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Society more focused on material possessions than personal connections and happiness

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When I ask people today, “What do you want to do with your life?” many respond with “I want to be a millionaire.”

Many Americans no longer care what their profession is as long as they’re “rich.”   

It has somehow become more important to race up the corporate ladder so a person can afford (or pretend to afford) whatever he or she desires, instead of concentrating on family life. The designer shoes, hand bags, clothes and watches will never create actual happiness. They will never cause a person to feel whole.

Buying the new iPhone when they have a working iPhone will not create true joy. A brand new car will not boost self-worth.

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People want a huge house; a giant concrete rectangle that looks identical to every other house in a cookie-cutter neighborhood. They assume they need a 5,000 – square – foot mansion. I do not find big houses appealing. There would be so much dusting involved, the vacuuming and sweeping would be extremely time consuming; if I fell down the stairs, it might be a while until someone found me, and the space is often times unneeded.

People are so willing to go above their budget in order to have brand new things or things that will not ultimately make them happy.  People are no longer fine with living a modest life, having the items they can comfortably afford, not buying material items that have no need,and not being overloaded with debt.

People not only feel they need to keep up with the Joneses, but they feel they need to outdo them. They feel that what their neighbor has, one must get one better or identical.

This mentality is prevalent in advertisements, television shows and movies.

Many people are unconcerned with saving money, and they have no desire to save for the future, for retirement or for a family—they need a new laptop right away, or they need that manicure, or they need the cookie jar.

Humans freely throw money away on unnecessary items for themselves, yet they refuse to look at the homeless population. When asked for a dollar, people say, “I don’t have any cash,” and while that may be, they do not offer any help—whether it be going to Target and bringing back some food or toiletries.

People want so much to be “rich,” yet they are only concentrated on the monetary aspect of riches.

Society boasts that material possessions somehow equal success.

Anyone with a credit card can have material possessions, which is why so many people are in debt. No one will ever find the key to love in a 60 inch TV screen. No one will find happiness through a gadget.

The things that truly matter in life are not things that can be bought.

The most valuable things in life are faith and family. Material items don’t matter, they break, they cause clutter and they make more to clean. They do not contribute to happiness or to mental growth.

The material items give this brief glimpse that “Look, things!” but they will never compare to what’s actually important. They will never hug you when you’re feeling sad; they will never say “I’m proud of you.”

They will never come to your rescue or cause you to laugh or speak to you in a voice that isn’t computer driven. They will never make you feel love. And they will never cause an overwhelming amount of joy, hope, peace, dependability, stability and love that faith brings.

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