Never Satisfied

 
As Americans, it seems as if we are never satisfied with what we have. We are always wanting the newest phone, car, or gadget. Some try every new health and beauty product to come out or look to plastic surgery. When we finally get whatever it is we are after, we are not satisfied for long. We get bored and look for what is next. This attitude also has a positive side. We use it to drive and better ourselves. Scientists look for cures, fail, and keep trying. New technology is invented and immediately improved upon. The advances in medicine and technology has saved lives, made life easier, and more fun. In George Steinbeck's novel, The Pearl, he writes about this very thing by saying, “For it is said that humans are never satisfied, that you give them one thing and they want something more. And this is said in disparagement, whereas it is one of the greatest talents the species has and one that has made it superior to animals that are satisfied with what they have.” This seems to be a way of thinking that we need to keep, but maybe we should be careful not to be greedy with it. Plastic surgery is a good example. It is a wonderful thing for people who have been scarred, burned, or deformed. It allows them to be able to look and feel normal again after accidents. What about all the people having it done to simply look better? Do they really need it or has our culture gotten to a point where we feel like we have to look a certain way or like a particular person. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons website, last year there were 307,000 breast augmentations done on women and 62,000 nose reshapings done on men. 5.3 million women and 363,000 men had botulinum toxin, Bo-Tox, last year. There is a notable difference in the amount of women compared to men having this done. Is it all necessary though?  We spend so much money trying to look better and make ourselves feel better about ourselves. Is it to make us or society happy? We all want to look our best but part of what makes people unique are our differences. Differences are not a bad thing. Then there is technology. We always want the latest thing to entertain us or to be like everybody else. This might come from a sense of wanting to fit in, show superiority, or just plain boredom. Does all this really make us that much happier? We spend a lot of money on these things, but should be learn to be content with what we have? A lot of people are going broke just to be able to have things that do not really matter. For sure all these things have also bettered our society and increased our quality and longevity of life. Maybe we need to take a look at what we are doing and see if it is worth it. This video shows some things to think about if we want to be happy with what we already have.
 There is nothing wrong with having new things, but we going into debt to have them or to look better. People used to accept others however they looked because they did not have a choice to look different. They had to make do with what they had. I think we should look at what people used to do for entertainment. Most people had nothing to do but talk to each other or go outside. Whatever happened to eating together at the table or sitting on the front porch talking? I do not think we should become stagnant as a society and should continue to invent new and great things. Maybe we should also learn to be a little more content with what we have and enjoy on another's company and not have to be constantly entertained by gadgets and media. Can we find a happy medium or just keep on spending all of our money on fitting in and entertainment to please our own idea of what the world wants?



Sources: www.plasticsurgery.org , www.surgery.org