Everyone is a buyer. We consume many things as a buyer on a daily basis. But, WHY DO WE BUY? This question led me to surf the internet for about an hour and this is what I got: “to purchase something” Now that “SOMETHING” is something which I wondered upon. What does it mean “to purchase SOMETHING?” Is it like buying anything from a size of a planet to the size of a Nano- particle? Well, I am not sure! But I am pretty much sure that this “SOMETHING” comprise of two buying elements i.e. need and desire. We buy things either from our need or desire. And, unfortunately, most of the time we buy out of our desire.
So, what’s the basic difference between need and desire? As Wikipedia (and many other online reference website) says: A need is something that is necessary for organisms to live a healthy life and Desire is a sense of longing for an object, a person or hoping for an outcome. So which is more important? To buy something or to buy what is needed.Since the evolution of human race, buying and selling were the important elements of livelihood. But, in the early ages they bought and sold things which were most crucial to their evolution for example wood for fire or to build houses, sheep for wool or animals for food. Now when the evolution phase has come to an end and developing phase has started, we have forgotten what is more important to us. We have forgotten what our need is. Now-a-days, almost everyone first buy to fulfill their desire and then to fulfill their need. Just because we wish for a bike, we buy it with our first salary rather than saving it for long run or in case of emergency. Buying is more like an addiction which starts and grows from the day 1 when we start buying the things we desire. If not controlled, it results in Continues-buying. As for example, in India, we follow this stupid tradition to buy new clothes every Durga puja or Diwali or at any other festival, regardless our needs. Another example is that we buy smartphones rejecting phones with simple call and text feature just because it is a style statement now-a-days. People argue on the multitasking abilities that smartphones has got, but according to a survey, most people use their smartphones to entertain themselves which is unfortunately not a need (always), it is a desire.
Since the evolution of human race, buying and selling were the important elements of livelihood. But, in the early ages they bought and sold things which were most crucial to their evolution for example wood for fire or to build houses, sheep for wool or animals for food. Now when the evolution phase has come to an end and developing phase has started, we have forgotten what is more important to us. We have forgotten what our need is. Now-a-days, almost everyone first buy to fulfill their desire and then to fulfill their need. Just because we wish for a bike, we buy it with our first salary rather than saving it for long run or in case of emergency. Buying is more like an addiction which starts and grows from the day 1 when we start buying the things we desire. If not controlled, it results in Continues-buying. As for example, in India, we follow this stupid tradition to buy new clothes every Durga puja or Diwali or at any other festival, regardless our needs. Another example is that we buy smartphones rejecting phones with simple call and text feature just because it is a style statement now-a-days. People argue on the multitasking abilities that smartphones has got, but according to a survey, most people use their smartphones to entertain themselves which is unfortunately not a need (always), it is a desire.
This Continues-buying leads us to: a cluttered life where we have too much to de-clutter and we finally give up, a life with no peace of mind, a life where we have no choice left other than buying cheap and bad designed products/services which requires consistent maintenance, a life in which we spend all our money but doesn’t feel like an investment, a life where we don’t enjoy a single day of our life and we continue to work hard to balance this system.
So what’s the way out? It is simple, yet not common. We need to buy less. We need to buy things we ‘NEED’. We have to prioritize our needs and then buy the best in order to use it on a long term basis. Doing a monthly audit in this regard can help. We have to avoid unnecessary shopping trips. On top of all, we have to understand this elementary question of life i.e. why we all are here and what we actually “need” to walk happily throughout the journey of life. Once we ask ourselves this question, the rest is assured we will get our answers.
The results of buying less are always positive and amazing. We need and deserve that better life but either we don’t know or we don’t want to. If we buy less, our life will be more controlled and full of happiness. Buying less will buy us the best product, best services, best time, best moments and the best life. That is what BUY LESS TO BUY THE BEST means.
Buy less to buy the best!
