Tag: bigger

Looking for the bigger Lego set

Posted on by philipdodson

lego

Yesterday evening I sat talking with my brother and we were reminiscing about our childhood, where we would rush on a Saturday morning armed with our pocket money to the local newsagents, Hewitt’s, and spend the lot on multi-coloured sugar treats like Black Jacks and Tutti-Fruitis.

Then hurry home for a morning of children’s TV programmes, that were occasionally interrupted by commercials.

We’d look on in awe at all the stuff advertised, clearly aimed at us, so that we would pressure our parents into why we needed an ‘Evel Knievel’ stunt bike.

The thing was we were living through the growing and ever worsening consumerism, whereby we were all being brainwashed into thinking happiness came from buying bigger stuff.

My brother and I loved Lego, each time we saw the ads for Lego sets we had that feeling of WOW!! shortly followed by a wash of disappointment we felt when we remembered how inadequate our small biscuit tins of Lego pieces were, not a set in sight.

So we were always looking for a bigger Lego set and trying to convince our parents, well normally trying to guilt them into purchasing one.

The problem in life is once you get the bigger set, you find out that happiness is always drained when you discover that there is always a bigger one that you don’t have.

Be happy with what you have already, bigger isn’t better and it will never enhance your happiness.

Focus on people, activities and meaningful things, not on stuff.

Better

Posted on by philipdodson

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Better is all a question of perspective.

We live in a world where faster, cheaper and especially bigger are often the measures of better. That’s better the drink is 50% bigger and still the same price is often the mentality.

Better has been the myth sold to us by the industrialised system to get us to buy into more consumption and be compliant. Dissatisfaction and discontentment are powerful forces to ensure we all continue to strive to be ‘better’ or get ‘better’ stuff.

Why is a bigger number of something better than a smaller number? Why is a bigger house or car better than a smaller one? What is better for? Does anyone question that? Why do we have to be better? Perhaps we could redefine better.

Maybe the answer isn’t to always be striving for better, as in bigger, more of something, cheaper, faster, more efficient. Perhaps contentment with what we have and appreciating it and living a life centred on people and activity, not a life centred on striving for better.

Perhaps better is smaller, slower and good value. Perhaps better could be centred on how we treat ourselves and others. Not on better grades as a measure of success and worth.