Happiness means life .
In your experience, does a calm and modest life actually bring more happiness than the pursuit of success combined with constant restlessness?
10 Answers
Alys Richards, former School Psychologist (R), Atheist, at Stewardess , ISTP, Boomer, Org Gardener, Chicken Keeper (1999-2...
In MY experience, yes, yes, yes. In the past, I’ve been around money and have been married to it. I’ve noticed that the people who pursue it never seem to be satisfied. They always seem to be thinking about having more or hanging on to what they have. I have a friend who says, “Everything is about money”. I guess it’s like collecting stamps … you think you have enough, then see one you’ve never seen before and MUST have.
I now live a quiet life in the Blue Ridge mountains where money and material goods mean little. I have a nice little cottage, but what means the most to me is sitting on my porch, listening to the creek below me, feeling the breeze, listening to the birds and my chickens, and feeling pride from growing and putting up much of my own food. I love gardening on the side of the mountain where I live, too. Roses, lilacs, hydrangeas … I love them all. Instead of accumulating material goods, I work on my flowering plants to make them grow better, healthier, and prettier.
I’ve come to feel that I have enough and don’t need anything more. It’s an extremely satisfying feeling and brings me more pleasure than I’ve ever experienced before. Friends who are still caught up in the “pursuit of success” come to visit and are envious. “I want your life” is a remark I hear frequently - even from my son’s thirty-something friends. And, yet, as far as monetary worth goes, most people my age have much more than I. They could easily give all that up and adopt a similar lifestyle, but they just can’t make that “sacrifice”. It scares them. They worry about living a life without shopping, restaurants, and golf courses, and yet they’re killing themselves to maintain that lifestyle while envying mine.
I guess the idea of “giving up” something to have less is a scary one that we’ve been enculturated to think of as a negative. Give up or sacrifice = loss. More is better. Less is wanting. But, I’ve learned that grasping for more is exhausting and keeps us from clearly seeing and appreciating what we have; being satisfied with less is peaceful and brings a feeling of deep contentment. (I avoid using the word happy because happiness is fleeting, like sadness. For permanence, you want to feel satisfied and content.)
I sleep much better at night now that I no longer worry about constantly chasing the carrot on the stick. Instead, I might plan next season’s garden, wonder if I’ll knit that throw I’ve planned or needlepoint the little footstool, or think about what books I should check out at the library. Decisions, decisions.
It’s been the best time of my life.
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