Busyness and Society

I was reading on a forum last night about a woman who realized while in the hospital how busyness takes away from life. I guess that realization is easy when you have absolutely nothing to do. Where this thought gets more interesting is a reply someone had. This person had just came back from Guatemala. She was visiting her sponsor child. What she noticed was that, even though without a lot of money, these people were happy and enjoyed their life. Her take on the matter was given an economic equality there was not want or need for more because everyone was the same. I will go even further on this and say that this village was proactive instead of reactive. Everything that was done was thought out and done for the common good and not individual gains. Unfortunately, the world we live in isn't this way. We live in the mostly reactive society, and the society benefiting the individual which in turn hurts the whole. We tend to bombard thoughts of having the biggest, most expensive luxuries. We tend to look down upon people who are perceived of lower economic standards than ourselves. People who don't want the best or live below their means are considered weird. Why is that? Why can't people live in their means and be okay. Why don't we say that it is okay that you don't have $200 sneakers, and that you don't own the most expensive video systems and games. Why do we have to equate wealth with happiness. All you end of created in the end is the idea of want, and the idea of doing what it takes to get it. Teach kids there are better things out there, and what would you find.....less crime. Of course, that would mean taking a proactive approach. Most people just don't want to do that. They want to see if the problem will correct itself on its own, and only when it gets truly out of hand do they react. This would take time out of our schedules. You ever notice how busy people seem to be that really don't have nothing to do. It really doesn't take that long to help someone or volunteer to do something good. Unfortunately, most people tend to think that the little moment of time that would be required of them would be better served for themselves. Think if every person that was advantaged in the country would help one person that wasn't. It doesn't have to be monetary. Just give a little time. The preconceptions that could be changed in that little moment and the lives changed would really outweigh the cost. Maybe it is time to walk a little slower, take a little longer, and then one could really enjoy life. Maybe a lot of could be learned from a group of people that have nothing. They are the ones that have the true wealthy society not us.