A confused lifestyle

I used to be in the fashion business, a line of business that has always fascinated me. We read the latest fashion magazines, watched amazed at the world’s prettiest men and women strutting in designer clothes on fashion channels, and picked up an idea or two.

It’s interesting to note that in the very materialistic 21st-century world we’re in today, rather than fashion imitating life, life actually imitates fashion.

Humans are really very strange. Consider the following:

• We wear safari clothes, but we’ve never been to a jungle.

• We wear aerobic footwear even if we’ve never set foot in an aerobics class.

• We wear a deep-sea diving watch even if we never get wet while wearing it.

• We buy those beautiful and expensive pilot’s watches even if we don’t know a thing about flying an airplane.

• We drive a four-wheel-drive truck in the middle of Manila traffic. 

• We own architectural magazines we don’t read filled with pictures of furniture we don’t like.

• We have a financial strategy software installed in a computer we don’t know how to operate.

• We have an art poster for an exhibit we never went to, of an artist we never heard of.

This is called abstract materialism.

The more you have to live for, the less you need to live on. But those who make acquisition their goal never have enough. And the worst thing is to force one’s self into borrowing money he can’t pay back, to buy stuff he really can’t afford, to impress people he really doesn’t like.

The world today is divided into three kinds of people:

1. The have’s

2. The have-not’s

3. And the have-not-paid-for-what-they-have’s

Don’t let yourself fall into the third category – it’s a trap.

The art and science of happiness is really simple. I’ve heard so many motivational speakers discuss this, but the one who has impressed me the most is the major contributor to the New Testament, the apostle Paul, who said, “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.”

If you keep your focus on things you don’t have, you’ll fail to appreciate the things you do have. That’s a sure recipe for misery.

Abstract materialism has no place in your life and mine. Love God first, serve men, work hard, play hard and pray hard. This is the secret to the fulfilled life.

Some people use this as an excuse to be lazy. They use the term “work-life balance” as an all-day pass to being all-day lazy. This shouldn’t be the case.

We need to live and lead life to the next level. We still need to add value to ourselves, and make ourselves more useful. In other words, we should be satisfied with what we have, but we should never be satisfied with what we can become with each new day. And as we work on ourselves, as we learn new things, acquire new skills and work hard, we should also work hard on our character and strive to become a better person. The wonderful thing about this is, the more we become, the more we will have – and, believe me, it’s not just money, but a lot more wonderful things money cannot buy.

Lead and live life to the next level, and always have an attitude for gratitude. This is the key to living life to the full.

(Attend Francis Kong’s once-a-year big event this March 1, 2013 entitled, “Inspiring Excellence” at the SMX Convention Center. Learn best practices on business, finance, and good citizenship from Butch Jimenez, Chinkee Tan and Alex Lacson.  For registration and tickets, call Inspire Leadership Consultancy Inc. at 632-6310912 or 09228980195. You can also send an email to [email protected].)