"But isn't there anything more to life"
This is the EXACT question you SHOULD NOT be asking.
Listen my little compatriot - you just need to sit back, enjoy a nice cold beer or 12 - tune into must see reality TV (you know the shows about OTHER people out there doing REAL things - having REAL adventure and REL fun, while you simply sit and watch while telling anyone in your house SHHH I'm trying to watch this!) and doze off to sleep sooner than later.
We don't want you to worry about anything - other than your SUV, and your little house on Elm St. USA. The Biggest decision and ambition you should have should be deliberating over the purchase of Product Y or Product X. And once you've purchased product Y you are sure to feel compelled to go get Products z,f and g as well.
Why would you ask such a question my little friend? Of course there couldn't possibly be anything more that you could want. TRUST ME.
....
Seriously - THIS is the EXACT problem we have in the world today - at least for developed nations that have the mass majority of their populations not worrying about starving to death...
There is SO much more to life - So much to experience in this universe and so much to achieve - yet there are those who don't want us to look above our owners manual for Shiny New Widget XYZ....
The thing is that we have been fooled - MASSIVELY - into thinking that what is "more to life" is outside us, as if we don't have anything by virtue of existence. (There is a key word huh - virtue. don't hear that much any more do we)
We have been so programmed to seek all that is of value is outside - and it all will soon be replaced with something newer and even more desirable. Hurry, Hurry and buy this and get this - get it NOW cuz its NEW!!!!
But truthfully all that we need that is the MORE to life is silently waiting - waiting for our inward attention. What about honing your abilities!
Master All Your Abilities Now!
Take yourself on as the NEW thing to attain, to achieve and to value.
What the Hell could I be talking about! Wait - you get all this, self-esteem, self control, understanding, wisdom, compassion and awareness. All for the low cost of Self Reflection and meditation, and all you have to do is Knock!
But Wait There Is More!!
ACT NOW! And you can get all this: Reclaim you reality, have empathic relations with other Human Beings - Learn to Learn by teaching your self to really think - and to truly understand the nature of thought!
What is thought you ask?
Simple - Thought is all! All has existed in thought before it was manifest in reality. The computer you see before you - and the screen and the software and OS - everything that you see in front of you existed in thought first.
WTF does that mean you fruit loop?
Well, let me put it easy for you - everything that we see in our world - all that man creates, exists as thought first. As we imagine it - and give it energy it builds up and builds up - until it's a powerful enough of a thought to MOTIVATE us - through an emotion we sometimes call Inspiration... (Bringing the spirit In). Then when we find ourselves properly motivated we ACT - and we build...
But that's so simple and obvious - tell me something I don't know!
Well - the predicament that we find ourselves in today is one that has been keeping us from actually building up and motivating thoughts. Thoughts that will actually gain enough momentum to get us to act. The problem is that our faculties that are really designed for this have atrophied... yes, really. You see that all the "thought" that we "think" we are putting forth are actually misdirected.
When you sit and watch TV you are "thinking" but you are not Producing Thought - You are Absorbing Thought.
The Thought that you Absorb is the concept of the show - the situations of the characters and - even more importantly than the thought concept of the show (which is just the vehicle for the following) you are Absorbing thought concepts and situations that EVOKE a certain EMOTION out of you. The Emotional state is something that the normal "Joe Schmoe" Human is much more aware of, and much more susceptible to.
The emotions that you produce from a TV show for example are different than those that you produce in say - a painful family moment - or an elation of achievement and accomplishment. The Difference in the emotions that you feel while absorbing outside stimuli and thought is that these emotions really ARE NOT YOU OWN. They are PRODUCED in you through the situations of the TV show - or the way in which a certain event is COMMUNICATED to you (Like on the news or radio).
Why is this important - well - because when you have your emotions produced in you, and they are not truly your own - the affect they have on you is different. When these produced emotions run through you - they are real - and you can feel them, and think on them - but typically they are not emotions triggered by your own mind and being. This means that although you feel them - you don't have the INSPIRATIONAL connection with them that you would your own very real emotions.
This is very subtle yet very important - because this means that your willingness to actually act on these emotions is greatly reduced.
If we look at the nature of emotion - we see that emotions such as anger, fear, love, joy - are a tactile sensing of an event or reality around us. Things like fear and anger are strong motivating emotions that swell up inside us which help us to ACT.
They help us get up and get moving. Love Helps us appreciate someone or something and helps us become more one with that person or situation.
These are very powerful and embedded systems in our being. Seen through the filter of mind - we can determine the proper courses of action when very strong emotions come to the surface and push us in a general direction.
When we have emotions evoked from us - like in the instance of a television show - the problem here is that the entire experience is not our own - we are essentially Empathizing with the participants or characters of the show.
After many years of this we become accustomed to the feeling of proxy emotions - hating a villain or slimy character on a show - feeling pain for some fictitious victim. Feeling an intense anxiety for a fictitious legal battle - whatever.
Now many would argue that these are fine emotions - that these are the purpose of story. But they aren't. The purpose of story is also the exercise of imagination - but when all things are spelled out for you, visually - audibly etc... There is no room for your mental faculties to participate in the story - except one. Emotionally.
Emotionally you can participate in what you are seeing and hearing.
Now - back to the point... where does all this emotional mumbo jumbo leave us? Right here, right now.
We are in a situation where whole populations are living by proxy.
The emotional state of a population is tied to mostly fictional situations and characters. Most of their role models are people who are put into non-real situations - which means that our emotional motivational energies are spent on PAYING (as in its costing us) attention to things that mean not. Things that exist not... and people who are not.
What does this do to us - and our energies? It depletes them - and makes them easily manipulated. It also - and here is the most important part - makes our energies seem like fluctuations of whim - emotions that we are so used to building up and then letting go (like when we are angry, or scared for an hour or two while watching a movie - then forgetting all about it once the credits roll). This means that in all likelihood no matter how TURELY outrages a situation or event is - we will only act within accordance to the desired outcome of those who are FEEDING us the COOMUNICATIONS about an event - and setting the TONE of our emotional behavior.
Since we are so used to being in any given emotional state one second - and another emotional state the next - but not because we ACTUALLY THINK about the information that we receive - but because we have been conditioned to emotionally respond to certain phrases and tones in communication streams - we can explain how the majority of a population can hear the most outrages stories and get angry for a little bit - but notice how fast the emotional charge that is carried through the news and major media sources will quickly turn from a TONE of ANGER to a tone of SADNESS or VICTIM or FEAR.