Choices and Happiness
Maharashtra, INDIA
A jackal and a cat met in the middle of a forest. The jackal asked the cat how he would get away from a tiger. The cat said, "I know one way and that is to climb the tree as fast as possible". Then it asked the jackal what is his solution. The jackal replied "Brother I know 101 ways of getting away. For example I can go into the bush, can climb up the rocks, can hide behind the tree, can go into a hole etc. etc.". Just then a tiger appeared. The cat immediately climbed the tree while the jackal kept on pondering which solution to use, by which time the tiger pounced on the jackal and killed it.
Too many choices sometimes create conflicts, problems, and lead to unhappiness. Recent scientific and sociological studies done on large number of subjects have shown that there seems to be a direct correlation between unhappiness and the number of choices available.
These studies reveal that increased choices have put a tremendous demand on the brain to make the correct decision. However the modern lifestyle based on information overload results in short attention span and makes it difficult for people to think deeply about the choices. Thus the fear of "missing out" on something is very high and creates internal insecurity. This produces a lingering feeling of not having made the right decision, produces regret and unhappiness, and sometimes leads to impulsive choice making.
Increased choices can sometimes be a driving mechanism for greed. Internal insecurity of a person together with the desire to maximize the satisfaction and benefits from the choices leads to acquiring more and more material goods leading sometimes to buying frenzy. This leads to an ever-increasing spiral of trying to get more money for acquiring more goods and services and sometimes results in people living beyond their means. All of this produces an unsustainable life style.
We live in a world of choices and in coming times they will increase. Advancement in technology together with entrepreneurial spirit allows us ever increasing choices since they help provide our material comforts. These choices are meant supposedly to satisfy the needs and the desires of humans. However most of the times people loose track of what is important in life. Thus instead of choices helping to fulfill our needs they fuel our greed and sometimes become an end in themselves. Thus quite frequently a person gets satisfaction on winning the race for maximizing his "choices" rather than using them to satisfy his needs. However if we make our decisions based on our needs and not on our greed then we can become happier and can produce a sustainable life style.
Spirituality can help in keeping our greed for materials and resources in check. As a person progresses on the path of spirituality his or her priorities in life change. The focus of life shifts more towards getting personal happiness through mental peace and less on material needs and desires and hence towards sustainability. Through the practice of Yoga and spirituality a person can produce a powerful and nimble brain. Such a brain has the mechanism of processing the choice information very effectively thereby getting satisfied easily and hence automatically limiting the choices for materials. Spirituality also helps make a person internally secure and humble and not interested in showing off thereby helping him/her to make choices with which he/she gets satisfied easily and not interested in maximizing the "choice exam".
Reduction in buying of goods and services may also affect the sellers who may have to rethink their strategies for promoting them and ultimately may produce the goods for our needs and thus help curb the ostentatious tendencies. This will help promote an all-round sustainable development and life style.
Technological progress is necessary for our overall development but more than that is our spiritual progress, which allows us to make a better decision on choices and gives us the direction and mechanism to live a sustainable and happy life.
2004