Last updated on September 9th, 2014 at 10:27 pm
We are a world full of individuals. I am different from you, and in turn, we’re both different from any third person we choose to bring into the equation. But there’s a VAST difference between BEING an individual and LIVING OUR LIVES individually.
Some travellers come to a village, carrying nothing more than an empty cooking pot. Upon their arrival, the villagers are unwilling to share any of their food stores with the hungry travellers. The travellers fill the pot with water, drop a large stone in it, and place it over a fire in the village square. One of the villagers becomes curious and asks what they are doing. The travellers answer that they are making “stone soup”, which tastes wonderful, although it still needs a little bit of garnish to improve the flavor, which they are missing. The villager does not mind parting with just a little bit of carrot to help them out, so it gets added to the soup. Another villager walks by, inquiring about the pot, and the travellers again mention their stone soup which has not reached its full potential yet. The villager hands them a little bit of seasoning to help them out. More and more villagers walk by, each adding another ingredient. Finally, a delicious and nourishing pot of soup is enjoyed by all.Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_soup
Now, obviously this story doesn’t merely apply to food and villages — it can be representative of anything we can touch, feel, think or do.We’ve been taught incorrectly for a long time now. We’ve been raised to believe that we should get educated, employed and exceptionally wealthy so that we can buy our own things and hold positions of a certain stature in our societies.But is this the only way?
Will having a new sound system make you happier? Maybe, but not for long. Will buying that new dress improve your life? Sure, for a while, but your level of happiness will suffer the same wear and tear as the dress will as it falls victim to time.
So what CAN make us happy?
Personally, I don’t think that we were meant to live in isolation. Our ancestors didn’t survive by keeping to themselves. The would combine their resources to celebrate. To survive. To THRIVE.
That’s the difference right there — as a populace, the majority of us aren’t thriving — we’re simply doing what we need to day in and day out to get by. Those who are receiving abundantly in life are SO FAR AHEAD of those of us who aren’t, that those of us in the latter category haven’t the faintest IDEA of what it’s like to be thriving.
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- How OFTEN do you use the things you have?
- How MANY of them can you use AT THE SAME TIME?
- How many of them did you buy intending to use them for something, only to discover that they weren’t all that they were cracked up to be — i.e. YOU NO LONGER USE THEM?
