Living Life Backwards
I sometimes get scared when I think about being without a job. The losing of our house, cars, and toys can be frightening, but work carries us down a road away from true happiness. Our society is setup to make us move farther from our real spirits more and more each day. We are constantly being wooed toward false realities, especially through our televisions, that we forget who we really are.
We can receive all the materialistic idols we long for, and after we emerge from all the discarded shrink wrap and styrofoam, we will discover that it really isn't that special. We have these great buildups of expectations only to be left in a state of sad realization that harmony and love live only in the simplest things in life, not in the factory-produced piles of trash we numbly accumulate.
To live life is to lose all we have and see life as it has always been and always will be: simple yet pure. We are living life backwards as we teach people to strive for all the "stuff" they want in their lives. We need to show our children that the man or woman that lives under a tree in the park experiences life more than the CEO who is constantly worried about how well their stocks are doing. A materialistic life is an endless well that we can never fill with happiness no matter how hard we try.
We wake up to our carpeted world and stroll the concrete to our cars, then we spend eight hours in a tile-floored building before taking our cars back to our carpeted houses. When is the last time we have actually touched the earth? When is the last time we have felt a blade of grass tickle our backs? Just imagine the percentage of time we spend away from Mother Nature and we can begin to understand why we are so angry and lost. A simple middle-of-the-night excursion to our backyards as we look to the glowing moon in the crisp early morning air can bring us more stabilization to our life than pills, therapy, or toys ever will.
We can receive all the materialistic idols we long for, and after we emerge from all the discarded shrink wrap and styrofoam, we will discover that it really isn't that special. We have these great buildups of expectations only to be left in a state of sad realization that harmony and love live only in the simplest things in life, not in the factory-produced piles of trash we numbly accumulate.
To live life is to lose all we have and see life as it has always been and always will be: simple yet pure. We are living life backwards as we teach people to strive for all the "stuff" they want in their lives. We need to show our children that the man or woman that lives under a tree in the park experiences life more than the CEO who is constantly worried about how well their stocks are doing. A materialistic life is an endless well that we can never fill with happiness no matter how hard we try.
We wake up to our carpeted world and stroll the concrete to our cars, then we spend eight hours in a tile-floored building before taking our cars back to our carpeted houses. When is the last time we have actually touched the earth? When is the last time we have felt a blade of grass tickle our backs? Just imagine the percentage of time we spend away from Mother Nature and we can begin to understand why we are so angry and lost. A simple middle-of-the-night excursion to our backyards as we look to the glowing moon in the crisp early morning air can bring us more stabilization to our life than pills, therapy, or toys ever will.
posted by goethe3 at 12:01 AM
2 Comments:
That is a hefty assertion; that the bum on the street "experiences life more then the CEO who is constantly worried how well their stocks are doing." Unfortunately, the bum is worrying...but instead of stocks they are worrying about where their next meal is coming from. Poverty is very distressing. I agree that getting back to nature is beneficial, but living a life of fear and worry is no life: whether you are a CEO or a bum. Its true that either could be happy. And Hardships can bring you closer to what life really means, what is really important. But having luxuries like free time also means that, if you chose, you can help other people out: whether it's creating art, volunteering, or simply being there for your friends and family. The simple life has long been touted as the better life. Life is not simple, however. So spend time in your back yard if it pleases you. But then ask yourself why you even have a backyard, then ask yourself if you could do without all that you have.
We all need to learn to live without all we have; that is where true happiness lives...
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