In the materialistic world and era we're living now we often tend to get ourselves depressed thinking about all the things we "need " but don't have and may find ourselves distracted and daydreaming how to get such things, losing precious time and focus in the present time and the actions we should be taking to reach our goals.
We may lose time making plans in our head about how we're going to get the items of our desire , how to make more money , how to pay less , get an excellent deal or offer and at the end of the day not taking action in what really matters .
There’s a said : "The man that wanders in his future get lost in his present"
Also what come with this is the constant feeling of frustration when we cannot obtain what we look for when we want to , and we may be missing that we're letting some other things pass by in our obsession for material possessions.
So how can we be really happy if we don't have all the things we desire in life ?
First of all it's to accept that one may not have everything desired in life ( the brand new car from the agency , a over the top computer or a 1000$ cellphone) and matter of fact is that you may never need such things to really be happy .
A frequent thing that happens when trying to "buy happiness " or fulfill a dream based in the acquisition of an object is that , once that you have it you may find that it's not as great as you initially thought , or is more an expense or it may require some other things to make it the ideal object now this beginning the cycle of getting more and more things.
It's not a bad thing to desire or aspire for some things , taking a minimalist perspective in the matter , these are the only 3 things we actually need.
Food
Clothing
A roof over our heads
We can't live without food , we can go anywhere naked and sure we need a place to live in. All our focus should be just put in these 3 areas , everything else are just add-ons. Yeah , you may be thinking about the necessity of possessing a smartphone or computer in this times were living and it's true , they are hell of tools in this moderns days ¡ But you're not going to die if you don't have them !
A practical exercise to feel happy with the little you already have.
You can do this when waking up every morning or just when you feel bad about the things you lack: count 20 things you posses and be thankful for it.
You may be thinking " but if I have so little , only this crappy PC and some old clothes and this useless Android etc … " . Well think again about what you do have : a place to live in , food , and clothing , hell ! Even you can be thankful for your eyes , those same allowing you to read this lines, some people don’t have that.
Be thankful for both your feet, the 10 fingers in your hands that allow you to do wonderful tiny things daily and there you have more than 10 reasons to be thankful … Seeing the point now? Practicing this simple yet powerful exercise, you'll be more thankful , stop worrying about the things you have and focus on the one you already possess, will develop sensitivities and start to look the world around you in a different way.
Also, another great thing on starting to thank for the things you already have is that you’ll find yourself no longer needing for meaningless stuff as you did before , spending less and being more happier in general, also this is one of the first steps to achieve financial freedom and true wealth over time. As cliché as it may sound , the true wealth of a person is actually the wealth of a powerful , smart and peaceful mind. The big and fancy house is worthless if you have nobody to truly share your nights with, the same goes with every other possession.
Start today by practicing this advices, change your mindset , be thankful with everything that has been given to you , do not focus in the things you have yet and you’ll start to be truly happy with much , little or “nothing” at all.