Are you owned by what you own?

Life nowadays is getting increasingly dependent. We set numerous goals but often don’t know what we truly want in life. Today’s youth is full of energy, but without reins – scattered and lacking direction. In our quest to follow the crowd, we accumulate worldly possessions, but where are they truly leading us?

USER BEING USED

Have you ever paused to ask yourself, Are you using your possessions, or are they using you? Electronic devices now dictate your routine, sleep and wake-up times; your good and bad moods. A day without electricity can make even basic activities challenging. On one hand, artificial intelligence is advancing, and on the other, humans have become increasingly lazy and dependent. This raises a crucial question: Are we the users, or being used?

Our achievements and gains set our standard of living. Many people raise their standards and exhaust themselves trying to maintain them. When they can’t keep up, they feel a sense of loss. Today, we often have long lists of things we own, but in reality, these things own us. Mobile phones are the biggest owners today. When the network goes down, data is lost, phones are misplaced, or contacts disappear, our world feels upside down. This shows who owns who!

‘MINE’ IS NOT ‘ME’

Anything that you own is clearly not you - they are yours. It could be your body, mind, thoughts, opinions, emotions, traits, objects, relationships, etc. Owning simply means it is yours and not you. This teaches the art of detachment. ‘Mine’ shouldn’t overpower me. Anything that you own, if it starts to affect you and make you feel the way you don’t want to feel, then you are being owned by what you own.

Ownership means distance between the owner and the owned. What we own should be under our control. Our minds have become slaves to our possessions. Owning has led to attachment and dependence. This dependency creates fear - fear of losing what we own because we believe we can’t live without them. There is a significant difference between using and being dependent. Taking care of what we own without letting them disturb our inner peace is the key to becoming a user in the real sense.

HONOUR YOUR OWNERSHIP

Remember, your possessions belong to you. You are the owner, not the other way around. Honour your ownership by using your possessions wisely and not letting them control you. External things won’t always work as expected, so keep your identity above what you own.

Reclaim your power. Use your possessions to serve you, not to own you. True ownership is that your possessions enhance your life and not dictate.

Courtesy: Rajyoga Meditation Centre, Kingston (meditation courses and counselling are offered free of charge). Get in touch via email: bkmeditation.jam@gmail.com or WhatsApp: 876-853-7848. Follow them on Instagram: rajyoga_meditation_jamaica.