IT'S BASIC, BUT FORGOTTEN: Focus on the Things That Matter the Most!

"How are you feeling today? Are you satisfied with the status of your life? Are you happy?"

As of the moment, the questions above are the most difficult ones to answer for me. And I see no difference with everyone else around me asking the same questions to themselves. HAPPINESS is a very vague word that varies from one person to another. It cannot be measured. It cannot be substantiated in one form.

That's why many of us would try to do many things all at the same time. It's not bad. It's a normal "human-being" thing. What isn't normal though is when we forget to give importance on the things that really matter the most. How to find out what is it that "matters the most" in a person's life lies in his present situation.



Different stages of life mean different set of priorities. I am not saying that if you are a working individual, you should not travel the world and pursue your passion! Or if you are a daddy of five kids, you should not go skydiving and out-of-town vacations anymore. What I was trying to convey is that YOUR LIFE IS DIFFERENT NOW. You have to embrace the reality and live in it.

The problem most of us face is that we tend to live in our fantasies and frustrations before, that we neglect the value of the things we have now. These are the things that we only once dreamt of having before. This will become a cycle until we can never be fully satisfied with anything anymore -- because we never appreciated the present.

I remember in our Philosophy class our professor discussed about the Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. This simple pyramid changed my perspective in life. It says that you cannot go higher to the next level unless you fulfilled the previous one below first.



Referring to the picture above (not my personal opinion), you will see that the house you just bought is useless if the persons living inside it don't have a good health. You could have had the most astonishing modern Mediterranean style house in the neighborhood yet you cannot go outside because of a contagious disease, for instance.

This house also doesn't make any sense if you don't have anything to eat or water to drink inside. Physiological needs are far more important than safety. Food and water should never be compromised with the beauty of your home. Just like a song says, "a house is not a home, when no one's living there."

One more significant observation, this is the major trend that is circulating around the internet nowadays. People post their achievements on Facebook. They brag about the number of international and local destinations that they have traveled. They write "highly-intellectual" comments in response to the critical social and political issues for them to look educated, in contrary to the "should-have-been" healthy exchange of opinions. These people possess Confidence Level 999.

On a positive note, it's never too late to reconstruct our priorities. Having a clear and defined set of priorities makes our lives easy and worry free. It shapes our future. It leaves our marks to the generation that is behind us. It defines who we are.