Only a few people want us to be happy. Friends and family, mostly. The majority of people want us to be consumers. They need us to buy stuff to keep them going, to make them successful. This is an unfortunate reality in our society today. Most of us measure our success based on how much stuff we have, how expensive it is, and how we compare to everybody else. The economy is entirely built on how much money is being exchanged between corporations and governments.
It can be exhausting to get caught up in all of this. To constantly be trapped in the consumerist cycle of buying and selling and endlessly wanting more. Where does it end?
Instead of allowing us to be hounded into having more, I opt for settling for less. We don't need the newest phone, the best car, the biggest house, to see all the blockbusters, to have a faster computer, to get the biggest diamond ring. If we can settle and be content with what we have - right here, right now - then we can find that the essentials are easy to find, and relatively cheap: air, water, shelter, joy. The best things in life can't be bought or sold, but are experienced.