We were all born into a world full of people competing for their share of wealth and staking their claim. This competition for what seems like limited resources is one of the reasons we now have a mental condition in our society: a compulsive chasing of what I call peak experiences.

We see this with billionaires and multimillionaires wanting to go to space for ten minutes. We see it in articles saying, “If you’re going to this state, this is the best mountain. You have to see the sunrise here. You have to line up at 3 a.m. You might not get in. It might be cloudy. But this is the greatest spot in the world for a sunrise!”

And so we feel as though the second-tallest mountain must be terrible.
That the sunrise there must be awful.
That the trail must have “ugly trees.”
We become convinced that if something is not ranked #1, it’s not worth our time.

But from my experience, the second-tallest mountain has nobody there. The tallest one is so crowded you can’t even take a photo because a million people are blocking your view.

So instead of chasing peak experiences, experiences that upset us if we miss them, or disappoint us when they don’t match the hype, we can start appreciating more of what we already have.

There is no ugly lake.
There is no “bad trail.”
It’s all variety, and it’s all beautiful.

You don’t need to go to Niagara Falls to see “the most powerful waterfall in the world.” The second-most-powerful one is mind-blowing, incredible, and peaceful and you can go any time, with nobody around.

When we live with the mentality of “I have to have the best” or “I have to be the best,” we start living less for ourselves and more for what we think will impress others. That pushes us outside of our true nature. And whenever we move outside our true nature, we suffer.

What is meant for us is meant for us. Anything else is in conflict with our body–mind–soul alignment. And we operate so much better when our environment is aligned with our health and happiness.

When we live in compulsive comparison, competition, and greed, it becomes impossible to appreciate the blessings we already have because we’re too busy thinking about the blessings someone else has. That is the feeling of a mind and body out of sync with its true being.

My little tip from traveling the world and watching people, especially the richest people going to extreme lengths for brief moments of “feeling complete” is this:

The sooner we realize we are already complete, the sooner we understand that nothing out there needs to be acquired. There is no experience “out there” that compares to true contentment, peace, and satisfaction, the joy of living and the deep peace that emerges from simplicity.

That is what enables true, lasting happiness.

So give that a try. And remember: the moments between the peaks are equally special, sometimes even more meaningful, if we are willing to look.