective emotional damage from historical events like wars, genocide, colonization, slavery, and systemic oppression.
• Intergenerational Trauma refers to trauma passed down through the family lineage, affecting generations even if they didn't directly experience the original events.

These traumas perpetuate a cycle of materialism as a misguided solution to emotional deprivation, exacerbated by events like COVID-19.

At the core of each of us, we want to be loved, to be accepted, and to know that what we do matters.

The Priceless Value of Relationships

As humans, we thrive on connections. Meaningful relationships support us during tough times, offering emotional support, love, and a sense of belonging that material possessions can never replace.

Investing in relationships through kindness, compassion, and care enriches our lives immeasurably. Simple acts of kindness dissolve animosity and create a nurturing environment for meaningful bonds to form and deepen over time.

Purposeful Living

Naturally, as you spend more time cultivating relationships with others, you begin to realize the joyful experience one has through serving others. Serving others brings soulful satisfaction. Elevating others through sharing knowledge, helping those in need, or simple gestures like a smile, brings fulfillment that material possessions cannot.

When our gifts and values align, we contribute to something greater, giving our lives meaning and direction. This purposeful living provides lasting happiness and resilience.

The Illusion of the Dream

We grew up being told that our dreams are not real and to completely abandon them. Instead, we were told the only "real" dream worth pursuing is the stability of working in large corporations, where success is measured by material wealth and defined through the corporate ladder. This leads us to admire people in power, even if they display high levels of psychopathic/ sociopathic tendencies by using others for personal gain. Furthermore, it teaches us to collectively abandon our humanity and to only think about ourselves.

Just look at what COVID has done to us as a society; we can barely smile let alone say good morning to others without the fear of getting sick. The dystopian world we are currently living in is becoming eerily similiar to premise of the video game, We Happy Few .

This way of living undermines our path to self-actualization , causing us to collectively feel anger, grief, and frustration because we have given up our own dreams and are now 'stuck ' living out someone else's all because we were told it would make us happy.

But how could anyone blame us?

We were sold this pipeline dream of chasing a dollar value at the cost of our own happiness. As a consequence, we now live life adrift, having forfeited our own dreams, lost our inner flame/ passion, and it's resulted in us settling for some mediocre job and the mediocre life it brings.

We end up defining our worth through our materialistic success and cope with our misery through cheap dopamine: drinking alcohol, eating until your heart or body gives out (whichever comes first), buying the next best thing, and increasing your body count, just to name a few. To make matters worse, society deems such self-destructive behaviour as normal. But...

What part of drinking poison is normal!? What part of using each other is normal?!

Conclusion

True happiness is not measured in dollars but in the time, effort, and love invested in relationships and purposeful living. By shifting our focus from material possessions to meaningful connections and intentional living, we can create a happier society.

"I'm not a materialist anymore. I don't think the world's made of matter. I think it's made out of what matters. It's made out of meaning. What we Orient towards unconsciously, which means what captures our attention is meaning and it captures our attention before we know what it is. The brain acts as if the world's made out of information or made out of meaning." - Jordan Peterson

So embrace the people you love, serve with a purpose, and find joy in your unique journey because these are the true treasures that no money can buy.