Going Through Hell to Get What We Don't Want...
Posted: Monday, November 15, 2010
by Donovan Baldwin
No Diet 4 Me
Have you ever gone all out to get something and then found out you didn't really want it, or it wasn't as good as you thought it was going to be?
The answer is probably, "Yes".
For a simple illustration of this point, we can just go through most people's closets...or their garages.
Other examples are yard sales and storage facilities.
"Ours is a world where people don't know what they want and are willing to go through hell to get it."
--Don Marquis (1878-1937)
Humorist Don Marquis died almost three-quarters of a century ago, and yet even he was aware of the human tendency to just want things without even knowing what we really want...or why.
Those yard sales, garages, closets, and storage facilities are full of things that people wish they hadn't bought. Suddenly, one day they realize they need some money, and they look at all the "stuff" they have and figure, "I should be able to get a few bucks for some of this, eh!"
Some go a step farther and think, "Man. If only I hadn't spent all that money on this stuff! I'd be set."
It's a basic law of economics that resources are finite. If you use steel to build a garbage can, you can't use it to build a car. If you spend your paycheck on stuff, you don't have it for fun...or building wealth, or retirement...or building wealth for retirement.
All over the world, large numbers of people go through all kinds of contortions to earn a few bucks, buy the necessities of life, and, with any luck, have a little fun. Most dream of not having to go to work, or being their own boss, or just being able to do the things they really want to do. However, most never really figure out what it is they really want and work towards that.
They follow the well-worn path alluded to by Don Marquis, in the quote above.
The worst thing in my mind is not that someone might reach my age (65+) without enough money to allow them to live they way they really want to, or with a garage full of "stuff" they didn't really want or need. It is that someone might reach my age without knowing what they really want and without being able to have it...whatever it is.
I want a peaceful life and the time to write my articles, visit the grandkids (spoil them and run away), and look at the beauty of nature...the ocean, a forest, a sunset, a sunrise...I'm a simple kind of guy. What I really want is for my children, grandchildren, and so on unto the umpteenth generation to have a good a time as I have had, and pass some of it on.
I guess that means I have to give up on struggling to get some of the things I don't want, or need, so that there will be enough for them...and maybe some time for me I can handle that.
As usual, just a thought.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Donovan Baldwin is a 65-year-old accountant, amateur bodybuilder, freelance writer, certified optician, and Internet marketer currently living in the Atlanta, Gerogia area. A University Of West Florida alumnus (1973) with a BA in accounting, he has been a member of Mensa and has been a Program Accountant for the Florida State Department of Education, the Business Manager of a community mental health center, and a multi-county Fiscal Consultant for an educational field office. He has also been a trainer for a major international corporation, and has managed various small businesses, including his own. After retiring from the U. S. Army in 1995, with 21 years of service, he became interested in Internet marketing and developed various online businesses. He has been writing poetry, articles, and essays for over 40 years, and now frequently publishes original articles on his own websites and for use by other webmasters. He has posted a series of articles on The Law of Attraction , and other self-improvement issues at xtramoney4me.net/internetmarketing/reviews/law_of_attraction_articles/ .
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Top-level comments on this article: (5 total)Nice piece Don. In my travels I have met more unfortunate folks who have no clue as to what they want or worse-need--to get through life. They are some of the most miserable and cussed folks I have ever been around. I pray that they might some day find peace of soul and mind; but their frenetic pursuits of the unknown will never allow that IMHO. Thanks for your insight. I enjoy it.
Stuff is just stuff; In today, Out tomorrow. Seems like a shallow way to live. We probably see this trend more in North America than anywhere else in the world.
What about going through hell to get something you don't really want and don't use any more but can't throw away! I know somebody who hoards things she never uses; her house is quite big and filled with stuff that has no relevance to her life any more. A lot of it is old and rusted. I feel very claustrophobic when I visit her.What you want looks pretty good to me. My guess is, you already have it...
You say you're a simple guy. Well I must be a simple woman, because a peacefull life and time to write articles, visit grandchildren, observe the beauty of nature with the one you love, sounds perfect to me. Everything else is just stuff. Great article Donovan. Nice to know there are still some simple folk out there, with their priorities straight. Thanks!Oops. Left out wine in a box. One of mankind's great inventions! :) Thanks to all who visited and commented. - Don
Hi Donovan.
I know quite a few people who let advertisers tell them what they want. And that is really sad because they spend their hard earned cash on someone else's desires.
Before my husband got his current job, he had one in which he worked only three days a week and made less money per hour than he does now. That, coupled with a few sales of jewelry we both make (and I mean a few, in this economy people are not buying jewelry), and we were doing fine if not well financially. When he tells his current co-workers that he would like to work part-time, they are aghast and wonder how he could make it on so little money.
I won't say that we've always known what we wanted, but it seems we've a better grasp of it than a lot of people. I will say that I have enjoyed the extra cash. It's let me do a few more of the things that I enjoy ... like entering in horse shows or spending the gasoline to go twice a week to ride, groom and hang out with horses.
Anyway, I really enjoyed your article. You expressed your concept very well. I always enjoy quotes, too, that are from "days gone by" that show us that nothing really changes. Just makes me want to change them all the more. :)
Hugs,
Dianne
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