The Streetlight Effect: Why we look in the wrong places for what we truly want

There’s a parable that goes a little something like this…

A man is out walking the street at night and sees another man searching for something on the ground. He goes up to the person and asks him what he’s looking for. 

The man responds that he has lost his keys. 

So they both go on their hands and knees looking for the lost keys. 

After some time, the man who offered to help asks the other man, “Where exactly do you remember losing your keys?” 

The man responds, “In my house.” 

Confused, the other man asks, “Then why are you looking here for them?”

He replies, “Because the lighting is much better out here.” 

This concept is known as the streetlight effect and draws parallels with our own lives in our perpetual quest for happiness. 

We tend to look externally for what we want because it’s the easier route to attaining truth, rather than taking the more difficult road internally where truth actually exists.

Our mental wiring is flawed, as you simply cannot seek something where it doesn’t exist, despite how easy or difficult the path may be. 

The keys that the man lost inside his home will never be found outside under the streetlight just like you will never find lasting happiness, peace and/or fulfillment outside of yourself.

So why do we do this to ourselves? Most of us know viscerally that money, success and social status are not the answer to our every problem and need, so what gives?

Is it the result of self-sabotage? Fear? Stupidity? Laziness?

It certainly takes hard work and effort to explore the inner depths of our being, to learn the ways of our mind and leverage that understanding to our advantage. 

But where’s the evidence proving that we don’t have “god”, the universe, infinite cosmic intelligence or whatever you want to call it, within us, and that the multitude of us are simply too blind and fearful to put in the reps to access and tap into it? (the human brain has been evolving for millions of years, we just might have a lot more potential than we give ourselves credit for in today’s society.) 

Wouldn’t feeling just 10% of what we truly seek throughout a lifetime beat out feeling none of it at all, or just fleeting glimpses of it? 

Most of us are playing a rigged game, one that we have allowed ourselves to fall into and accept as the only option to achieve a sense of prosperity in our lives. 

Fortunately, there is a way out of this warped thinking and that’s through within. 

Once you start to focus on the inner world and become more aware, loving and kinder towards yourself, you won’t need any additional motivation or willpower to further the momentum of enhancing the quality of your life. It will happen organically and become as natural to you as walking while talking. 

Armed with this knowledge, ask yourself this question: 

How will my decision to willingly NOT pursue the internal path impact the rest of my life and all those I love and care about? 

“It is difficult to find happiness within oneself, but it is impossible to find it anywhere else.” – Arthur Schopenhauer

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