#70 Everybody is selling you something

When we're young, parents sell us the idea of God, karma, education, and career.

While growing up, our friends sell us the idea of love, relationship, and getting high. Teachers sell us the idea of education and prosperity. Our government sells the idea of taxes and patriotism. Relatives sell us the idea of selling abroad and earning in dollars. The society sells the idea of marriage and a family. Our workplace sells the idea of promotions and success. Financial institutions sell us the idea of owning a home and saving for retirement. In the time in between companies sell us their products and consumers.

We're always sold on ideas and we buy them without questioning their authenticity and knowing if it's really for us. And by the time we realize it become too late. We either become too old things didn't matter or be too late for reversing a decision as it would bring catastrophic damage to our lives.

One of the things I like about Buddhism is the idea of questioning everything is built as a way of life. Buddha famously said "do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumoured by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found in religious books."

Assess every idea you're sold on. Understand the why and the what behind every idea. Build your own school of thought. You don't have to be a philosopher to do it. After all, philosophy is a not a "one size fits all" thing. It is an idea which we can reduce or build upon to suit our needs.