Although aspiring to attain materials is fundamentally a distorted perception of happiness, the aspiration to succeed, improve, or develop in order to attain them can create an important baseline to focus on while working towards the reward or material itself.

I now understand that materialism can create a mindset of constantly searching for more, more than will ever truly be enough. By trying to attain happiness through the acquisition of material possessions, we can never truly be happy because fundamentally, these objects are simply a construct of an imaginary concept of what happiness actually is. Materials can certainly help us achieve more stability and a better baseline in our pursuit of growth, fulfillment, and happiness. However, true happiness is created within ourselves through personal growth and understanding.

Nevertheless, our reward centre does have the capacity to drive us towards a state of focus, devotion, development, and subsequent conquest in order to achieve the desired goals, material possessions, or rewards. I believe that by seeking progress towards a reward, we can increase our speed and output to improve our performance and ability to grow to receive the rewards.

Throughout my life, I have observed various people and communities throughout the world, and consistently, it is the more simplistic lifestyles that, from the outside, look to have less, but are actually the ones who have more fulfillment, purpose, and happiness. However, on the contrary, within more privileged societies, the ones who are able to utilize the reward centre and the hunger to obtain more material objects as a tool to drive their own growth and development also create a strong foundation and success in the search for happiness through growth, development, and drive.

I definitely lean towards a simplistic lifestyle and ironically aspire to achieve more in order to want less. But I do believe that within our own individual reward structure and our ability to seek rewards without being too attached to the material object, we can utilize this as a tool for growth and further understanding of what it means to be happy and how to succeed in our search for happiness.

Thanks,

Dean