You know you’re getting on a bit when you’re not quite “down with all the latest lingo” and, perhaps even more so when you have absolutely no interest in being up to speed with it. Like it’s really just fine in your world if you have to occasionally visit the likes of Urban Dictionary to check what a certain word or phrase means, such as the likes of “on fleek” and what not!
What this serves to highlight however is the emergence of a rather concerning culture of how we tend to be living for the wrong reasons really. Society has made life here on earth all about how we appear to the world, particularly through the persona we tend to adopt on platforms such as social media. If keeping up appearances is exhausting, then we simply need to take the resolution to show to the world a little bit more of ourselves in the most honest state of existence. I mean why does it take so much time to get ready, titivating away in front of the mirror just so that you can take a short trip down to the grocer’s to buy some household essentials?
Why is it that we often feel validated in whatever we’re engaging in or whatever we’re buying only if we can “tweet” about it or share the experience on platforms such as Facebook? There’s even been a saying going around stating/asking: “If it’s not on Facebook, did it really happen?”
Doing Things for the Right Reasons
Make no mistake about it — money is very important. I mean you only have to think about the bare essentials of life to realise the importance of money, such as your health, the food you need to eat to survive, shelter, etc. All of these things cost money, but we’ve become too much of a society which focusses on the process rather than the reason why we do what we do. We’ve become too focussed on “getting the money” to the point where we don’t really remember just what we wanted it all for and so we don’t really know what to do with it once we have it.
When you dress up to look good, does it mean you didn’t “slay” (look good) if you didn’t take an over-the-shoulder snap of your cute outfit and post it on your instagram? If the world doesn’t know through your Facebook timeline that you’re “watching the Manchester derby” at some prestigious location, does this take anything away from the fact that you’re having the time of your life watching football?
We need to get back to doing things for the right reasons and while there’s nothing wrong with taking the social experience in your life online, we should never feel like those experiences are invalidated if we don’t share them.
What are the Right Reasons?
These types of things are always subjective, but deep down inside you know what you really want and in most cases you know exactly what it is you need. Stop worrying about how it looks, but rather worry about why you’ve identified a specific need for doing something, buying something or committing to something.
In the same way that a 4×4 vehicle needs appropriate off road tyres if you’re going to take it on an off-road driving adventure, the various areas in all our lives need the appropriate elements to enhance them or even just to ensure they function adequately. Are you contemplating putting your latest clothes shop on your credit card just because it appears to be on sale and is the “in” thing right now or can you wait a bit and rather buy something which falls more in line with your own, unique style and also budget without putting yourself into debt?
So when you take the time to really consider the decisions you make, particularly those which involve spending money in some or other way, you soon realise that it perhaps isn’t about getting the “right stuff” after all, but rather about finding the right reasons for committing to a purchase or anything else.
This is a guest post written by Maggie: a runner, dog-walker, traveller and writer. On her blog AtmosEurope.com she write about weird and wonderful holiday adventures in europe.
