Stop lining up to be happy

“Keeping up with the Joneses” is a well known term in the United States, which means falling into a consumption race that is impossible to win. The Joneses used to be our neighbors, friends and family. When our neighbor bought a new car, we ran to a dealership to get an even better, most recent model. A family member announced a trip to Cancun, then we had to go to Europe. We all know the end result: unhappiness, anxiety, debt and financial trouble.

Today, we live in a “Keeping up with the Joneses” world on steroids. The Joneses are no longer our neighbors and friends; now we carry them on Instagram and Facebook. Now it is not enough to buy the new fancy thing. We have to share our stuff on social media.

I read somewhere “I wish everybody the happiness they show on their Instagram accounts”. It is a never ending rat-race. We get out of one line and get into another one.

We live obsessed asking ourselves whether our relationships have a future and we ruin our present moment. Such projection keeps us absent. We forget we live in the best time to be alive. If you think we are in a lot of trouble and this pandemic is the worst thing that has happened to us, let me remind you the Spanish flu killed 50 million people a hundred years ago. And the smallpox killed nearly 90% of pre-hispanic population five hundred years ago.

We have the technology, science, economic progress and humanism in our side. Let’s use them. Live, take deep breath. Enjoy and be thankful. Our grandparents had to fight a war! All we are being asked to do is to stay home and wear a face mask. Stop keeping up with the Joneses and stop lining up to be happy.

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