In this world where we’re all trying to sell each other a bunch of stuff, and amass as much stuff as possible, I don’t think the winners are the ones who sell the most or buy the most, but are the ones who are the most content with the least…

… That said, I’m still gonna try to sell you a bunch of stuff, and I strongly suggest you buy it

But today I have nothing to sell you, except maybe on the idea that happiness is something far richer than all the financial fortunes in the world combined… and it’s much more easily attainable than financial wealth anyway… right here, right now… it’s all up to you

I mean, seriously, if you’re miserable, who cares about how much stuff you have, or clients you have, or money you make or how much you have in the bank?

If you’re using things outside yourself to make you happy, it ain’t gonna happen, because NOTHING outside of YOU, has the power to give you lasting happiness

Believe me, I’ve tried, and when I got to the pinnacle of what I THOUGHT I wanted… the fat income, the fat savings, the big house, the sports car, Harley, perfect shape…. I was fucking miserable… more miserable than I was when I used to be homeless in my late 20′s and more miserable than when I was doing time in my mid 20′s … even when I was doin’ time in the hole for bopping my cellmate on the head

For years I strived for the this vision of my perfect life… I had it on a vision board, I visualized it in my mind, I did affirmations as if it were already true… and I knew it my gut beyond a shadow of a doubt what I saw in mind was gonna come true

And it did, EXACTLY as I saw it, it all came true

And then when I got there I was like “Is this it?” … I was left feeling empty inside… it hadn’t filled that hold I unconsciously thought it would fill

I slipped into a crisis and I felt a despair I have never known in my life … my life had seemed to lose all meaning… and the things I owned began to own me… just like Tyler Durden had promised they would in the movie Fight Club

I felt I had traded my soul for the world… and the trade SUCKED

Today I’m happier than I have ever been … enjoying life with much less… and I find myself purposely get rid of stuff for the freedom that it brings me…

Today life is more about relationships, community and contribution

Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus have a fantastic blog that goes deep into this subject at TheMininalists.com

Now keep in mind, I’m ALL FOR making money, that’s what a large portion of the Kick Back Life blog is about…

Money can give you freedom from financial worries and allow you to experience all kinds of things you wouldn’t be able to experience without it, plus it can enable you to provide a nice life for your family…

And there’s no doubt that poverty sucks

But money can’t make you happy or solve all of your problems like many people think it can, in fact the only problem money solves is the problem of not having any money, and that’s a pretty good problem to have solved…

…But it’s not everything

Here’s two short videos that go deep into the subject of happiness….

This way of thinking has had a PROFOUND impact on my life lately… and my wish is for at least a few of my readers to benefit from this type of thinking and living

ENJOY:

-

If you liked this blog post, I strongly urge you to…

1. Check out my recent blog post about Waging War Against The Lies That Bind You

2. See The Happy Movie

And I would LOVE to hear your thought on the subject of happiness in the comment section below (=