Life Versus Lifestyle
We often hear people say that they have a life, but not a lifestyle, and this article calls them out on it. It discusses the importance of actually prioritizing things like health, wealth, and happiness in your life over other things like work or money. It also provides some really great exercises to help you figure out where you stand on these topics.
The game of life is a game we play with ourselves.
Before we can start to take control of our lives, we must first take control of the way that others view us. When you are dealing with the opinions and perceptions of others, the last thing you want to do is give them ammunition with which to use against you. But when you don't have time or energy to focus on your own life and happiness, it is easy for your energy and effort to get drained off into doing things the way that they are supposed to be done, or in trying to please other people's expectations. [So] I'm going to help you examine what it is that you want out of life... the things that you want. And the things that you don't want. And then I'm going to give you some good advice on how [to] start living the life that you want and not the life that someone else wants for you.
As we mature and age, life gets more complicated and difficult, especially in our modern society where everything is wrapped up in politics, money, and appearances. Many people believe that when they can't succeed at one thing it means they can't do anything, but this is simply not true. It is perfectly possible to enjoy all the privileges of being human and still be happy. It is just not possible to enjoy all the privileges of being human, and still be miserable. All that you really need to do is get your priorities straight and start living the life that you want, rather than the one that everyone else thinks you should live.
For example, suppose you are an average 30 year old who works 8 hours a day at a desk job where they pay $50,000 per year. This is a job that you have no problem with because it pays well and satisfies your basic needs. But suppose you want more for yourself, but you can't find another company where you can make more money for the same amount of quantity time. Your main complaint about this job is that it doesn't allow you to advance in terms of responsibility or status, so it is not the right job for you to be in at the moment.
If this situation were reversed and you were an average 30 year old who was stuck in an office environment where they made $300 per year, I would strongly urge that person to pursue a new career path (of their choosing) in order to improve their life. You would likely be happier and more fulfilled if you were to move into a new line of work.
People often do not want to admit this, but many people are not happy with their lives because they haven't taken the time to examine what they really want out of life. They assume that they just have to find a way to get by, and then assume that happiness will eventually follow. They don't have time or energy left over for it right now, so their lives are just going through the motions without having much joy in them.
Take these certain people: I know many who have been placed into nursing homes because they are incompetent and unskilled at doing anything else. Their lives consist mostly of eating, sleeping, and watching television. Occasionally they do something else like go for a walk in their nursing home or take a shower. They live this way for years, and then die.
When I think about such people, it really makes me sad because I cannot help but look back upon my own life and see that I have wasted so much of my own time without ever really doing anything with it. Because I worked so hard to make money, I was too tired to do things that were not related to making money. And now that I have some free time (and some income), I don't have the energy or motivation to pursue what it is that would actually make me happy in life.
This is a major problem and often people don't even realize that they are doing it. They have just accepted the fact that their lives have to be this way, and they never bother to question if this is really working for them or not.
It can be difficult to change your life, but it is completely possible if you take the time to figure out what it is that you want out of life. As I said earlier, you cannot continue living the way that everyone else wants you to live without eventually burning out from doing it. Yes, there are some basic things like hygiene and safety which we need in order to survive, but these things do not make for a happy life by themselves. Just going through the motions of life will not make you happy.
If you are going to do something in life, then it needs to be something that will bring about a positive change in your life.
Some people might claim that money or material items are important things to have, but this is simply not true. In fact, money and material items can actually cause more problems than they solve in a great many cases. This is because they put more pressure on us than they solve problems, and we need both happiness and financial stability if we want to live well.
Wealth can be achieved by a number of different means – by getting an education, starting a business venture, or even by just being lucky. For some people it just happens, but this is not something that we can expect to happen in our lives on a consistent basis. We do not want to expect to get rich so that we can live a happy life. Living a happy life allows us to do the things that we want and not the things that other people want for us.
When I was younger I tried to live the life of someone who is making $300,000 a year. I have neither the time nor inclination for this kind of lifestyle, and it didn't give me what I wanted – which was freedom from mundane tasks and free time for doing fun, interesting things.
When I did things that I wanted to do, it made me feel good and brought about a positive change in my life. When I did things that other people wanted for me, it made me feel bad.
The biggest problem with modern society is that people are not pursuing their own happiness. They believe that they need to do everything that everyone else wants them to do in order to be accepted, liked, or respected. They try to fit into a mold that is not their own and rather than gaining more freedom from their lives in the process, they actually become more stuck with the daily drudgery of life as every day they are living someone else's dream instead of their own.
Conclusion
If you want to be happy and live a life that is fulfilling to you, then you cannot allow other people's expectations to consume your life. You need to think outside of the box and find what it is that makes you happy and then pursue those activities.
Is your job satisfying? If not, then why do it? By adding enough work on top of your job, could you become satisfied with the job instead of doing something else?
If so, try that. If not – find something else to do.