Has anyone ever told you that ‘you are too close to the situation to see the forest for the trees’? Or a friend has commented on a situation ‘as an outsider looking in’? I’m sure you have encountered these situations, especially when addressing the lives of other people, but it is an odd and strange sensation when you are able to step outside of your own bubble and see things through different eyes… its called gaining perspective.

Last week I was on vacation. The vacation I went on was to visit some extremely wealthy friends of ours that have anything, and I mean anything, money can buy. To live for a week ‘like the other half’ would seem to be extraordinary, fun, and intoxicating right? Nah… not even close. I will admit that it is often a true convenience to have help in the way of someone to cook your food and look after your needs, but without anything to do for myself day after day, I found myself bored, then restless, then angry, but then introspective…

Its interesting to have so much money that you don’t need to work, to be able to hire several someones to handle absolutely every single necessity of your life, and to live out your days completely footloose and fancy free. Most people would say that they would jump at this luxurious lifestyle, they would bask in the money and free time, and pamper themselves with the best that money could buy…. However, I would bet that all would ultimately find themselves bored and restless like me.

Its because we need purpose. We need fulfillment. We need the satisfaction of completing tasks that are meaningful and important in our lives and to our families. We need to work, because we are working toward something, even if it is just a pitiful check at the end of the week. It is the fruit of our labor.

Visiting my friends, I found them to be restless, unhappy, unchallenged, and discontent. I don’t think they can see ‘the forest for the trees’… they change the location of their perpetual location by visiting one of their many houses around the world, seeking something they cannot find. Because they can have anything that money can buy and they don’t need to work, their lives are filled with very little meaning. The discontent appears to nag at them and they are constantly seeking a ‘fix’ to their unhappiness, which usually comes by way of some type of ‘toy’ that diverts their attention, ultimately bores them, and then they go buy something else…

The vacation I found myself on was 7 days of absolute relaxation. Sleeping in every day, all meals prepared to my every whim, any extravagance slathered upon me, and with no schedule, responsibility, our consequence to any of my actions. For this family, a few days of rest was all we needed to rejuvenate and want to ‘get back in the saddle’. Our friends? That is their perpetual existence.

Their lifestyle is so completely different than anything I could ever even imagine that I could only describe it by calling it Oz. Just like Dorothy gained some perspective on her own wonderful life at home, I realized that my chaos and complete circus is often overwhelming and stressful, but also rewarding, meaningful, and lived with purpose. 

Tags: happiness, introspective, perspective, purpose, satisfaction