Would you rather have something or would you rather get over wanting to have it?  That’s a deep question that I encountered somewhere and sometime during the past few months.  I wish I could remember where I read it, but the question stuck with me and its source did not.

If its a thing, the question is easy for me to answer.  I’d rather get over it.  I know there is a hedonic treadmill that will just keep moving each time I get one of those things.   It will soon no longer be enough.  Interestingly, I have found that simply posing the question to myself is one of the most powerful ways to get over it.  Getting over wanting things has been a long journey for me and I suspect that is true for many others.

With experiences, the question gets much more difficult to answer.   There is surely a hedonic treadmill with experience too, but I think it is different.  Tropical oceans and island beaches do not evoke the same thrill in me as they once did, but somehow I don’t believe I will ever get used to them the way I get used to my cars, my homes, or my electronic gadgets.  You are not stuck with experiences like you are stuck with things.  You have them and they are gone.  Life is an endless motion of experience.

There is an unlimited world of experience to be had out there and much of it can be had without locking yourself into the Golden Handcuffs.  I’m sure the most “enlightened” of us have found a way to get over the need for certain experiences in the same way I have gotten over the need for things.  Being an experience junkie is surely not the way to achieve peaceful well being, but I think there is a balance here.  Experiences are the stuff of life in a way things can never be.

Please consider asking yourself if you really want something or if you would rather get over it.  It’s not a trivial question.

What do YOU think?  Leave a comment and join the conversation.

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