My Search for Meaning: From "Knowing" to "Getting" to "Becoming"

When I began college I was under the misunderstanding that my objective was to digest a discrete identifiable quantity of facts.  Once obtained, I would then know all and could share it with the rest of the world.  A few degrees later, two things became apparent: one, at least half of what I learned proved to be wrong or obsolete within seven years, and  two, I was not digesting a set quantity of facts, but was instead learning how to learn.  This became critical when considering the future half-life of my degree-based knowledge that would not sustain me beyond the student loan payoff.  Unless I could find a method of collecting more timely data in an ongoing, as-needed manner, I was in trouble.  

Avoiding the Acquisition Race by Taking Charge of Life and Finding the Courage to Change our Level of Contentment

AS A SOCIETY WE HAVE BEEN DECEIVED!  Playing upon our vanities, the marketing folks have convinced us all that bigger, newer, faster, and safer is always better.  They have successfully sold us, amid our ever-growing egos, on the belief that satisfaction and contentment are directly tied to acquisition, impact, achievement, and control.  This just isn't true.  History shows that it never has been true and the current world condition indicates that it won't be true in the future either.  Discontent is the byproduct of this type of reasoning.  Thinking this way ensures that we never feel that we have enough: enough money, enough toys, enough possessions, enough security, enough attention, and enough significance.  As such, we all compete for limited resources in an attempt to feel safe and appreciated.  The reality is that there is sufficient for all.  The reality is that contentment and satisfaction are not found in things.  The reality is that contentment is a state of mind attained only through discipline and determination.  Happiness is not secured through ease, but through self-mastery.

The Challenge of Life

Born self-centered and self-absorbed, we all react either consciously or unconsciously, to the need for survival and the desire for personal gratification.  From our first breathe of life, impulses surface as environmental situations are presented to us that challenge our very existence.  Resilience to such challenges is the key.  This primal level of survival concerns itself with self preservation and stimulation. Left completely unchecked, most of us will become self-serving, gluttonous, and lazy.