What Makes Us Not Appreciate What We Have And Value What We Lack?
One of our biggest problems is that we are used to not appreciating what we have and overvaluing what we lack. Not caring about what, if lost, will be missed is a common and unrealistic way of thinking about certain people and situations. Although our goals are born out of what we lack, it is a mistake to create needs for things that we don’t really need.
Sometimes we make the mistake of calling almost everything we don’t have needs and what we should really appreciate, such as people, feelings, or situations, as obligations. In this way, we waste many occasions because we prefer to fantasize than experience reality, possibly because the first is often much easier than the second.
We generally take very little advantage of what we have, and this is often a pattern that some people exercise for much of their time. Some specialists on this subject even speak of the so-called missing part syndrome to refer to the constant fixation on what we do not have, which borders on obsession.
We must stop idealizing and start appreciating what we have
Achieving one goal and thinking about the next one is reasonable and logical. However, the problem occurs when, at the same time, we take very little advantage of what we have. And here’s the secret: the present moment, whether we like it or not, is the only one we have, and it’s the secret to living fully.
Non-conformism is an intrinsic tendency of the human being, but it should not anguish our lives. On the other hand, motivation is fundamental and, to some extent, instinctual. This doesn’t have to be negative, but if we combine chronic nonconformity with the idealization of what we don’t have, we can fall into a pit of dissatisfaction.
Idealization often deceives us. We miss or want something because we believe we will feel much better if we can achieve it; in fact, we cannot know with certainty what a situation will be like until it is experienced. Idealizing is blindly valuing what normally does not correspond to reality. Being aware of all this is the first step to enjoying our daily lives.
We must be aware of what we have, what we are, and enjoy what life offers us. We must be careful what we seek and desire. There are no perfect situations, only the ones we imagine in our minds. Here comes into play the idealization of what we don’t have, what others have and everything that we lack.
hell is full of bad intentions
We take little advantage of what we have because we don’t pay much attention. Knowing what to consider is the first step to value. Paying attention to the right things opens a window to well-being, because those who know how to enjoy the little or the much that surrounds them have already learned the true essence of life.
Valuing and appreciating what we have is critical to meeting both our needs and those of those around us.
Next, let’s quote an old story that teaches us why we often live focused on superficial pleasures we can’t attain, while losing everything that is positive in our existence.
“In an English castle there was a rule that visitors did not have to pay admission to visit it, and this attracted the majority of tourists who came to this place. Once inside the castle, there was only one condition for not paying the visit: it had to be done with a spoonful of sand in the mouth; if no grain of sand fell during the trip, the visit would be free. All the enthusiastic visitors accepted the challenge and walked around the castle, excited to be able to reach the end without losing an ounce of the spoon’s contents.
As a result, most visitors didn’t pay admission, but they paid a much higher price: they didn’t appreciate anything about the castle’s interior. None of the visitors who arrived with a spoon full of sand saw the interior of the fortress, its valuable paintings, its architecture, as they were looking only at the spoon”.
So don’t be like these visitors. Look away from what you believe you are missing and start appreciating what you already have today.
