Assessing The Mundane

This lecture is a counterpart to the lecture on the nature of control. It will help you get a better perspective on what forms your ideals and perceptions that in turn affect your ability to react appropriately and with purpose. The world we live in is a highly materialistic one. Many of the things we need just to survive (physically) rely on our ability to acquire them. This is the mundane world, the world of the daily grind. This world composes of school or work (for some people, both) and social interaction. It is the things we do in order to earn income and obtain the material things we need to thrive.

For some people, these things are fine in minimal amounts. If they have a roof over their heads, clothes on their back and food to eat, they are perfectly content. For others, the material world has a much stronger association. For these people, they are what they buy. No doubt you have met many of these people before. They are the ones who have to have the most expensive cars, the biggest houses (the ones with 48 rooms even though there are only two people living in it), the flashiest clothes, and the highest social standing. In this case, the mundane composes their world. Without the perfect image, they would be nothing. In fact, once I heard one person that lived this way tell me, "If I lost all of my money and my possessions, I would have to crawl into a hole and die."

However, the above references only explain the two extremes of the mundane: those who are happy with as little of it as possible, and those who never seem to have enough. Most of us fall somewhere between all of that. It is an interesting point to consider though, as it reveals much about the mindset of one's intents, and just how deep (or how shallow) their directives are.

For example, take one of the basic things that most people have ... a car. What makes a car so important? The most universal response would be independence. With a car, you can take off to go wherever you need to whenever. You have one of the fastest and most direct means to reach a distant destination without being confined to the schedule of a bus, or suffering from limitation of where you can go (i.e. if you can't get to somewhere because the train or bus doesn't make any stops there). In the realm of employment, a car is usually a necessity ... unless you live in New York City where you wouldn't have anywhere to park it.

However, there are many people that do not see a car as just a means of transportation and independence. The car can mean something else to them. It can be a status symbol. How many times have you seen a limousine or a Rolls Royce go by and automatically assumed the person in that vehicle was a millionaire? What comes to mind when you see someone tearing down the road in latest and most expensive sports convertible? A lot of people would assume that person is at least financially independent and can afford to have fun whenever they feel like it. Whether that is the case or not, these are the perceptions that are projected by something as simple as a car. This is a far cry from being concerned about whether you have something reliable that will get you from point A to point B. It can be a tool to make people perceive you in a certain way.

The car leads us to another example of the mundane realm and how social interaction comes into play. A car can be a big factor in changing one's social position at high school. If you are one of the first ones in your class to acquire a car, you might suddenly find yourself getting invited to more functions or having more people hanging around you. Of course they aren't necessarily your friends, but they want to be around you because you have a means of transportation. This offers a form of power to the owner. Since many people deem possessions to be a measurement of another person's worth, they will be more inclined to go along with that person's decisions than someone without. Mind you, this form of power is very fleeting and temporary. It lasts only as long as it takes for someone else to acquire something flashier and more impressive than what you have. The competition to keep attention this way is very fierce (and quite often, not even worth it).

This leads to the most obvious point of the story: some people put way too much value on objects than they should. This can make one a slave to those things they want to obtain or keep. This is where the pursuit of material things begins to take control of you. And no matter what you obtain and how much you acquire, there will always be something bigger and better to get after that. This is what drives the person who already has billions of dollars and every possible toy you can imagine, and still they don't have enough. They still work themselves to death and try to amass more and more, and never taking the time out to enjoy it. They are consumed with the process of acquiring and no longer understand why they even started in the first place. It takes over their entire lives and soon they die, thus leaving everything they gathered behind. That is when you hear people say, "They worked so hard to earn what they had, and never took the time to enjoy it. It doesn't make any sense."

You can lose yourself completely to the process of gaining material power. Many people in high positions find themselves feeling miserable and empty, even though they have attained status and wealth that most people will never see. Why does this happen? It happened because they lost sight of what they were doing; hence, they lost control of their own lives. They became slaves to their own processes, much like a mouse that runs in a turn-wheel and never goes anywhere. They put themselves in the turn-wheel, started running and never stopped.

The main point here is that material possessions only have as much value as you give them. If you make them the whole focal point of your life, they will own your life. Don't get caught in the trap. Get what you want and need, but never forget that they will only go so far in themselves. The material is only one aspect of the life you lead. Here are some of the questions you should ask yourself:

• What do possessions mean to you?
• How much of your life is governed by trying to acquire these possessions?
• What do they offer you that you cannot function without them?
• How do you rate yourself in relation to what you own?

It's fine to want to have a nice house, or a fancy car, or whatever else it is that you desire. Just remember that once you have these things, they are limited in what they can do for you. They are not mandatory to your personal evolution, and it takes mind and inner strength to make a real difference in life. Appearance may draw attention, but you won't get any further than that if that is all you get wrapped up in. Action is required to make any sort of impact on the world. Don't confuse the two.