The obsession with success has become almost synonymous with our personal value. Not only success itself, but also our obsession. When someone doesn’t aspire to make a lot of money or have an enviable job, they often hear questions like, “But then, what do you want?”It is as if success, translated into money, is the backbone of a lifetime, at all times.
How many times have we felt a wave of envy in thinking that others are doing better than us, how many times have we compared our car to a more elegant car or our house to a larger one?
- Why do we always want more and why do we keep this aspiration from time to time even though we are aware of the amount of bitterness we feel in return?Therefore.
- Today we will reflect on whether it is inherent to the human being to want to achieve.
- As successful as possible.
- Or if it is conditioned by society.
From a very young time we are bombarded by messages about an ideal life project, the imposition of a specific ideology often limits our view of other points of view, that is, if they teach us to think that success means having a lot of money. , we believe, ultimately, that the goal of the human being is to accumulate money, if we are told that success is to treat people well, our goal will be to try to be a good person, in this way social influence plays a very important role in the formation of our social and personal desires.
There is no natural law that says that human beings should accumulate a lot of money, nor that we have to have an infinite list of properties, the obsession with success is social and cultural imposition, yet many people do not realize that, as a general rule, the surreal and unsizable demands of society dominate our lives. In this way, if we combine success with having the best job from an early age, we probably believe that this is really what success means.
“Of all the characteristics that develop happiness, I am deeply convinced that altruistic love is the most effective” – Matthew Ricard-
One of the most widespread epidemics in the 21st century is depression, and another is anxiety. The World Health Organization (WHO) said in 2016 that more than 350 million people were suffering from depression. In 2012, the entity said the most troubling was that “in 20 years, depression will be the most common disease in humans, defeating cancer and cardiovascular disorders. “
Was this related to the obsession with success?Yes, of course, the imposition of unrealistic goals frustrates us because we do not achieve them, many people say that their life is a failure because they do not have a good job, they have a popular car and not an imported car and they live in a house that is not very big. The person has it all, and yet he doesn’t appreciate anything. It’s as if it’s normal to aim at the sky instead of the horizon or the earth.
However, by owning these assets, they are already richer than the vast majority of the world’s population. Gradually, we can approach a healthier concept of success: to be happy here and now.
Appreciating what we have and having a morally correct thought and action is far more admirable than the desire and desire to accumulate material goods and prestige. Moreover, if we pay real attention to those who are very interested in success, we will realize that it is the ones who suffer the most, on the other hand, those who care about others and are satisfied with what they have are happier, society is so sick that it is necessary to make it clear that being happy with what it has is not synonymous with conformism , but know how to enjoy what you have in the present moment.
“It’s not richer who has the most, but who needs less. “Facundo Cabral-
Legend has it that Alexander the Great wanted to meet Diogenes, who lived in a barrel; in fact, it was one of his few cases. Some considered him wise and others considered him ignorant. When Alexander the Great appeared to him, he showed all his admiration and began to speak. Alexander turned to Diogenes and said, “Ask me what you want. those with whom the richest men in Athens don’t even dare dream?
Diogenes had the opportunity to radically change his life, live in a palace and have fortunes, however, his answer was not what everyone expected. Diogenes replied: “Of course. I won’t be the one to stop you. showing me your love. I wanted to ask you to stay away from the sun. My biggest wish right now is for your rays to touch me. I have no other need and is it true that only you can give me this satisfaction now?
It is said that Alexander stated that “if it had not been Alexander, he would have liked to have been Diogenes”. This anecdote reflects how cultural some needs may be. For Diogenes, the success was to be calm and enjoy the rays of the sun, and for Alexander it was the immense ambition to conquer more and more lands.
Matthieu Ricard, a doctor of molecular biology and a Buddhist monk, has defined himself as the happiest man on the planet. Richard states that “compassion, the intention to eliminate the suffering of others and the causes of that suffering, linked to altruism and the desire to offer well-being to others, is it the only unifying concept that allows us to find our way through this maze of complex concerns ?.
Does Ricard use the term labyrinth of worries as synonymous with the world in which we live?And that we help form. He ensures that compassion gives meaning to our existence, so happiness and much of the meaning of life goes through caring for the interests of others, not just admiring our success.
He also says that happiness is not just a succession of pleasurable experiences, is this a way of being that comes from the culture of basic human qualities, such as compassion, inner freedom, inner peace, resilience, etc. ?the key to the development of these qualities: “each of these qualities is a skill that can be cultivated through mental training and altruism”.
“All the happiness in the world comes from the desire for happiness of others. Do all the sufferings in the world come from wanting your own happiness?. – Shantideva-