When We Have Everything And Lack Nothing

There are great moments when we have everything, when every aspect is kept in an almost perfect balance. But not long after that, that magic will disappear or simply cease. It is then that we realize that what is ultimately important in life is to be okay with ourselves, to stay calm, and to feel at peace.

Zygmunt Bauman, Polish sociologist and philosopher, tells us that we currently live in a consumer society. One that invites us to wish for what others tell us we lack. Society tells us to throw out what we already have and use what is offered to us. It transforms us into some kind of unsatisfied animal. For people who value speed and not calm. People who long for the things they do not have instead of appreciating what they have.

This culture of seclusion often causes us to become restless when we experience that happiness never arrives. And if it arrives, it will pass by very quickly. It’s like a drop of dew disappearing in the morning sun. That is when we blame political figures, our bosses, our families and even that person who promised us eternal love. But we did not know that their concept of eternity did not last longer than a few months.

We become emotional vagabonds who will need a long time to understand what it means to accept the things around us. To accept ourselves, our family, the friendships we have created and our ability to create, not to be shaped.

Occasions when we allow ourselves to flow

Many of the languages ​​that make up the world use words that other languages ​​cannot really define. In Japan, for example, they have an expression called ” Yūgen” (幽 玄). This means a deep, mysterious and intense feeling that you feel when you observe the universe.

It is above all the ability to look at the world from within your heart or the feeling of coming across a deeper wisdom concerning our surroundings. Such a thing can only be achieved when a relaxed, focused and calm mind has learned how to prioritize. It knows how to turn occasions into eternities loaded with meaning. This is also what Reinhold Messner considered, the man who is still the best mountaineer in the world.

He was the first person in the world to reach the highest peaks in the world without oxygen. For most of the time, he was alone on the mountain. He loves nature and extreme experiences, and he was often criticized for his personality. He is a person who learned early on that authentic happiness lies in the moment. That the most intense, fulfilling and authentic well-being is not found by collecting things. It is found by doing what you love and by observing all the wonders that exist around us.

This mood when you feel that you have everything you could want and where happiness embraces you: this is what Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi defined in 1990 as a state of flow. You are completely immersed in an activity, and the positive feedback you get when you reach a feeling of well-being and self-efficiency; that is what defines this fundamental happiness of being what we should all strive to be.

Occasions when we have everything, when we lack nothing

Modern man always lacks something. Buying the latest model means that within a short period of time, one will come out with even more features. You will find a job that makes you happy, but happiness disappears when the job becomes a routine. It disappears when it no longer makes us perfect. We begin passionate relationships, but slowly a void appears where we once again feel that something is missing, that the said love is not complete.

We could have ironically said that these “voids”, these indefinable eternal and even sometimes stressful necessities, will always make us look for more. In order not to be satisfied, you get to search and applicants bring with them new discoveries. But before we become that Odysseus on a ship without return, it’s worth stopping and simply accepting what we have.

How to achieve this

The times when we finally realize we have everything. They occur when you discover your passion and dedicate yourself to it. Reinhold Messner found it in the mountains. We can find it in another hobby, in our jobs, in our family, in sports, art, etc.… For happiness is above all a goal and an activity. It implies making decisions and balancing the present with a mind that feels focused, centered, satisfied and competent.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi believes that this is a stage that you reach when you get rid of all pressure and anxiety. A stage when you turn off your mental sound and let go of your resistance and your limiting attitudes… It is an adventure into your personal development, into what is worth investing in every day, every opportunity.