Fame And Fortune Aren’t The Answer to Happiness
I’ve been coaching for 8 years now and through all the years I have witnessed many personal and professional journeys unfold. I coach by, most standards, “rich” people and “famous” people and I coach “regular”, lower income and middle class people. Seeing people of all walks of life, I can say that we’re all the same. Everybody experiences the same kinds of issues. Money and popularity is no barrier to life stress, unhappiness, and dis-ease. Sure, it’s more comfortable to be cruising the autobahn crying and depressed in a Maserati than the broken down pick up stuck on the side of the road, but still, the emotions are the same.
The people who are the toughest to coach are those (regardless of material wealth) who believe that accolades, titles, and a certain amount of money or level of physical comfort will give them fulfillment. It’s a painful path to walk and, can be for me, an empath, an even more disheartening journey to witness.
Why? Because simply chasing material gains it’s a journey to nowhere. It’s like watching a sad, lonely dog chase it’s tail as it runs around in circles encircled by a chain link fence under the hot sun. The poor thing is going to wear itself out and, in the end, accomplish very little.
I bet some of you are wondering, why don’t people believe you? Can’t they just trust you? While I build a strong rapport with my clients, there comes a point where someone has to experience something for themselves in order to fully understand the experience. Many of us have to go all the way in order to know that it wasn’t the most fulfilling path to take. It’s what we call “life experience”.
When I saw the quote of Jim Carrey floating around on the internet, I couldn’t help but feel emotional, heartbroken, and sad. Because I know what he’s talking about. I really do.
You see, what I’ve witnessed as a coach and intuitive guide and have experienced personally myself is that while we’re distracting ourselves on the hot pursuit of something external, something material, something physical – we lose out on the experiences that fulfill us, that inspire us, and expand the love that we have. I’ve seen men throw away their relationships, women get caught up in affairs, children being left behind, people die of cancer and emotional-based illnesses… it’s just so much suffering.
And, to be frank, even those of my clients who have millions of dollars and have experienced popularity come in with the same exact personal issues, worries, and concerns as those who earn a modest living. The poor little rich girl/boy judgment is an ugly cliche, just as is the ignorant poor person. The struggle is real regardless of financial and social status.
But, today, my plea to those individuals who believe that getting that job, that lifestyle, that job title will solve your problems. Maybe one less thing, but not all of them, believe me. The happiest individuals that I work with are those who strive to walk upon a path of personal excellence and are courageous enough to listen to their own intuition – regardless if it’s raining or a bright and shiny day
As the great Master Jesus Christ said, “And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?” (Mark 8:36) And as I warn my clients: material success and contentment is a by-product inner well-being. And, material success is not an indicator of inner-well being. Remember, correlation is not always causation. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll be sipping champagne on a yacht in the French riviera because you’ve figured life out. It means that you’ll feel like the world is your oyster when you’ve fully embraced yourself and your present life conditions, the “good”, “bad”, and the “ugly”.
So, with that said, I plead that anyone who falls upon this post understands the ideals of self-value, self-love, and self-appreciation. Starting with these ideals, we can then begin to appreciate everything else around us – and finally be connoisseurs (knowers) of life.
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Leslie, Inc. offers solutions for finding happiness through one-on-one coaching, mindful leadership retreats, and digital products. If you’re ready to GET HAPPY, check out Leslie’s guide packs. For more tips on achieving your state of happiness, sign up for Leslie, Inc’s weekly newsletter.