It’s gotten so bad that I start regretting things that I am thinking of buying.
For example, as a child, I grew up watching commercials where luxury automobiles did crazy things that were totally unnecessary. I said to myself as a kid “I will own one of those one day.” I did. I bought the exact car that I saw growing up and when I bought it, it was 10 years old. It was the only way I could afford it. I loved the feeling of accomplishing that dream, but I grew to regret that purchase. Why?
One day when I went to lunch I came back to the car and I had a problem getting the key to turn In the ignition. I had just started a new job and I was very stressed. I got lucky by hitting the steering wheel column but it scared me and I at that moment I realized that it wasn’t reliable and that I had to let it go. Owning something is not the pleasure that you dream it is.
I bought things that I thought would enhance my life and after owning them I realize that I fell victim to clever marketing. We aren’t better people because we own something and other people see how important we are. Other people’s opinions mean nothing. They are superficial and change on a whim, and trying to build your life on others’ opinions is a foolish waste of time.
Everything that we buy that we don’t need, we have some mistaken ideas about. I’m not saying that you can’t enjoy something. I’m simply sharing that whatever you are working for, eventually the desire to own it stops and you have to let go. You see this with people who are celebrities or rich who get rid of treasured possessions. They say “Its time for someone else to enjoy this object.” We don’t derive pleasure from things, we give ourselves the right to feel pleasure from things.
Now I have a 15-year-old car that is probably less reliable than that car above, and I have no desire to ever buy a car again. Sure they are interesting and I can appreciate their benefits. However, I know as surely as the sun will rise tomorrow, once I buy it I will no longer want it. Strange human desire we have isn’t it?