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Happy With What I Have is an essay that is written by Marianne Bachleder. This essay reveals how people should be grateful for the things that we already have. This essay intrigued me because we tend to forget the value of small but important things in life. We take so many things for granted and we always crave to have more. Companies are always bringing out new products and advertise them in a way where it makes us feel like we need that to be happy. Everyone always wants the latest technology even though we really don’t need it. What I really like about this essay is how the writer gives examples of her experiences so that the reader really understands her point. One of the examples she gives was about how she went to buy her first laptop and the salesperson told her that she would want to buy a new one in two years.  Marianne told herself, “Why would I want a new one if my old one was working?”. This reminded me of when I went to buy my device in grade nine and I told myself that after I graduate I would buy a new one anyway. After reading this essay, it reminded me that I don’t need a new device for university but I would want one. We live in a time where we have so much available to us that we forget our wants vs. needs. It fascinating that people think that in order to be happy they need to keep on buying and consuming, instead of being grateful for the things that we already have like health, family and friends. This article expresses that now “consumption is a wasting away of the spirit” and that the only way to terminate it is by being happy with what you have.