Sometimes we want newer things or more of something, and we tend to forget about the riches that we already have. We care more about things we don't have than what's already near and dear to our heart, and this brings us angst instead of joy.
I think as a society we tend to forget about the inherent value of objects, and we think about where we are in relation to others. What do I mean by this?
Relative Value vs. Inherent Value
Relative Value: Why don't I have 500,000 followers on Instagram?
Inherent Value: I'm so happy to connect with my friends and to make new ones on Instagram.
Relative Value: Trying to impress people by driving a Mercedes-Benz down a less fortunate area.
Inherent Value: A Mercedes-Benz is a Mercedes-Benz, no matter where it's driven.
Relative Value: Why eat bread when I can have cake?
Inherent Value: I'm happy to have food on my table and access to clean water.
You and I have access to some things that not even medieval kings and emperors could boast about. Julius Caesar can ride on his horse for weeks on a road from Italy to Spain, but I'll take my 2.5 hour flight from Madrid to Rome, thank you very much!
Tesla and Edison brought electricity to a world, and I'm fully enjoying the inherent value of this to build business and to keep in touch with all the amazing people I meet! Speaking of technology...
Where's My Phone?
Most everyone has a smartphone nowadays. It's a pretty ubiquitous technology.
But imagine a world where there were only 1,000 smartphones. If you were one of the lucky people with this device, you could do so many more things. Some people would be thrown back into the twentieth century in terms of technology, while you'd still have the luxury of touchscreens, LTE internet access anywhere,
Would you take this amazing technology for granted?
GPS is Pretty Awesome!
If you want to go somewhere today, it's only too easy to pull up a Maps application on your smartphone and chart out the directions there. You could know absolutely nothing about the roads and still have the GPS speak directions to you as you drive.
Let's do a little thought experiment and consider: how would you get somewhere if you didn't have access to Google or Apple Maps? A few decades ago, you would pull up Mapquest and print out the directions there. Then, you'd keep on looking at your sheet of paper as you drove to your destination. Hopefully you didn't make any wrong turns!
What if you didn't have Mapquest? We're now stepping back further into history, and you'd have to keep real working memory of where each town or city was located. Imagine getting lost at the wrong exit because it had a similar sounding town!
Let's get back to the present day. You have NONE of that with GPS technology now, which can even redirect you if you make a wrong turn or suggest alternate, quicker routes based upon traffic.
GPS is awesome, and I truly appreciate the inherent value of this technology.
So if you want to have REAL joy, focus less on the relative value, and rediscover the inherent value of everything we have!
Remember: You Are Awesome!