What I want

As I sit at my computer, from time to time I look down at its gigantic hulking mass. (I ordered a custom computer from Dell, and when it arrived, to my surprise, it was almost as big as my bedroom. I exaggerate of course, but it was in fact so large and heavy that I tore a muscle in my arm setting it up.) I still think of my baby as new, but I know its not new new, in computer years. Its reaching its first birthday. And as a computer starts to age I inevitably start to think. . . 'hum . . .upgrade?' I don't know why exactly. I'm just automatically wired to want to upgrade.

Thought looking at my own personal salary I would hardly even be considered middle class, especially for Tokyo, I am very lucky to be surrounded by many people that love me, and very often ask me what I want with an eye toward providing it to me. So it wouldn't be at all impossible to endlessly upgrade everything in my life, cloths, shoes, ipods, cell phones, computers, the list goes on and on. I have to admit my one weakness is the computer parts. I'm not an expert or anything, but I have a nearly endless hunger for better and better graphics. So I always want a better video card.

I think both advertising and human nature lend a lot to this cycle of unending desires for something new. That connects to the idea that it will make us happy. Better graphics = happy. I've come to the conclusion that Aristotle has a much better idea on the subject. He says that things are a means to the end. Like money or power or love. The goal of all those things is happiness but most of the time it doesn't get us there. He believes that happiness is most easily achieved by a well balanced and virtues life. Virtue to him is the mean between the extremes. Its not good to starve yourself, its not good to be gluttonous, you should eat the right amount. Its not good to be rash, or cowardly. Bravery is what is between. Virtue is wanting the right thing at the right time in the right way and the right amount. For him happiness is striving to achieve that balance. And I have to admit seeing it that way has really improved my over all contentedness and enjoyment of life.

Of course I still twinge. When my mom asks me what I want, which she often does, its tempting to say new cloths ext. ext. When I started jogging I slipped. I got myself a new ipod thinking it would help me jog more or faster or something. And new jogging cloths for the same reason. The truth is, of course, if I want to jog I should just get my but up out of this chair and jog. But the one thing I really want now is books, since the ones I like are impossible to find in Japan a box full of books from home always brightens up my day. But for the moment I have more then I can read, so even as each minute ticking makes my computer that much older and further behind the most shiny and best I'm still happy.