It's A Rich Man's World (Essentially!)

Tweet

As I was flicking through the latest copy of a popular men's lifestyle magazine I began to wonder why I bother to continue my subscription. It's not the fact that I'll probably never achieve the six-pack the glossy pages promise. Nor is it the fact that the articles on how to get more women into bed are not relevant to a happily married man of fifty. The real problem I have with this, and many similar magazines, is the countless articles promoting products so far outside the price range of the average man in the street. In the last few months I have been told that unless I want to appear totally lacking in style I must have one of the featured watches (cheapest one at £450), a made to measure suit (starting at in excess of £1000), various expensive electronic gizmos, hand-made shoes at over £200 per pair, a wallet at £80 and various other fashion 'essentials', all at a price that could fund a revolution in a mid-sized Central American country. This whole ‘you will be laughed at in the street unless you have it’ mentality reached new heights when I discovered the article on ‘Festival Style’. This was a very informative article telling me how I can endure the mud and grime of a British summer music festival while maintaining a degree of sartorial elegance. To start with there is the 'essential' (there's that word again) jacket, retailing at a mere £450. To avoid complete ridicule from your fellow festival goers you must also have the shirt (£115), trousers (£160) and canvas pumps (£149). Of course the look just wouldn't be complete without the £169 vest. At that price you certainly wouldn't be ripping that up for dusters when it's gone out of fashion next month. And then there's the scarf. At £89 this cravat style silk scarf rounds everything off nicely. Yes, for just the cost of a week’s shopping for a family of four, you too could look like Fred from Scooby Doo. If you throw in the tent for £395 and the bag in which to put everything, at £120, then you have all you need for a couple of nights in a muddy field for somewhere in the region of £1500 and that doesn't even include a change of clothes!!! I’ve just paid that for an all-inclusive week for two in a five star hotel in Mexico next March!! OK, so maybe this sort of article isn't aimed at married men with a mortgage and two kids who have induced financial meltdown by going to university. Even so, realistically how many people, married or otherwise, can afford to spend that sort of money on clothes and fashion accessories? Not many, I would wager. And therein lies the problem. Far too many people are spending far too much money they haven't got, on items they can't afford, in the pursuit of happiness. For a couple of pounds they buy a lifestyle magazine and immediately think that they have a right to own the assortment of cleverly advertised clothes and gadgets they find within. After all, the magazine is for the youthful, dynamic people they all like to think they are, so in order to present that image to the rest of the world they need to possess the 'essential' items that go with the lifestyle. No matter what the cost! And does this make them happy? Of course it doesn't! Because two months later the rules have changed and the must have item in the May issue has now been filed away in the 'To make a comeback as ironic retro chic in 15 years' box and been replaced by something more expensive and even more 'essential'. Now I know that what I'm about to say next will make me sound like a bit of an ageing hippy but anybody who knows me will tell you just how far off the mark that is (OK maybe not the ageing bit). About fifteen years ago a work colleague passed on a piece of advice, which I have heard a number of times since, and at the time I thought was complete rubbish. He said to me "Happiness isn't about getting what you want; it's about wanting what you've got." As I've grown older I've began to understand just how true that is. Happiness is an attitude, an outlook! Not a bigger house, a better car, a full wardrobe and a pocket full of the latest gadgets. Far too many of us are so wrapped up in the pursuit of happiness through accumulating possessions that we forget to make time to actually be happy. Do yourself, and your credit card, a huge favour. Start appreciating what you already have and you might just realise how much there is already in your life to be happy about. Right!! Now I've sorted you all out, there's a silk scarf I really must just nip out and buy!