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The truth behind money and happiness
Money vs happiness essay
Money can not bring happiness
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Life isn’t really all about money, or rather is it? Is life really all about who wears the best clothes, drives the latest car, wears the most expensive gold chain and have the biggest house? Happiness to some people is not all about money, although people have different view on what happiness is, some say one needs money to be happy, to some people’s view they need money to be happy, especially to the poor, while others believe that we do not need money to be happy. Happiness originally means the inner state of a well-being or a pleasurable or satisfying experience. To some people who already have lots of money they are happy, but then let’s go to the poor, if the poor are given money they will be happy, no matter how little the money is. …show more content…
For the upper, middle and lower classes, money makes little difference in happiness, because happiness is bigger than money. Studies show that people are happier when they spend a good quality time with their family, friends and loved ones. So many people look at their relationship, to be honest when one marries the one that one loves, the one that one wants to spend the rest of their life with, that is happiness. You also feel loved from your family and there is no greater feeling than knowing that there are people who will always be by your side no matter what. In “Can Money Buy You Happiness?” By Andrew Blackman, he talks about how we don’t need money to be in happy in life. He says that having a good life experience with our friends and family can last longer than material things. He says “Experiences, on the other hand, tend to meet more of our underlying psychological needs, they’re often shared with other people, giving us a greater sense of connection, and they form a bigger part of our sense of identity”. (Blackman). Having a good quality time is worth more than money, money can’t be compared to the time you had with your loved ones, going on trips, having dinner together, watching movies together. These are more important than just focusing on money and losing all the opportunity to spend time with your loved ones and this is something the rich people don’t know because …show more content…
The things that make one happy can seem boring to another person, happiness is based on good health, love, and success, success can be anything not only making money, it can be passing an exam and so. Money can’t buy emotions, for example, someone dies and one is unhappy, you can’t bring the person back to life, no matter what amount of money you have in your account. Yes, money can buy you materialistic things, buy you a car, house, clothes, but then money can’t buy you time, sleep, knowledge, health and life. We all think that the rich people have the best life, they live the life that everyone wants to live, they buy things when they want to and they throw things away and then what come into our mind is that these people are the happiest people on earth but then are they really happy? There are so many reasons why money even makes the rich unhappy regardless of the amount of money they have in their account, they live two lives - the one that they want the public to see and the one that they dream to live, they have to pretend in the public so that people will respect them, but then back home they are having the worst family problems and they can’t really do anything about it because all the do is focus on work, focus on making their company the best and forget that their family is going apart, when one is having problems at home then the person is not in
A well-known expression is that money can’t buy happiness, yet people fantasize of winning the lottery, living in their dream house, and possessing enough tangible objects to feel satisfied with their lives. Most are under the preconceived notion that the absence of wealth and power translates to hardship and despair. This, however, is not the case, because a self-effacing lifestyle is not an indication of a lower quality of life, and often is better than one of great fortune. People yearn to have the financial independence and capabilities of those in higher ranking positions, and are willing to abandon their morals and own personal well-being if it means being successful. It seems that by reaching a level of wealth in which money is no longer
The article “High Incomes Don’t Bring You Happiness” verbatimly states, “Beyond $75,000, money is important for life evaluation, but does nothing for happiness, enjoyment, sadness, or stress” (Kenney 4). Those who spend prodigal amounts of money disdain plebeians because they claim that money is the foundation to living a great life. However, money only helps one meet certain needs and does not contribute in instigating true happiness within oneself. Happiness comes naturally by one’s actions and accomplishments. Although, money helps buy the commodities which satisfy one’s life, it is not the direct source for obtaining glee within a
Money is the driving force behind our society, and the severe materialism that we are experiencing is taking a toll in our persona, relationships and quality of life. People work extremely hard to have bigger houses, the newest car models, and the latest technologies. At the end, none of these things make individuals happy because they barely have time left to enjoy them. However, society keeps reminding us that we are what we own, and if we don’t have much, we are nobody. The author Carolyn Gregoire explains that “…there is no direct correlation between income and happiness. Once our basic needs are met, wealth makes very little difference to one 's overall well-being and happiness. And in fact, extremely wealthy people actually suffer from higher rates of depression.” Another interesting point relates to relationships; according to a study published in the Journal Of Couple & Marriage Therapy, materialism is actually correlated with unhappiness in marriages. Finally, materialism and consumerism affect deeply the attitude of the individual toward others. The individual becomes more self- absorbed, exhibit narcissistic traits, and is more likely to behave unethically. The article Wealthy Selfies by Maia Szalavitz argues that “…in five different experiments involving several hundred undergraduates and 100 adults recruited from online communities, the researchers found higher levels of both narcissism and
...s? Just like the Once-ler and his family value financial success to obtain happiness, the same goes for contemporary society. Society is convinced happiness is achieved by acquisition and financial possessions rather than a state of mind. According to Rider “Despite increasing material wealth, Americans are not happier” (Rider). Happiness does not come from fortune and many people make the mistake in perceiving it that way. True happiness comes from one’s self and their outlook of life. In the “The Lorax” Dr. Seuss not only spread an important message about taking care of the planet, but also helped his readers become aware that wealth does not lead to happiness. Every person has their own perspective of what it means to be happier and to live a happier life, but it is important to realize that happiness comes from within and not by something obtained.
