Why Material Success Won’t Complete You — And What Will

I used to believe striving for money and materialism would make me feel whole and complete.

I believed they were the missing puzzle pieces to the incomplete puzzle that was life.

What else is there if you had money and all the “right” stuff money can buy?

So I chased money, stuff, “shoulds,” and expectations like my life was on the line.

The chase was overwhelming in its effort and underwhelming in its reward.

Maintaining my lifestyle was like building a house of cards on an infinitely windy day.

So much work for a short-term dopamine hit that faded with the new car smell (all status purchases have a new car smell), leaving the puzzle unfinished and me on the hook chasing the next hit.

Chasing externals will never satiate us, it’s like pouring sand in a sieve and expecting a sand castle.

When we stop chasing long enough to understand it’s not working, we can connect with ourselves to discover what will.

And what I discovered is this:

When we connect with our authentic selves, create from this place, and share our creations in service to something more significant than ourselves, we fill ourselves from within.