Why not just enjoy life with the least of responsibility and effort?

Question

I've played this game called Mafia Wars for almost a month now. In this game you have to do some illegal jobs and crimes and attack people and rob their properties in order to make money. The more jobs you do and the more you rob and attack, the more money you make.

I started from the bottom. I had nothing at the beginning, no money, no mafia members, no weapons, no cars, no properties, nothing at all. I started doing jobs and making little money, like 300$ I guess for the job, and it would make me really happy and I would get so excited about it! However, the more you process through the game you level up and get better and bigger jobs, and you get paid off better as well. So after that little money I would start making like 5000 or 10000$ for the job, and I would get more excited. However, when I got to that point, the little money that used to make me happy, didn't matter to me at all after that and I wouldn't care if I lost them in a fight or something.

Yesterday, I made over 100 millions and I was excited, however, today, I made over 200 millions, and I was more excited. But after I spent the money on properties, I made a bit over 100 millions again, but I wasn't happy about it at all. It was like I made 100 dollars! I wanted to make more money, more than the level I got to, more then 200 millions.

So it seems like I'll always be this way even in real life, always wanting more, never satisfied. But why?

Now imagine you are really a poor person and a homeless. In all of a sudden, you got like 100 million dollars. You would buy a house and a car and dress up like a millionaire.. You would eat and party in fancy places. You would, as a result, live in a more sophisticated atmosphere, among rich people, seeing almost only fancy houses and cars in your neighborhood. You would see people who are even richer than you. And naturally, you would want more, maybe to keep up with those people at the level you reached, or to be even better than them. You would never be satisfied no matter how many billions you have! There will be always a higher level you want to reach. The current level of your life quality must some day feel too low to you or maybe too disappointing. And you would always want more..

So if I'll always want more and I'll never be satisfied, why study and work hard and bother to get to a higher level of life quality when I know deep inside that when I get to that higher level I'll want to get to the next level and so I'll never be satisfied at a certain level? Why don't I just get the minimum I can get to be able to eat and sleep at a little house? Why would I want to get better life when that better life would be a normal life when I get it, and I would have an even better life to look for and so on...

Why not just enjoy life with the least responsibility and effort?

Answer 1

Not everyone is always going to try to seek out more. Some people are satisfied at a certain level, and there will be others who want to keep on going. I guess it depends on personal preference. But I can't be an underachiever, that's just not me! But I know my limit.

Answer 2

You might have clinical depression or anxiety issues. There is nothing abnormal or shameful about getting on meds if you need them. Once you've determined if this is (or is not) the case, you will STILL have all of the stress and daily craziness to deal with, you'll just feel like it's more in perspective. You may be the kids' aunt, but you're living a Mommy life! You need to find maybe one other mom who has kids of similar ages and try working out a weekly "kid-swap". This is great for those of us who can't afford babysitters (you see how much they make?) I did this with a friend every week for a year until they moved and just recently found another mom (6 years later!) who is doing this with me. IT'S TERRIFIC!! You also need some time to yourself and to get out of the house on occasion (you don't have to spend any money, go for a walk with a friend). Look into some kind of activity or club that they could all go to for even an hour a week, then keep that hour for yourself! Good Luck!!

Answer 3

I think the choice to enjoy life without unnecessary responsibility or effort is a valid option that should be respected. But I think if we stop trying to reach that higher level, we will still be unsatisfied with where we are in life. I think we need to find a balance between trying our hardest and not trying at all.



Perhaps the answer lies in our surroundings. I, for one, am happy with the house I live in, and even if I were to suddenly become rich, I wouldn't move to a nicer neighborhood filled with people even richer than me. I think it would be satisfying to live in my slightly smaller house in a slightly poorer neighborhood and be richer than my neighbors. I think satisfaction can come not from having more stuff, but from knowing I have the means to buy that stuff and feeling secure in my situation.



But that's just me. Other people are different. I think ultimately, it comes down to the individual. Indeed, there will always be a social, corporate, financial, or academic ladder that we will want to climb, even though there is no top to the ladder. And perhaps there is too much societal pressure to reach the elusive top. But whether or not a person can enjoy life without trying their hardest depends on the person. I know I wouldn't be satisfied with my life if I never graduated from college, but I think we each have to take an honest look at what we want next and ask ourselves if it will truly make us enjoy life more and if it is worth the effort and responsibility. I hope I have done that in my own life: I used to want to be a doctor, but I decided that my enjoyment from being a doctor would not justify all the hard work and stress I would have to put into it. So I'm going after a less respected, less profitable field, but I think I'll be happier and have to put in less effort. That's my balance between the two extremes, but if yours is the minimum necessary to eat and own a small house, I think you're right. Why not? There should be no shame in that choice, and there's no good reason not to be satisfied with that if you're capable of it.

Answer 4

Human nature says "get the best". Always. We always seek perfection and are never satisfied with what we already have. But if we simply sit there and do nothing, then the chance of feeling that we lived life with the minimums might leave the person with a feeling that they haven't lived life to the fullest, or left a strong enough mark to those around that person or in human history.



This thought pattern usually occurs in a person's later years, the question of "What have I left on this planet? What will people remember me for?" If this question is answered positively, then the person will expire content with his or her life. If not, the likeliness of discontent increases.



It's this striving for perfection that allows us to move forward in life. No matter how small our deeds, they end up becoming part of something huge. If we all lived simple, we'd either be way behind or extinct.



