Please read Timothy Miller’s amazing book, How to Want What You Have: Discovering the Magic and Grandeur of Ordinary Existence
I’ve been encouraging all my friends and family to read this book. The author is a Cognitive Psychologist (with a PhD and decades of experience with his counseling private practice) who examines the underlying causes of human suffering and unhappiness. He makes a *very* convincing case that practicing Compassion, Attention and Gratitude can and does counteract our instincts to seek limitless amounts of wealth, status and love. Learning to stop wanting More of these things is the “secret” to real happiness. I think he’s exactly right. I will continue to lend out my copies of the book if/when they come back to me, and to keep buying more to circulate among my friends and family. In the meantime, pick one up yourself if you can! The latest (5th, hardcover) edition is the one I read after picking it up at a used bookstore for $2.99 on a whim. Best 3 bucks I ever spent in my life. 🙂
Here’s the book on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/How-Want-What-You-Have/dp/0805033173
… and my review of it:
http://www.amazon.com/review/R27LT8BC2EQ614/?ie=UTF8&ASIN=0805033173
Enjoy! 🙂
P.S. If you’re willing to tell Amazon you want the publisher to release the book on Kindle that’d be cool; so far it’s print-only.