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MUST-READ: We always want what we can't have

Curly haired women wish they had smooth, silky hair. Balding men just wish they had more of it, no matter the texture.

Women want bigger purses and more shoes. Men desire bigger houses and cars.

Short people wish they could be taller and heavy people would do anything to look like their thin neighbors.

As you can see, we are in a constant state of yearning. Very rarely do we just settle for what we have and call it a day. No, we constantly strive to achieve or obtain things -- and the more out of reach they seem, the more desirable they are to us.

There's nothing wrong with bettering yourself. If you've worked hard to earn your money, you should be able to get hair transplants, luxurious cars, or whatever else you're aiming for.

I always warn people, however, against becoming too focused on what they don't have versus what they already do.

We must keep things in perspective. No matter how much money we have, we're never going to get every single thing we want in life.

That's why it's imperative that we be grateful for what we do have. We may become so fixated on acquiring more material things that we fail to realize we're quite happy with what's in our possession.

The upshot here is that the quicker we accept that our lives will never be exactly as we want them to be, the less pressure we'll put on ourselves to get everything we feel we lack.

Newer and bigger doesn't necessarily translate into better. Although marketers would like us to think that -- I would know because my background is in marketing and psychology -- it couldn't be further from the truth. Oftentimes, what we already have will suffice.

Let us be thankful for our many blessings, for we already have so much more than many people out there will ever get to have.

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