Your Quality Of Life

When I used to live in California I used to see bumper stickers that said, "The One Who Dies With The Most Toys Wins". That struck me as sad. 

America has a group obsession with the idea that bigger is always better. If you look around a little it isn't hard to notice that that may not always necessarily be true. An example of this was a millionaire and his wife who were building an enormous mansion while they lived in part of it. I believe it was intended to become something like 900,000 square feet when completed. 

They had about eight maids to take care of all that space and their toys they had in there. 

This couple along with their children and maids and pets had a filmmaker who joined them to record their daily life. I suppose this was a reality show on television when it started. I only found it on the internet.

During the filming process, something bad happened to their money and they had to stop building. They also had to let most of their maids go. They didn't seem really happy to me even before their money supply dwindled.

I have been trying to not super-size my life for a while, so I don't go shopping as much as most people do. This gives me sticker shock more, because it is more noticeable when prices go up. It also makes it more noticeable when the televisions in the electronics departments grow. The last time I checked, there were a lot of 60 inch televisions all over the place. In order to have the best toys on the block, you must need a 60 inch television now.

During the times of the Pharaohs who built the pyramids and lavish tombs, people did believe that you could, "take it with you". They put a lot of effort into doing that. It could include executions inside the tombs to make sure there were plenty of slaves in their afterlives.

Most people now do not think we can take it with us. Only a very few try to be buried in their large luxury car and I don't believe anyone has even tried to take their 60 inch television, smart phone, and video gaming equipment.

It seems to me that the people with the most toys get messy divorces as much, if not more than, average people do. 

I read fairly often about people who drop out of some kind of very successful life to go live on an island in a palm leaf hut, or on a mountain with a large dog in a cabin. I have even met and talked to some of those people. They seem happier than the ones who keep on trying to die with the most toys.

Maybe quality is better than quantity. Perhaps you will be happier if you stop trying for the most toys and go for quality of life instead. That might not be an island or cabin, but whatever it is for you probably doesn't involve a 900,000 square foot home, and eight maids to keep it up.

Stress can make you sick. Once you figure out what it is that really makes you happy, your quality of life will go up. Part of that quality will be better health. Happy people are healthier. You can be one of those happy and healthy people.