Many of us fall into the trap of spending our entire lives achieving what we can never achieve.
I’m talking about our constant pursuit. more.
Many of us live our lives yearning for more money, more homes, more status, more favors, more success.
I believe that with a little more, we can finally be happy.
But the nature of “more” is forever elusive. Always needing more to be happy is like chasing the proverbial carrot out of reach…or chasing a mirage that recedes as it approaches.
Because when more becomes a goal, we will never get there…the finish line is always moving away from us.
We rarely stop long enough to think, “How much does it take to be happy?” How much money, how much is the house, how much is the car, how many pairs of shoes?
Few people sit long enough to be able to answer that question.
Instead, for some reason, we just assume that “more than we have” is the correct answer.
But here’s the problem. We will never reach satisfaction if we always need more to achieve it.
The constant pursuit of “more” makes it difficult to see “enough.” When we constantly focus on everything we don’t have, we lose sight of everything we already have.
This may not be the case in every situation, but many of us reading this today already have more stuff in our lives than we used to. What we have now is what we thought would make us happy.
But even in that situation, our inner motivation (prompted by the society around us) is to keep wanting more and more and more.
We devalue what we do have by being blinded by the charm of what we don’t have. And our existing blessings are ignored by the race for “more.”
If we keep chasing “more,” we lose sight of “enough.”
Worse, this quest for “more” fosters a sense of inadequacy, inadequacy, and deep-seated dissatisfaction. Our desire for more whispers that we haven’t accumulated enough for ourselves yet—and it turns our passions inward and self-centered.
The more we want, the less we feel we have.
But what if we changed our perspective? What if we stopped chasing “more” and started acknowledging “enough”? What if we realized that contentment isn’t about getting more, it’s about being grateful for what you already have?
A whole new way of life will open up for each of us.
So let’s redefine our pursuit. Let’s recalibrate our measure of success. Learn to count differently. And aim for “enough” instead of “more”.
To be clear, this article is not about being content with less in life, but about understanding the value of contentment and the ambition that comes with it.
Think about how your attitude, your day, your pursuits would change if you stopped aiming for “more” and started to realize that you already had “enough.”
Is there food on the table and a roof over your head? Do you have clothes in your closet? Is there love in your life and an opportunity to serve others? If so, you may already have everything you need to be happy.
And getting rid of the irrepressible desire for more may be the most life-changing decision you make today.
A reachable destination is enough. Beyond that, it’s a never-ending journey.
