How much is enough?

For this post, I would like to hone in on a specific question: how much is enough?

How much money do we need before we can be happy?

I learned something today. I learned that most economists have shifted from a view wherein the purpose of money was to have enough to enjoy life to a view which expresses the constant need for money, irrespective of how much is actually obtained. As an individual, I question this new philosophy.

Some people will hate me for even asking this question. They're investment bankers, kids with trust funds, the greedier ones in our society. I wouldn't mind making a ton of money. In fact, I would thoroughly enjoy it. But not if it compromises my life in some way.

I often wonder if we've got it wrong in North America. There's a clear dichotomy between North America and Europe where most of North America is focused on working longer and longer hours to get as much money as humanly possible while Europe seems to express family and leisure time as a prominent part of their society with monetary collection being something necessary for many of the things life has to offer, but not the primary focus.

Could you imagine what our society would be like here if we were to adopt the same ideals? Well I'm one person and I am adopting these ideals. I want to make enough money to get all the things I need and want and could care less if I make more than what I deem necessary for full enjoyment of my life. I will not work ridiculous hours for dollars I might never spend with the opportunity cost of missing out on social connections with friends and family.

Having explored that a little bit I will again ask the question, "How much money do we need before we can be happy?" I'd like to insert my own two cents at the end of this discussion as well: if we need to ask that question, are we truly on the road to happiness to begin with?

Stone Strewn Halos

Everywhere around you there are hard people

Living their lives trapped in the dark halo

You’re full of sunshine but it’s an evil

Even sun cased in by the dark can seem low

It’s like everyone around is feeling hard as stone

They’re clumping and crying but they cannot know

It’s hard for them to feel a sun that’s never shone

But cracks in the rock can let the sun seep below

Angel Fall Steal

I’ll pull you up from that gravity well

Watered with blood and sweat and tears

‘Cause I want to sew your broken wings

Ever wary of your chameleon’s sting

What’s more ironic than knowing of

A chameleon who’s afraid of change?

I’ll pull you down with me I swear

And I’ve got the scars to prove it all

I’ll make you wary of the lightning

Caring only for the flash and the din

When it’s over we will sit and tremble

Knowing that the angels did indeed fall

Some thoughts on positivity

I've had my fair share of life-altering decisions and whatnot. My absolute favorite among them all was to embrace everything positive and to rid myself of as many negative things as possible.

I mean, think about it. Everyone has their stresses, their worries, their deadlines, their obligations. Most people go ahead and let those consume them until they stop being themselves but are defined by how much they have going on in their lives. I say that's not the way to be. You should want to be defined by who you are. This is a lengthy way of putting it, but most people (unless they're psychotic or something) want to be happy in life. Guess what the secret to achieving that is? There is none. Just let yourself be happy.

When you embrace the notion that things don't keep you from being happy, only you can, then everything is instantly easier.

I should know. I've had moments of loss where I've hung on to those negative feelings. It starts to affect your behavior and eventually your disposition. One day you kind of snap out of it all and realize what you were doing. You finally see yourself the way you would have wanted to. You have to keep that perspective and stop things from making you sad.

I'm not saying that you shouldn't cry when someone dies or if you hate your boss and co-workers. All I'm saying is that stuff is negative and you don't need to base your life around it. Rather, basing your life around negative stuff will only foster negative emotions.

So be nice to people unless they give you good cause to be mean. Speak your mind but be tactful. Try to do something to improve the quality of life of yourself and others. And if anything's dragging you down below the depths, maybe it's time to cut it loose.

Insights - Not only obvious stuff?

There's a few things I would like to address for my first blog post in a while.

First, it occurs to me that people will look at the things I post and think something like, Well, this is all obvious shit. This guy must be an idiot to present things like this as revelations. Well, guess what? I'm not an idiot and I do realize that a lot of this stuff is "obvious." But just because something's obvious it doesn't mean that you won't forget it from time to time and need to be reminded of it. Anyone who's played sports knows exactly what I mean. Maybe you needed to be reminded to tweak something small in your curling delivery, get your ball toss higher up in tennis, always look at the ball in golf. The fact is, we forget some things. If someone reads these and is reminded of something they forgot to do but should, then my mission's accomplished.

On a side note, things being obvious is another great way of determining the right answer to a question. Everyone will have their own opinions on things. You've been a fly on the wall for discussions. All of a sudden, someone says something and you think, Of course, how could I have been so blind? That's obviously the right answer. That's the thing. The best answer is often difficult to come up with but sounds ridiculously obvious when stated.

Next, my main points. Something the other day triggered some thoughts in my head. Basically, because you think, you're thoughtful. Or rather, because you think you are thoughtful, it is so. If you're a worrier, people will "give" you good reason to worry. Often, if you assume the best, you'll get just that.

So much depends on frame of mind. When you expect to see sunshine you can look outside and see it even metaphorically on a cloudy day. If you expect rain, you might end your day in tears. This doesn't mean you should ignore solid facts in front of you...such as not being insane and realizing that there truly are clouds in the sky or that it's actually raining. That would be a little dangerous. But I do think that many would be better served to keep a better leash on their mental states.

Soliloquy of Night's Blind

Wrapped in thought like night’s warm embrace

Swirling lies in camouflage and stars to light my face

Endlessly looked over by a passerby to look away

Swimming in the empty night sky, sinister dark grey

Bubbles are floating about and slowly they pop

Too hard to soak up their deluge with ghost mops

A chill then fills the air and sends panic in their faces

A look of utter terror for what awaits in empty spaces

And in the heart they see what their brain cannot know

Paranoia was the crop and you reap what you sow

Ego splattering about like a grenade too soon burst

Not enough water in the sea to quench their greedy thirst

Where did all our passion go?

I often think about current times with respect to the older days. When I do get in that mindset, I tend to listen to older music from the 60s or 70s. You wouldn't think so because it's roundabout, but it's led to some interesting thought processes.

I think about the mindset of people in an era that produced better music and a lot of free spirit. I guess it depends on where you're standing since a lot of big business and fairly constructed and logical ideas happened as well. Regardless, let's focus on the lighter, more pop cultural aspects of those time periods.

I remember hearing someone speak of that Cold War type of setting and how people didn't know whether they were going to live or die or whatever. So what did they do? They lived today like there might not be a tomorrow because...Well, there might not have been. I don't want to feel like I could die tomorrow but I do think that modern society drapes us in the most dangerous type of safety blanket.

I feel like we're so well connected now that it's easy to feel like you don't matter and you're safe. We're approaching seven billion for world population - "That could never happen to me, there are so many other people out there." But you know what? That (whatever "that" is for you) could actually happen to you and we don't even realize it. That's sad.

What happened to life mattering? What happened to things mattering? What happened to people? What happened to passion?

Somewhere along the way passion died. Well, I wasn't alive around that time but I have passion. Frankly, I feel like I'm one of the few people around that does have unbridled passion. That remark will piss off anyone reading this to a huge degree. But it's true. I care what people think about me just like anyone else but not with respect to my passion(s). When it comes to that, I couldn't care if I couldn't be more wrong. I want to feel, I want to live life; I don't just want to be alive and scrape through. Otherwise, what's the point?

Society has changed? Great. We'll change it back. Or maybe I'll change it for me. I'll change it for me until it suits me and then I'll live in that world. That's a dream worth dreaming and a passion worth having.