Imagine, you’re out with some friends. You can hear the pizza calling your name. The irresistible aroma wafts up your nose. You watch the cheese ooze down the crust. Entranced, you hold the succulent pizza slice, ready to savour its gloriousness. Wait.
“How many calories are in this?” “Will I gain weight?” “How much exercise will I have to do to burn these calories?”
So much overthinking, so many questions. Stop.
What are our basic necessities? Food, water, shelter and clothing. We crave for variety in our food, but complain about the amount of calories in it. We insist on owning high-end cars, but complain about how expensive they are to maintain. We are overcomplicating our own lives, yet we relentlessly complain about how hard our lives are.
Think about a maths problem. The problem seems difficult, so you assume that the harder method will solve it. After some time, it finally strikes you that there is another method. An easier method. This method solves the problem.
Sometimes, we are so tempted to take the harder path that we forget that there was an easier method to solve the problem all along. We are overcomplicating our own lives.
I asked some people to weigh in on this controversial topic:
"I completely disagree with this statement. As time progresses, our needs change. If an individual chose not to 'overcomplicate' their lives they would find themselves being dissatisfied with their life. As humans, we find pleasure in the unattainable. If we, as humans do not have a goal, a passion, or an asipration, we would find ourselves roaming the Earth aimlessly. It is this 'overcomplication' that is keeping our minds busy and functioning. It is this 'overcomplication' that is driving humans to the next stage of advancements." Akshanaa Vakeesan
"I agree with this statement. We are overcomplicating our own lives. We are overlooking our basic neccessities. I am unable to fathom why we are slowly losing the ability to appreciate the simple things in life. Our mindsets are changing. With the current technological advancements, looking into others' lives is not so difficult. But why? Why do we need to know? This is driving us into peer pressure and unhealthy lifestyle habits. I think we would be much happier, as a population, if we stopped making our lives so complicated." Samiksha Rajan
According to the 2019 World-Happiness-Report, negative feelings and dissatisfaction have been rising around the world, up by 27% from 2010 to 2018. Why? We want more. We want more money. We want more cars. We want more houses. More, more and more.
Take cavemen, for example, a perfectly functional civilisation. The human race did not die out, even though all they had were the bare necessities.
It’s not life that’s complicated. It’s us.
