Epicurus analyzes: Do not spoil what you have

As we run through our daily lives, we may forget how good we actually have it. In this article, I want to focus on a quote from the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus, who knew some 2300 years ago that we can spoil what we have.

Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you do not have.

Epicurus

It is in the nature of man to be blind to what you have around you every day. This is not just about material goods. Whether it's the friends around us, our parents, a roof over our heads, a full stomach or anything else. As long as we have all this, we take it for granted. Out of this self-evidence, we see what the others have more than we do and wish for the same. Exactly in this moment we tend to become blind for what we already have. Often we only notice how well we are doing, or were doing, when what we took for granted is taken away from us.

We must learn not to constantly pay attention to others, but to practice gratitude ourselves. When we see that what we have cannot be taken for granted, we can appreciate it much better. At the age of twenty, it is probably normal that both parents are still alive and enjoying good health. But even this cannot be taken for granted. Other people would give anything to have this privilege. At fifty, when parents may have been gone for some time, we wish we had appreciated it more at the time.

In younger years, you have a lot of free time and can spend it as you like, whether you spend it with friends, video games, sports or whatever. But later, when you have less time as an adult and have to spend it wisely, you realize how good you used to have it.

It can be difficult to be happy about what you have, especially when you're being shown on social media what you could have. But all that glitters is not gold and we have to decide for ourselves which things we want to give which value. If we value what we have, there is hardly any life that is not worth living.

The supposed founder of Daoism, Lao Tzu, once said that the one who knows that enough is enough will always have enough. It's not about accumulating more and more things in your life. It's about appreciating what you have and being grateful for it. Because if you know when it's enough for you, you won't waste your time wandering around looking for more.

Epictetus who lived about 400 years after Epicurus was of the opinion that Wealth does not consist in possessing much, but in needing little. For if we understand for ourselves that we do not need to possess much, but to know when it is enough for us, then we will not spoil what we have by desiring what we do not have.

What is your opinion on this topic? Do you think gratitude is something that can be learned or should we always strive for more? Just leave us a comment below.