An interesting point of view came to mind the other day as I simply observed the world around me, making me realize the reason why we evolved into the destructive and poorly valued society we are in, is because we grow a thicker tolerance year after year for money driven changes. Look around you, every single piece of art, billboard, bus stop, or just about every single wall built is covered by some sort of brand which we often paid for. There is not a single piece of information out there that is not related to a product or service.
It’s actually somewhat distressing because we often neglect to pay attention to all of our surroundings as we are so consumed with our own situation or misery. It is true that the majority of the people in this world are so consumed by their own issues that they rarely look around and notice the actual progression of the world itself and the direction things are heading. We often worry about gas prices but not the consequences of oil drilling, and we even worry about our taxes going up but not so much the direction our country is taking.
A good example and impactful way to think about this is on the elections. The elections are often focused on unemployment, taxes, abortions, healthcare, and other petty things that basically have no real long term value for our well being. Instead these issues that we believe to be important for us are nothing more than an illusion of comfort. Why worry about the national debt? Or perhaps the potential foreign affairs and alliances our country makes? Neither one of these two things hold true or real value, as both are not our problem right? Instead we should worry about putting an extra $12 a paycheck in our pockets or perhaps paying 35% taxes instead of 40% if we made a million, as for our own peace of mind that an extra $10,000 sitting in our checking account doing nothing for us is worth the price that our children and grandchildren will pay.
Think about most of your actions today and how highly they are revolved around you, and never for the common good. Think about how much of your day, week, and month, you are giving up for money and for the smallest amount at that and yet rarely find that satisfaction you seek from it, even when you have more than you expected to have. Think hard about this!
As our world evolves, corporations, businesses, and people align for the constant pursuit and acquisition of more money. There is simply never enough and no matter who we assess, the amount of greed exists on a different level but still exists and there is no limitation to the madness.
I want you to simply close your eyes and re-open them to look at the world from a different perspective. One where you are not concerned with yourself, but rather if the world around you is the one you want to live in.
Look at the mass advertisements, look at the constant evolution of what others accept in their lives, look at the evolution of what’s allowed on public TV or perhaps the threshold of the stores we allow in the middle of our cities. Look at the poverty growing around you because of ignorance, greed, and the lack of education. As you get motivated by the amount of new millionaires that get declared each year, also pay attention to the ever growing number of people considered to be living in poverty and observe that 3-4 times more people go from normal to poor than people go from normal to wealthy. The division gets larger every year and we continue to worry about ourselves, however, it is ultimately a matter of time before the world catches up with itself and makes these other people’s problems your own inconvenience and at which point, it will be a battle that you will not have the strength or support to fight.
This ability to see into the future of where things are heading is an important skill set to develop as it enables you to look at your own life as it pertains to where you are and the conditions around you, and most importantly allows you to make better decisions towards your goals and future.
Think ahead, think broader, and see further, but once in a while look around you for a change.
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” – Marcel Proust
