happiness

in pursuit of happiness, sometimes we fail to understand our human flaws. we get used to the things that makes us happy.

a study done on lottery winners shows that once they have experienced the finer things in life, they are unable to experience other simple pleasures of life. i agree with this observation. imagine that you had tasted the best french wine, would you feel happy tasting the better wines in local market? probably not cause you had the best. you lost that ability to enjoy the special wine of which 95% of the population would jump for joy.

so how to enjoy our financial success without getting too jaded with the things we could afford?

1. buy experience instead of material thingss. the new car i am buying is not about the car itself. its about the joy i will get from it when driving thru winding roads or at the track. its about discovering and pushing my personal limits. it’s about the experience.

2. enjoy the things that you buy. if you just got a computer, use it! don’t leave it off for the whole week. there is a reason you got it in the first place. enjoying the things you gain by converts it to an experience. i can’t understand why people bought ferrari and kept it in the house! it should be driven as it was meant to be. then they buy another one because they can afford it. i called this people “5-minutes happy people” for obvious reasons.

3. if you can’t enjoy the things that you have, the last resort i would recommend is enjoy for the fact that you are successful enough to buy those toys. extracting happiness from your success is one way to be happy 🙂

4. last, don’t compare. when we die, we die alone – 6 feet under. the neighbor, colleague, friends that we ‘compete’ with will not be there with us. just you, yourself and you. yes, you needs friends but comparing with them devalue your happiness. don’t sell yourself short. who cares if they have better cars, better relationship, better job, better house. our race is with ourselves. remember that.

there are no fast and hard rule on being happy. i just shared how i remain positive thru out my trials and tribulations in life. i started as a poor boy (financially that is). i will always remember that. i still stay in the small apartment i bought 11 years ago. i still eat at mamak regularly. i don’t sweat the small stuff. money comes money goes. love and friendship last a lifetime.

go ahead BE HAPPY