I have been dedicating a lot of time to reading lately. Reading is such a blessing and it is easy to let it fall behind you in such a busy world. There are always things to do that seem more important. My husband reads on average a book every 3 days because of all the time he spends on public transportation. I have been so jealous of his reading list for 2011 that I decided to do something about it. So my dishes are not always done on time but my reading list is improving. One book that I picked and and am thoroughly enjoying is Affluenza. I think the name is fairly self explanatory but the basic premise is that of over consumption and the movement of voluntary simplicity. Have I met my match or what?!?
In one chapter the author discusses a stress study that was done by Dr Micheal Lerner. Lerner assumed that people were most stressed out by that which they did not have. What he actually concluded was very different. He found that out of the group he studied most people were actually most upset by wasting their lives doing meaningless work. Lerner writes about those who focused on material goals "were associated with less self-actualization, less vitality, more depression and more anxiety". I felt this was significantly important in relation to my post on Karoshi and my observations on the working people on the road in rush hour.
Could it be that most of what we spend our lives on is meaningless? For now I am concentrating on reading to find out.
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