Why?

I'm sure we have all had to interact with the annoying child who is constantly asking "why?"  Instead of a natural curiousity that is seeking satiation, the child is simply being childish.  We, on the other hand, ought to be asking "why?" often, typically of ourselves.  There are so many things that we do, simply out of habit or convenience, to which we never give a second thought.  So ask yourself, "Why?"
We can probably classify our actions into categories.  Things we do out of necessity, eat and sleep are two examples.  Of course, these two things can be done in the wrong way.  We may eat simply because we feel like eating, which is, simply put, gluttony.  We may sleep because we are lazy, or because we are bored.  There are also things we do out of preference.  Our desires and passions move us to "do" things.  This is where the "why" question comes into place.  Why do we spend 20-30 thousand dollars on a car?  Probably out of our desire to be comfortable.  Why do we spend 300 thousand dollars on a house?  Probably out of a desire to be comfortable or to fit a particular appearance.
But these are things we ought to ask ourselves.  Why do we dress the way we do?  Why do we eat the way we do?  Why are we entertained by the things by which we are entertained?  Why do we choose the friends we do? All of these questions have answers and, unfortunately, as Americans, many of them have the same answer, we desire to be comfortable, which, again unfortunately, reveals a serious problem with selfishness.  Ask the questions.

Being bothered

How often, when out among other people, or when alone but thinking about previous situations wherein we interacted with others, are we bothered or annoyed by that interaction? Unfortunately, this happens far too often. I speak from experience. In our interactions with others, we tend to compare the reality of the current situation with what we believe the situation ought to be. In other words, other people's words or actions do not meet up with our expectations or preferences.
But what is really going on here? I would venture to argue that we are setting ourselves up as judges of others. We are taking our interpretation of reality and are judging the actions of others by that interpretation. But are we right in doing so? Is it our place to judge anyone? I would argue, no.
The first thing that we must acknowledge is our own limitations. We know so little. We have so little actual experience and besides knowing very little about others, we hardly know ourselves. In other words, our knowledge base is far too small to adequately assess the actions or intentions of others.
Sure, we may guess as to others motivations, based on previous interaction with them, and often we may be correct but this still does not justify our self appointed role as judge.
And honestly speaking, most times that we judge, condemn or speak ill of others, we do so simply because they are inconveniencing us. We don't like what they are doing because it puts us at a disadvantage or forces us to change our plans. In short, we are selfish. And the worse part is, that in being selfish, we are asserting that our plans and desires are best. But considering our own limitations, this is highly unlikely.
It really comes down to loving God and loving neighbor. Do we trust God to work out all things according to his will or are we determined to manipulate reality according to our own desires, regardless of how this affects others?

The "what"

Libraries could be filled with books that speak of the "why people do what they do" and doing so probably would not accomplish much.  But I would like to focus on the "what" we do.  What are we doing?
When you break down your day and look at how you spend your minutes, what do you see?  From a strictly practical position, we spend our time making money and trying to be comfortable.  And that really bothers me.  It bothers me that I profess to be an Orthodox Christian, yet the majority of my time is spent earning money to buy things (necessary and not) and care for my earthly needs. 
Comparatively speaking, way, way more time is spent on creature needs and comforts than on things spiritual.  And if we really believe what the Bible and the church tells us about life and eternity, our behavior makes no sense.
The way we are acting makes about as much sense as counting all the peas on your plate before you eat your dinner.  Why do we spend so much time on the things of this very short time on earth, when we have, literally, eternity to spend after our 100 years here?  How does it make any sense to focus on money and comfort for this tiny bit of time and, by default, basically ignore those things that will prepare us for eternity?
One answer to this, and it is a very practical one, is that we are extremely short sighted.  We can only see the "right here/right now".  This is not wrong per se.  It really is just what we are.  Tiny humans with very limited sight.  But what we do have is faith.  We have faith in what God has told us, or at least we should.  But yet, somehow, we only focus on what makes us comfortable.
We have grown into a nation that ignores eternity, strives after comfort and love our individual selves.  The focus in America has been wrong from the beginning. But this is not a rant against the USA.  Most nations have this issue, but in different forms.  It has become so "normal", that we can see nothing else.
What do we have to do to reverse this worldview?  How can we turn it around so that we focus on our spiritual health and only deal with the physical when we absolutely must?