I remember the first time I had this thought. I’ll be happy when I get a bike. The pedal kind. That’s how young I was. Sure, as a pre-teen, my mind was not really considering the ramifications of basing my happiness on external things. Happiness for me then was defined as food and other basic necessities which were mostly delivered by mum and dad.
As my interest in photography grew so did my desire for new gear. I needed the latest and greatest, I thought. At that age not realising that the greatest images taken to that time had been captured with little more than a Kodak Box Brownie.
So the cycle continued and grew and diversified into other areas. I secretly congratulated myself on achieving all my ‘goals’ of acquiring the things I wanted. In reality, all I’d been doing was acquiring debt for things; nothing very clever about that.
It took a long time, many credit cards and massive life-changing event to realise these things were actually doing the opposite for me. I’d like to say that I have changed my ways entirely but the truth is I still like nice things. There’s a Mercedes-AMG GT with my name on it somewhere in my future. I do not however
I had a chance meeting many years ago with a very wealthy Australian fashion brand owner who steered (pardon the pun) me in the right direction. While giving me a tour of his new Ferrari F430 he said, “I never buy anything like this unless I can afford to pay for it three times over.” He wasn’t trying to be a wanker or show off. But it was a lesson well learnt.
I’m pretty sure I own fewer things now than at any other point in my life. My tools are generally not the latest but function very well. The toy, trinket and gadget collection has shrunk considerably in the past decade. But my experiences have grown monumentally.
This guy says it best.
Relative happiness is happiness that depends on things outside ourselves, such as affluence or social standing. While the happiness such things bring us is certainly real, it shatters easily when external conditions alter. Absolute happiness, on the other hand, is something we must find within. It means establishing a state of life in which we are never defeated by difficulties, and where just being alive is a source of great joy.
Daisaku Ikeda
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