The Pursuit of Status

I read this article this morning & it really hit home when it comes to peoples pursuit of happiness through their ownership of possessions. You’d imagine this issue comes up often for me as a professional organizer. You betcha. Especially since I work with folks that have all kinds of organizing challenges.

Well, I’d never read the story of Diderot who spent the majority of his life in poverty, until he received a new scarlet robe. Well things seemed to have gone downhill for him after that, when it came to the pursuit of grandeur of possessions to match the grandeur of his new robe.

This could be applicable to when someone starts a renovation job on the kitchen of an older home. The renovation makes other areas of the house look shabby. Hey, we got a raise, so lets renovate all the bathrooms & have a landscaper make our property look beautiful. All that pass our home will then see success & beauty. Since that’s done, lets do some more inside the house & so on…

Yikes, now we’re in debt. There was really no plan in place for a renovation, but there was desire to make things look better including ourselves. Does a nice lawn equate a nice person? Does a new kitchen mean I’m going to cook more or keep it organized?

As you read the article about pursuing status, think about what works for you & what doesn’t. Are you a better person when you own more? What can you afford mentally or financially. Do you have to give up your time to manage all the possessions you now have? When is enough stuff enough? I ask that questions all the time. The answer comes from deep within each of us. If you can answer that question & control your desire to keep buying more, you might have a handle on over-consuming.

https://medium.com/personal-growth/the-pursuit-of-status-how-to-avoid-chasing-the-wrong-things-9fc07a6241c2