Why You Need To Stop Valuing Material Goods Over Life Experiences | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Health and Wellness

Why You Need To Stop Valuing Material Goods Over Life Experiences

Material goods are temporary, but memories will last a lifetime.

41
Why You Need To Stop Valuing Material Goods Over Life Experiences

Life is about movement. It’s about excitement and danger and discovery, not a calm course of existence. It’s about experience and traveling and gaining knowledge. It’s about discovering yourself and immersing yourself in everything you love. It is NOT about material goods, and here’s why.

Material items are nothing but that: An item. They’re things you can touch or use or wear. They’ll go in and out of style on an endless loop. They’ll be replaced by more sophisticated versions, and they’ll lose their value and quickly be forgotten about. They aren’t timeless, yet people continue to treat them as if they are. They spend dollar after dollar on things so that they can fit in with the rest of the cookie cutter society, but for what reasons? Why would you want to be like everyone else and have things that everyone else has? Why would you want to spend money on valueless items when you can be exploring the world and everything it has to offer?

The saddest part is that people don’t realize the truly insignificant impact material goods have on our lives, versus experiences. The older I grow, the more I truly understand that life isn’t about how much money you make or what kind of car you drive or whether you’re dressed in the latest trends. Life is about discovery and experience and knowledge. It’s about expanding your mind and continuing to do so with no means of ever stopping.

The beautiful thing about experiencing something is no two people are impacted the same way. You can be at the same show, watching the same artist sing the same song at the same time and still be affected in ways the person next to you could never understand. Experience changes your life. It opens your eyes to a whole different world and alters how you choose to look at the world from there on out.

You only have one life to live. No matter how much you may not want to think about it, your life has an expiration date, and it’s your duty to fill that life with experience and adventure while the clock is still ticking.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
student sleep
Huffington Post

I think the hardest thing about going away to college is figuring out how to become an adult. Leaving a household where your parents took care of literally everything (thanks, Mom!) and suddenly becoming your own boss is overwhelming. I feel like I'm doing a pretty good job of being a grown-up, but once in awhile I do something that really makes me feel like I'm #adulting. Twenty-somethings know what I'm talking about.

Keep Reading...Show less
school
blogspot

I went to a small high school, like 120-people-in-my-graduating-class small. It definitely had some good and some bad, and if you also went to a small high school, I’m sure you’ll relate to the things that I went through.

1. If something happens, everyone knows about it

Who hooked up with whom at the party? Yeah, heard about that an hour after it happened. You failed a test? Sorry, saw on Twitter last period. Facebook fight or, God forbid, real fight? It was on half the class’ Snapchat story half an hour ago. No matter what you do, someone will know about it.

Keep Reading...Show less
Chandler Bing

I'm assuming that we've all heard of the hit 90's TV series, Friends, right? Who hasn't? Admittedly, I had pretty low expectations when I first started binge watching the show on Netflix, but I quickly became addicted.

Without a doubt, Chandler Bing is the most relatable character, and there isn't an episode where I don't find myself thinking, Yup, Iam definitely the Chandler of my friend group.

Keep Reading...Show less
eye roll

Working with the public can be a job, in and of itself. Some people are just plain rude for no reason. But regardless of how your day is going, always having to be in the best of moods, or at least act like it... right?

1. When a customer wants to return a product, hands you the receipt, where is printed "ALL SALES ARE FINAL" in all caps.

2. Just because you might be having a bad day, and you're in a crappy mood, doesn't make it okay for you to yell at me or be rude to me. I'm a person with feelings, just like you.

3. People refusing to be put on hold when a customer is standing right in front of you. Oh, how I wish I could just hang up on you!

Keep Reading...Show less
blair waldorf
Hercampus.com

RBF, or resting b*tch face, is a serious condition that many people suffer from worldwide. Suffers are often bombarded with daily questions such as "Are you OK?" and "Why are you so mad?" If you have RBF, you've probably had numerous people tell you to "just smile!"

While this question trend can get annoying, there are a couple of pros to having RBF.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments