Does Money Buy Happiness?
A common myth is that money can buy happiness.
If someone figured out how to bottle happiness, they could be a kazillionaire.
If you listen to anyone who has been poor, who has attained wealth, they don’t necessarily say they are happier.
Happiness is something we choose, internally.
Granted, not having money can create stress.
Not having money can create undue hardships.
Being poor, can hamper you from doing the things you want.
No cash in the wallet, and you don’t get to buy those pretty things you have been eying.
But, I have also seen people, without money, who don’t appear stressed, who work with what they have in a creative way, and set their sites on doing things that don’t cost money. But, they appear happy.
What’s their secret? First, I think it’s their faith. Faith in a higher power. And secondly, I think they choose to be happy. They are happy with what they have been blessed with. Granted, they may not be driving a Mercedes or living in a mansion, but their old rundown car, gets them to where they need to go, and their home is filled with love.
I once heard a story of a poor man, who idolized a business man who had tons of money. The poor man said, “If I had his money, I would throw mine away” “Oh, how happy I would be.”
A few months later, the poor man had the opportunity to visit the rich man at his home. The poor man was in awe of the beautiful home, and brand new vehicles parked in the driveway.
The rich man greeted him at the door. Behind the rich man, stood a woman, and a small child in a wheel chair. The rich man introduced the poor man to his wife, and daughter, who was a quadriplegic. (she had suffered a spinal cord injury in a car accident). The rich man commented that it saddened him, that there was nothing else he could do for his daughter.
The poor man realized, that all the money in the world, would not help to make the rich man’s daughter walk again.
On his way home, the poor man realized that even though he didn’t have a lot of money, his life was rich. He felt blessed, and never idolized another rich person again.
Listen to those self made millionaires, and what they say. Money gives them security. They don’t necessarily say they are happier.
No tags for this post.
hnuttall October 17th, 2007 at 6:59 pm
Barbara, I really liked this post more than most money vs. happiness posts I’ve seen, because you acknowledged that money does have some benefits. It infuriates me when people say there are some things money can’t buy, therefore it’s useless. While happiness is something that people can create without any money at all, money can make your life more comfortable, reduce crime, end world hunger, cure cancer, etc.
However, I don’t think it’s fair to pit money against a severe spinal cord injury and use that to illustrate money’s shortcomings. A more fair comparison would be a rich man with a quadriplegic daughter against a poor man with a quadriplegic daughter. Then we’d see that while the situation was still tragic, money would still be better than no money. The rich man could afford an operation that could possibly let his daughter walk again (if such an operation existed), support his daughter for the rest of her life so she wouldn’t have a financial tragedy on top of the medical one, quit his job or business to spend more time with her, or fund spinal injury research to help stop these things from happening.
Another thing is that I believe rich people are much more likely to be happy when they come into their money over time through their own effort. People who inherit their money or acquire it suddenly tend to lose it quickly, get divorced, become drug addicts, etc. But people who work their way up tend to be more balanced, keep everything in perspective, and be happy.
One final thought–why not pursue both money and happiness? They’re not in conflict with each other unless we believe them to be.