Can Money Buy Happiness?

Can money buy happiness? My answer to that one would be negative.  I bet you have heard many people saying that money can buy anything. This question is one of the hardest and researched questions of all time. The problem with the connection between money and happiness is that it isn’t a straight line. Money is essential to survive but you don’t need it to be happy.  Money improves our ability to seek happiness up to a certain point, and that point is different for all of us.

Now, let’s put things in perspective. If you think that money doesn’t make you happy, try living on the street begging for food while starving.  Take a look at African kids. Why is it that most poor slum kids are so much happier than rich people living in rich countries? Cause they can appreciate what they’ve got. Today’s society is basically based on money, but it’s still possible to appreciate life’s best sides, which rarely has anything to do with money. Money doesn’t make you happy if you already have enough. In fact, nothing makes you significantly happier if your needs are already met.

I get so sad when I see people who are blind about money. I get sad when people have to achieve this moment of happiness by drugging themselves and changing who they are cause they think that money can lead them to anything they want to be; great education, luxurious homes and it’s very ironic how they think that money does really matter. They just don’t feel real things. It’s an impure, artificial feeling.

What is the definition of happiness? It is the define line of pursing the inner acceptance and connection within your knowingness and abilities. To purse something yet, how can you purse something if you don’t know who you are, how can you find the pursuit of happiness? It is about firstly accepting who you are, your abilities, your talents, what your dislikes and likes are, your environmental and mostly who you have been all your life, who you are in the present.

Happiness just lies within when you trust and respect who you are. You can buy all of the luxurious cars, cool gadgets, jewelries you want, but at the end of the day you’re going to be the same person, just with some more stuff.  You find the happiness in the things that are mostly important to you, that you know what make you happy others might not. People tend to get higher levels of satisfaction after spending money on experiences rather than things. For example, purchasing tickets to a movie with a group of friends is likely to make you feel better than impulsively buying a dress at the mall.

So I’ve come to conclusion that while having very little money can make you very unhappy, having lots of it does not necessarily make you very happy. Once you have enough of it to live comfortably, the money equals happiness equation is immaterial.