Friday, June 26, 2009
Running away from MaterialismMoney can’t buy you love. It can’t buy you happiness either.
Today’s materialistic world often urges us to buy the coolest gadgets, the trendiest clothes, bigger and better things, but research shows that possessions and purchases don’t buy us happiness.
It’s the profit gain by corporations, not for our own happiness while we are forced into materialism. Sadly, it’s hard to escape the effects of materialism, and find happiness in other ways than buying stuff online or finding joy in this shopping city.
So how can we really escape from materialism in the modern days? Go hide ourselves in the woods of Singapore? Probably you will be living with the illegal immigrants or thought to be one if you do that. Or you could still live in our modern society, but find ways to escape materialism.
Here are some suggestions:
Give up magazines for books. Though magazines may contain information, it has more advertisements contents as they are designed with advertising in mind. And they rarely give you much value. Try reading a book. I believe there are more worth reading book than magazines.
Limit television. Enjoy watching TV for hours? Only watch shows that you are interested in and when commercials time, move away from your seat. Watching DVDs or VCDs is the best choice as there will not be any advertisements, and once finish, you can proceed to doing other things.
Monitor your internet surfing pattern. There are lots of websites in the World Wide Web. Avoid visiting website that sells product online example EBay and etc as they will tempt you to buy. Try visiting informational websites as this will not only stop you from spending, it also increase your general knowledge.
Limit going to the mall. Aim of these places is for you to spend money. If you just want a place to spend your weekend, find a place where you don’t need to spend money to have fun such as a park or a beach. If you really need to buy something, head straight down to the shop. Limit the window shopping as you’ll get sucked in.
Find other forms of entertainment. There are other things to do besides watching TV or surfing the Internet. Try playing sports or exercising, or playing board games or creating art or writing or reading a book. These will build up your character and the bond within the family, friends and love ones. With great health brings happiness to your life.
Find goals for you. Give yourself a treat by going on a holiday or relaxing spa. Plan these ahead everything. Constantly remind yourself that you have yet to achieve these goals every time you feel like spending money on products. Learn to love yourself, and then you will find true happiness.
11:27 AM