Just ask yourself, would you want that simple and not requiring much responsibility of a lifestyle? I would not. I know that later I would regret it. If one has ever so much excess, why not use the fortune to help others? Do something good and you will feel good. Millionaires are known for donating to various societies, for example. As far as responsibility goes, the challenge and experience you get out of it ends up making you wiser. You never can be too wise. People trust you more and take you more seriously.

Answer 5

The reason why is that it's the striving to go forward and do better that keeps us from stagnating. Look at Comunist countries. Once you remove or restrict initiative, competitiveness, and promotions based on effort, you remove all incentive to achieve. And then your society falls apart. I should have just told you to read "1984" and "The Handmaid's Tale", instead of being so wordy, but what else can you expect from an English major?!

And let me tell you also, that when my life was really rough, due to personal illness and family deaths, I dreamed of a life with less responsibility and effort. You know what I wound up with? A severe case of rheumatoid arthritis that almost sent me to the hospital a year ago; I'm never going to be the same. And so now I have to exert very little effort, or I quickly wind up in tremendous pain, maybe even bed-ridden. I'm not asking anyone to cry of me, because I've got it better than many other people, but I'm stating that the old saying "Be careful what you wish for" may be a cliche, but it's true. Be well & take care!

Answer 6

The reason you should strive to improve yourself is simply the satisfaction you derive from mastering skills, learning, and growing as a person.



In your game, the rewards for mastering skills is vast amounts of wealth and property. In real life the rewards can be similar for certain types of work, but are rarely on the type of scale that exists in any game.



Plus, if you actually do have a strong desire to improve your lifestyle you will not be happy just getting by with the minimum required to live. You will still want more, no matter what you do, so wouldn't it be better to want more while living a comfortable life?



I grew up very poor, and I absolutely prefer having a comfortable lifestyle...and I don't want any more now than I did as a child. Of course, I'd love to have millions of dollars, but the lack of excessive amounts of money does not make me unhappy. Not knowing where my next meal was coming from, when I was young, definitely made me miserable.

Answer 7

Yes, Real --



Whether you're playing Mafia Wars or striving to get better grades in school or earning your first actual $100 or your first million, the truth is that you're investing your attention, your time and your life energy into the social conditioning that defines our culture (and, increasingly, world culture). As one person has suggested, dissatisfaction with status quo is "human nature," but there are many other qualities that are also "human nature" that are not so strongly supported by modern culture. It is largely this habit of never being satisfied that has resulted in the many wondrous accomplishments of the past couple of hundred years -- science and technology, business and the arts, medicine and philosophy and politics -- every aspect of human life has grown more complex and more refined, in the never-ending pursuit of bigger, better, newer, smarter, longer-lived.



One of the other aspects of human nature that's worth considering (and worth focusing our attention on, maybe habitually!) is the joy we can feel from a sense of gratitude. Suspending for a moment our wanting and striving (and our fears and suffering), we can just let the sunshine glow through our closed eyelids, feel the supportive earth under our feet, and take a deep breath of free air!



Another facet of human nature is the joy of giving.



Oh, and Peak Experience, and Flow.



Dreaming is good!



Cooperation.



Creativity!



Love!



Hey -- so many answers! What was the question??

Answer 8

Lots of people do choose to live their life that way, and there is nothing wrong with that, so long as you are comfortable and happy. People don't keep seeking money and higher social status because they actually want more, they are just trying to be happy, some people think spending loads of money will bring them happiness, and it may short term, but long term you'll end up with nothing but a bunch of junk and you still won't be happy. The homeless man you imagined above sounds like he wanted more money so he could continue to fit in, but I think in reality a homeless person from the streets would know the value of safety and warmth, and hopefully they would have learned from everyday in their life not to take opportunities like that for granted, and not to foolishly blow a second chance at a good life on things you would never need. Everybody is different and we all want different things from life. Wanting more is a part of human nature, we will always want more and further the people we are and the environments around us, if we stop doing and wanting to grow then I think there is something wrong.

Answer 9

I could attempt to answer this from two points of view. I am a Christian and daily I battle with being the way I have been told and feel I "should" be. And I every so often fall into being the way I feel I shouldnt be. Both mindsets have two different answers for this question.



1. The man I am working on being is a Christian man who would quote C.S. Lewis. In his book The Screwtape Letters, Lewis says something to the effect of... "A man being what he should be can take as much joy in his efforts as those around him." The context of the idea is more then just pleasure in ones effort in their work. He is talking about the fruits of work. Be they material possessions or status, he is saying a man being what he "should be", is more complete and can therefore be content.



2. On days when I am being not what I feel I should be, I would say people are generally more bad then god and will always lust for more. Or I would try to rationalize it even as a survival instinct. The monkey that sees the other with more bananas is going to want those bananas.



Ultimately I feel if everyone achieved that content state of mind that I think we are meant to live within, that desire for all that we dont have, would fade and not exhist from non-neccesity.

Answer 10

You still have a materialistic mentality, and until you outgrow that you will never be happy. Some people prefer hard work and the materialistic things that come as a result, and some prefer being lazy and having nothing, but most prefer life somewhere in the middle.

Answer 11

Listen, I paid rent when I was 8 years old and ran two paper routes to do it. Despite my parent's best efforts to make me self-sufficient I had NO IDEA how much was involved in being an adult. I doubt Mafia Wars is doing much to prepare yourself to not STARVE.



Take it from me, homelessness is not a good career choice.

Answer 12

Yes, the "rat race" as some would call it. Live however you want, one day, you'll die and this will all go away.

Answer 13

that's a good beautiful idea , i will try it. but i fear that my respect will be finished from world.

either i should choose respect or enjoyment.