Maximizing Happiness

Given the fast paced accessibility of so much that our modern world provides it is really easy to loose track of what really matter. Keeping up with the Jones, filling your life with unnecessary distractions and responsibilities, as well as living your life though your children are all major pitfalls. But the most dangerous trap that Americans fall into is the accumulation of junk. Things don't make you happy. Things only enable happiness when applied to something that truly matters.

Here are some general rules that express this line of thinking.

• You don't appreciate what you don't take care of yourself.
• Hoards of treasure are a poison to the things that matter most. It makes you focus on things rather than people. It encourages an attitude of thinking of people as things.
• You become the servant of the things you surround yourself with.
• We actually need very few things in this life. Most of which we could carry on our backs.
• The less things we have, the more useful and appreciated they become to us.
• The less things we have cluttering up our lives the more we see the things around us that really matter.
• If you find your pleasure in things, what will you do when they rust, fall apart, or are stolen?
• The best thing you can do for the environment is to do without.
• The best thing you can do for those in need is to not eat your dinner and then their dinner also.
• The thrill we associate with acquiring things is very similar to a heroin addiction. The more we feed it less it satisfies and the more it destroys us.

Here are some examples of how to live these ideas.

• If you can't afford it then don't buy it.
• If you have to hire someone to take care of it then get rid of it.
• If you have to rent storage space to store something then get rid of it.
• If you don't use it most weeks then get rid of it.
• If it encourages you to not interact with your family then get rid of it.
• If one extravagant item could be exchanged for ten suitable items then don't buy the extravagant one. Instead buy 10 and give 9 to those in need.