I happened across an interesting post the other day on Steemit. It was by a ‘Steemer’ named @corina and the title of the post was, ‘Why are humans never truly satisfied?’ The author does a pretty good job of explaining concepts like ‘Hedonic Adaption,’ and the ‘Happiness Set Point.’ I agree that those conditions do exist in the human experience. She then postulates that the reasons for these conditions are genetics, early childhood [experiences] or [up-bringing], and comparing your achievements to other peoples’ achievements. And this is where I part ways with @corina. Although there are grains of truth in her assertion, I don’t think it delves deep enough or gets to the crux of the condition of being human. So, what is my answer? Well...
The short answer is... Humans are never truly satisfied because this world and all of its trappings cannot satisfy us.
I’m not a particularly religious person. So, no... This is not going to be one of those ‘fire and brimstone’ endorsements of ‘God’ and ‘Jesus.’ Go ahead. Breathe a collective sigh of relief... Whew!
To understand what it is to be human is a very difficult thing. When you look in the mirror, what you are seeing is the collection of parts that make up a ‘home’ called the human body. At that point, you are not seeing the real ‘you.’ But when you stare deeply into your own eyes, that is when you truly begin to see the real you. This is also when a lot of people begin to feel ‘weirded out.’ Some people I have talked to about this also said that it begins to feel ‘scary,’ so they just stop. Try it some time. Stare deeply into your own eyes, and see how long you can do it.
When you look into another person’s eyes, and have dialogue and interaction with them, that is when you start to see the real entity that inhabits their ‘human body home.’ That is the basis of all relationships, whether they be loving, affectionate, just amicable, or even adversarial relationships. Even though this process gives you an overview of the entity behind it all, it is still just a start! Why is that? It’s because a ‘person’ is way more than the sum of their physical parts, way more than the sum of their actions, and infinitely more than any combination of the two. So in essence, what are we?
The force behind what we call a ‘Human Being’ is actually Pure Energy.
The universe is made up of only about 4.5 percent protons, neutrons and electrons. (collectively known as ‘atoms’) Atoms make up the material things that we can see and touch, such as stars, planets, mountains, cars, houses, the human body, etc. The universe is also made up of almost 72 percent pure energy. Just like you!
As such, (just as it is in the case of human existence) scientists still can only theorize about the origins of, and the future of our universe.
To be clear... ‘Scientific Theory’ is not guesswork. It is the factual result of experimentation (as far as we know right now) which can be altered, when and if new information is discovered. But I digress.
We are Spiritual Energy.
You are truly a child of the universe. As humans, the confusion, constant dissatisfaction and frustration that all of us feel (or have felt at some point) stems from the fact that we are pure energy (the 72%) being contained and limited in a vessel. (the 4.5%) By definition, the vessels we are inhabiting are not sufficiently capable of embodying (nor of even projecting) all that we are, and all that we wish to be. So, in a sense, no matter what you attain or achieve in this material world, it oftentimes is inadequate and unsatisfactory.
As the ‘Steemer’ @corina so adeptly put it: ‘If we thought reaching a 'destination' will bring us happiness, we're wrong!’ That’s true. And that is because the ‘destinations’ we strive to arrive at have nothing to do with the ‘Spiritual Energy’ that we actually are. To boil it all down, the experience of inhabiting a human body will always be two things; Underwhelming and Anticlimactic.
Spiritual Energy is perpetual and everlasting.
A few days ago, I was listening to a podcast by a relatively popular YouTuber named Lance Scurv. He was interviewing a gentleman who had a ‘death’ experience. He had actually been pronounced dead, and then brought back. His conclusion was basically that we should never fear death, because death does not really exist. Not in the sense of a ‘spiritual’ death anyway. When you leave this temporary home that we call the human body, your spiritual energy will live on.
Remember. You are a child of the universe.
My ego is sufficiently big enough, that I would love to take credit for solving the biggest mysteries of being human. But ancient indigenous civilizations figured all of this out centuries ago.
So, go forward. Never fear. And never hang your head for too long. Kids... don’t run from the bully that threatens to beat you up. Teenagers... don’t be embarrassed by the verbal slip that might happen in front of your peers, which they will never let you live down. Humans... don’t be afraid of religious doctrine, nor any of the threats that any of the peddlers of such doctrines may wield. For you are greater, more powerful, and more virtuous than any of these.
And don’t be afraid of success. You are ‘one’ with the universe, so you have already succeeded!... Many times before!!
My goal as a child of the universe, is to inspire and spread love. If you like this post, please come back and view more of my content. Love and Peace to you. Thank you.!