Each year, there is a lot of hype around the flu and flu season. People wash their hands, sanitize their homes and workspaces, avoid crowded spaces, increase their vitamin C and zinc in an effort to avoid getting sick, and some rush to get a vaccine. The media chimes in regularly to keep people fearful and alarmed. Most people are exposed to the influenza virus each year. Many do get sick, but most people are affected very mildly, with body aches, cough, and fatigue. They have to lay around, miss work or school, and then are back to normal within a couple of days.
While influenza gets a lot of hype each year, the condition that deserves much more attention is affluenza. This sickness affects many more people, causes much greater devastation, and is often overlooked as the true cause of people’s woes. Affluenza is defined by Google’s AI as “extreme materialism and consumerism associated with the pursuit of wealth and success and resulting in a life of chronic dissatisfaction, debt, overwork, stress, and impaired relationships.” It’s a condition that drives us to chase things that we think will make us happy, only to ultimately leave us feeling empty, unfulfilled, and unmotivated.
In the book Inner Excellence, author Jim Murphy lists five things that this condition (virus) involves… possessions, achievements, looks (personal appearance), money, and status. Chasing these things distances us from what truly matters and leaves us continuously disappointed. The symptoms associated with this condition include guilt, social isolation, lack of motivation, materialism and consumerism, strained personal relationships, depression, and anxiety. You see it in people every day, and you’ve been inflicted with it yourself.
This “virus” is highly contagious, as you are constantly exposed to it, and have been since birth. And unlike other conditions for which we may develop antibodies and become immune to for life, this condition persists for life, giving the illusion that all you need is more. The faster you go, the harder you try, and the more success you achieve, the further you get from what you are craving deep down. If you could just get that promotion, attract more followers, make more money, get that bigger house, or lose that weight… These thoughts and desires trick us into thinking true happiness is just over those humps.
To be clear, seeking more, being a high achiever, and working to maintain your youth is not the problem. We are wired to keep building, growing, and succeeding. According to Murphy, “The problem isn’t the components of the virus in and of themselves – the money, achievements, and so forth – but rather putting your trust and identity in something transient and unstable.” Our happiness fluctuates moment to moment, based on how we are being perceived and how we compare to others, putting us on an emotional rollercoaster.
That new car brings us a burst of joy, enhanced by the admiration of those around us as they praise its awesomeness, yet that enlightening feeling fades, and the bottom drops out the moment you see the newer model on the road or the neighbor pull up in a fancier version of that vehicle. Happiness that is not grounded in solid, meaningful, and truly fulfilling things, will waver day to day, hour to hour, and sadly, even minute to minute. Like a piece of bubble gum, you’ll get that burst of flavor, that shot of goodness, only to be left, soon after, chewing and chewing on a clump of blah.
Strive for excellence, embark on exotic trips, drive the nice car, but don’t let it be the driving force of your emotions. It’s okay to want, to own, and to accumulate, but do it for the right reasons. We’ve all heard the saying… money is the root of all evil. Money is not evil. You can do great things with more money… invest in education, help others in need, donate to needy causes, etc. What’s evil is the love of money. Why? Because the desire for more money, if it’s your primary goal, may lead you to do things out of line with your principles, put business ventures before people, and push you off of your most purposeful path. And money, like looks, status, achievements, and possessions, comes and goes, leaving your emotional status wavering and vulnerable.
Your constant barrage of the affluenza virus can only be fended off by constant and never-ending efforts to focus on, and work toward, what’s truly important. Gratitude exercises, journaling, reflection, prayer, and attending to the needs of others will help keep you on track. You don’t need a doctor to diagnose affluenza. If you’re a human in this day and age, you’ve got at least a touch of it. It won’t kill you, but it will kill your deepest dreams and aspirations. Be aware of it, avoid it when you can, and work to get rid of it.
