Sunday, October 08, 2006

Are You Working Yourself to Misery?

In the recent study done my a New York TV program, it was found that people today are just too crazy about the material needs that they would rather struggle with multiple jobs just to buy things that they don't really need.

I saw on a TV program that there was this couple with only one child. They lived in the suburban of New York area. The husband is a technician and the wife juggles two jobs and taking care of a young child of about 4-5 years old. The husband leaves home quite early and travels quite far to work and reach home rather late. The wife wakes up early to deliver newspaper before she goes to a company to work as administration assistance.

The couple basically has not time to rest. They started their day at about 5.00am and end their day at about 12.00am. So basically, they have about 4-5 hours of sleep each day. Weekends are the only time for rest. When the interviewer probed further they realised that they are chasing for something that they don't really need. For example, they have 3 cars. One Ford Focus for the wife. One SUV for the husband and another family car which is 7 seater. Why do they need a 7-seater when they only have one child? Because they have 3 dogs which will follow them when they go outing. Why do you need 3 cars when you only have 2 drivers?

We really have to think carefully what is it that we really want in our life instead of blindly following whatever the media and the peer expectations impose on us. We really need to be realistic and keep those extra money for our retirement. Stop getting crazy pursuing things that we don't really need.

Survival Skill #15: Know What We Want!