Wealthsamurai – In Pursuit of Happiness in the Journey called LIFE

“Money is only a tool. It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver.”

Appreciate What You Have – I have chosen this topic to re-iterate the philosophy of WealthSamurai that is to achieve happiness through wealth creation and proper financial planning. Today’s post is a guest post by a dear friend SG.

When railway was invented, and routes were getting laid down in Britain, an officer working on field saw a native man carrying faggots on his head. Officer stopped him and asked where are you going. “To sell faggots in the far away village market”, replied the man. Officer asked, tell me your weekly routine. “Monday and Tuesday I chop the trees, carry the faggots to market on Wednesday, sell them on Thursday, return back on Friday, sharpen the tools on Saturday and rest on Sunday. Officer proudly told the man, once the railway starts running on this route, it will take you to market in an hour and back in an hour, so it will save you 2 days. Officer thought the man would be rejoiced instead he looked worried. What’s the matter asked the officer. Man replied in worried tone, “You disturbed my whole routine, now what do I do on those 2 days?”

The world has been changing rapidly since last century. Science and technology has contributed significantly in every field of our life. Just try and compare the daily routine you would have if born 50 years back. Along with loads of convenience and comfort it has brought to us, it also increased the speed of living drastically. Science has penetrated into your daily routine so much so that the routine tasks which would have taken whole day 50 years back are now possible only in 1/10 of its time.

For example:

• Washing\Cleaning – Washing machine, dishwasher, vacuum cleaner
• Cooking – Food processor, pressure cooker, microwave oven
• Travelling – Automobiles, railway, airplanes, rockets

So the same predicament has happened to us.

What do we do with the time that we are saving?

There could have been lot of apt answers but unfortunately the answer we chose was,

• Work more
• Earn more
• Enjoy life more and more

We worked more, we earned more but somehow the latter part was not to happen. We are not happier than our previous generations even though we earn more and have much more comfort and convenience. What went wrong? Only few people come across this question in their LIFE, rest of them do not even have the liberty to think in this mad mad race. People who spend some time with themselves and introspect are soon struck with reality. They know they are not happy at the moment although this might be exactly what they had planned for.

People don’t really know what they want from or in LIFE. They don’t have clear goals. They try to squeeze LIFE as much as they can and then adjust their goals accordingly. A man, who had a goal of buying a car one day, soon readjusts it to buy big sedan as soon as he owns his first car. A man, who dreamed of having his own apartment in city someday, suddenly starts dreaming of a luxurious 4 bedroom suite as soon as he moves into his cozy 1 Bedroom apartment. This is a vicious cycle.

If your goals and priorities keep changing frequently it tells three things about you:

• You did not know your goals
• You did not know your priorities
• You can never be happy in LIFE

Some people may say not necessarily, goals and priorities can change and I would agree with that. But there is always a cost to pay. So what do you put at stake? You put at stake that very thing for which you have been working hard till date – A happy and satisfied LIFE.

Your wants keep turning into needs and you keep running like a race horse to meet them. This cycle is hard to break unless you are ready to swallow some bitter pills.

What is the smallest thing that you appreciated recently? Mind you, the smallest
Do you own that thing?

Answers to first question will differ a lot, however, answer to latter is same – NO.

We never appreciate what we have. We only appreciate the things which we do not have. Ask yourself, how much time you spend in appreciation and gratitude towards what you have – Very less.

Most of our time is spent in appreciating what others have and disparaging our achievements. Stop comparing things. Comparison is what is hurting you all along and it can really kill you. You can never have everything in the world. And even if you do one day, you will soon start craving for moon and stars.

However let’s not confuse contentment as complacency? One should definitely not be complacent. But you have to learn to be happy in the present moment, learn to appreciate the moment as it is. So start appreciating what you have now…

• Appreciate your favorite ball-pen which you have purchased few years back
• Appreciate your house you owned just now
• Appreciate your friends, husband\wife, son, daughter
• Appreciate your neighbors, colleagues, boss, office boy, lift-man, milkman
• Appreciate the weather soothing or scorching
• Appreciate the piece of sky visible from your window
• Appreciate the flower in the vase blooming or withered
• Appreciate chirping birds, barking dogs, yelling kids
• Appreciate the rising and setting sun
• Appreciate the beautiful wallpaper on your laptop

And finally, stand in front of mirror; appreciate yourself for the gratitude you are expressing towards everything in this world which is part of your LIFE. Take pride in things and keep feeling it. If you can do this, you will notice that something around you is changing. Every day when you wake up, you will be a happier, content and a better person than yesterday.