The Best Things in Life are not Things

“The best things in life aren’t things”

I read this quote and just fell in love with it!

But what does it mean?

It means that things, as in, materialistic things aren’t really what make us happy. 

How many times has it happened that you have brought something new and got bored of it? Or you have bought a new gadget and in just a while started craving for another?

Well, yes. It is just normal. 

Actually, it the tendency of human brain to get used to stuff. It’s called Hedonic Adaptation.

Daniel Gilbert puts this in beautiful words – ‘wonderful things are especially wonderful the first time they happen but their wonderfulness wanes with repetition’.

(You can learn more about hedonic adaptation by reading my previous posts Miswanting and How to Enjoy Things Forever.) 

So, what are the best things of life if they aren’t materialistic things?

Some would guess that it is their loved ones or simply love. But that is hardly true. Many of us get used to our loved ones too. We get used to meeting them, staying with them or talking to them. We don’t feel as lucky and happy as we did in the starting. Along with that, we get used to the feeling of being loved. We get used to our friends and family spending time with us. We crave for all these things when we get separated from them.

Well, I’ll ask this question again, what are the best things in life?

What are those things which we remember for a long time in our life, quite often and yearn for them to happen again? 

That’s right! Fun time with friends, board games with family and trips! Or in other words, experience. Experiences are the best things in life. 

Psychologically, hedonic adaptation does not occur because we don’t really get that much of time to get used to experiences. Having a laugh with your best friend only lasts for about half an hour or so, playing board games with your family only lasts for an evening and trips range only from one week to one month. The mind (brain) is tricked and it can’t get used to stuff in such a little while.

There is a say: 

Fill your life with experiences, not things. Have stories to tell, not stuff to show.

Life experiences are the most important and it is very essential to invest in them. Mark Twain has said, “Explore, Dream, Discover” and not “Work, Earn, Buy” The most important things in life are moments and we shouldn’t give them up for anything. 

Live, love and laugh. Enjoy your life as much as you can. Because, in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years…

This post has also been published on Writer's Mascot website.