I read an article in The Metro (Tuesday May 7 2013) called 'It's life but not as we know it'.
It asked 'Have you visited 25 countries, performed on a stage and learned to speak two languages fluently?' It surmised that if you hadn't you weren't living life to the full. It went on to remind readers that the 'Top 50 list of ways to live life to the full' focused on 'experiences and achievements rather than having more material possessions'. What it failed to point out was that most of those 50 experiences required money in the first place. For example:
Take two holidays a year
Travel to at least 25 foreign countries
Book an impulsive last minute holiday
Go on safari
Blow money shopping
It did balance this out however by suggesting, ironically, that you should be earning 'more than your age'. In your quest for happiness and on a less monetary but no less materialistic level it also bizarrely suggested you could:
Lose 6kg (1st) in weight
Get a degree
Start a family
Contradictorily it suggested you should 'stop worrying about what other people think' whilst being sure to be 'well thought of by friends and family'. A difficult balance to follow I think given the often complicated nature of friends and family.
Stranger suggestions included 'meeting strangers', 'having a one night stand', 'dating someone exciting but completely wrong for you' and 'having an all night drinking session' which all seems like bad advice to me.
Does anyone believes this rubbish? Or have these things made you happy? Some of these items on this list would make you at least temporarily happy, but still less would have the longevity to keep you happy for long. Some, by their expense alone would end up making you miserable. Attaining this kind of lifestyle would be financially back breaking.
There are people quite happy with a simple, financially minimal existence. To a degree you can be a lot happier without the materialistic things in life. Apparently the average person can tick only 8 of the 'Top 50'. I can tick 19. I can't honestly say I am feeling that smug about it. But I bet you checked to see which ones you had achieved. So how did you do? And how did it make you feel?
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