With no strong supporting evidence, some people believe those who make an honest living as members of the working and middle class are actually happier. Menezes, a world famous blogger, preached, “you are rich when you have peace of mind, love flowing through you and satisfaction and close friends and family” (p.2). This source would not be credible, however, she is a primary source who knows what it is like to live in poverty. She believes she is at an advantage over those who have “wealth beyond your basic needs and few luxuries”
He further shows us that the people of today are richer than their grandparents but are not happier in their lives (from National Statistics of social pathology). Even with these facts, people in the United States still believe if they had more money all of their problems would be solved, but once they reach that next income bracket they are not satisfied and try to reach the next one. Myers et al tells us, "even if being rich and famous is rewarding, no one ever claimed material success alone makes us happy. Other conditions like - family- friends- free time - have been shown to increase happiness" (Csikszentmihaly 145). therefore we must find balance in our own lives, and not just focus on making money. Instead we need friends, family and even free time, as aforementioned doing an activity you enjoy such as listening to music or
For some, happiness is all that matters. Happiness is achieved in many ways, and it doesn’t always involve money. There are many things that contribute to making a person feel happy and successful. One can feel successful without a lot of money at all. For example, feeling loved is something that makes everyone happy. Many believe that without love life is not thoroughly complete, thus never truly achieving success. Ones line of work can also affect how happy he is. Some feel that it is more important to enjoy work and get less money than it is to hate work and get paid more. Another factor in achieving psychological success is ones ability to enjoy what life gives him. There are many qualities of life that are overlooked. Everyone is dealt family and it is important to value that.
In today’s world, you look around and see people that are happy, and others that are not. The people that are happy usually come from a family that is financially stable. People like these have reasons to be joyful. They do not have so many issues; stress and pressure, to deal with. The people that are not happy are usually low-income people. These people have tougher times because they have so many issues in their hands. Wealth helps significantly when it comes to the topic of happiness. Wealth positively influences people’s happiness overall. Wealthy people do not suffer as much as low-income people. Wealth also builds people’s egos because they get a feel of success.
“The real measure of your wealth is how much you’d be worth if you lost all your money.” (unknown). All families are not perfect, they all have problems that they struggle with daily, they all go through tough times that cause unhappiness, but the thought that these factors have no affect on rich people is completely untrue. In Judith Guest’s Ordinary People and Jo Goodwin Parker’s “What is Poverty” both address how two families relationships, happiness and daily struggles are affected by the amount of money they have, which shows that the more money a person has does not necessarily make that person happier.
Money and Happiness are two things that we have all given a lot thought. We put lots of effort into these two things either trying to earn them or trying to increase them. The connection we make between money and happiness is strange because they are two very different concepts. Money is tangible, you can quantify it, and know exactly how much of it you have at any given time. Happiness, on the other hand, is subjective, elusive, has different meanings for different people and despite the efforts of behavioral scientist and psychologist alike, there is no definitive way to measure happiness. In other word, counting happiness is much more difficult than counting dollar bills. How can we possibly make this connection? Well, money, specifically in large quantity, allows for the freedom to do and have anything you want. And in simplest term, happiness can be thought of as life satisfaction and enjoyment. So wouldn’t it make sense that the ability to do everything you desire, result in greater satisfaction with your life.
..., a person who earns $25,000 is happier than a person who makes $125,000 and an employee who makes $500,000 is only slightly happier than someone who makes $55,000. Lastly, there are more important things in life that and make you happy, for example, friends. They don’t come with a price tag, and if they do, you definitely need new friends. Money won’t make you happy since good times can’t be bought. You don’t need a fancy vacation to have a good time; it’s just a matter of who you spend it with. Over the years, humans have blown the value of money way out of proportion. People make it seem like if you’re not filthy rich, then you won’t live a good life but it’s not true. You can lack money and yet still live a perfect, happy life.
When none of us has ever come across such words and formulas, none of the great personalities has ever mentioned it, then who the hell has instilled it in our minds that money brings happiness. But among this debate one question still raises its head - What is happiness? Happiness is not actually leading a luxurious life but the luxury of living a life. Happiness is not actually about expanding your business, but it lies in expanding the horizons of life. Happiness is not having a meal in the most famous restaurant but to have it with your most beloved family. It does not lie in attending honorable parties but to attend a party with honor.
Now how does a person go about being happy, well let us examine one of the most common questions in reference to happiness, “can money buy happiness?” most people would say “yes.” The answer to this question will almost always be yes, because society and humans in general tend to be greedy creature always wanting more, from a better house to finer foods there is and always will be more to obtain. But is having these things what makes humans happy or is it the success of achieving your own...
Acquiring things like houses and cars only has a transient effect on happiness. People’s desires for material possessions crank up at the same, or greater rate, than their salaries. Again, this means that despite considerably more luxurious possessions, people end up no happier. There’s even evidence that materialism makes us less happy. People don’t shift to enjoyable activities when they are rich.... ...
I never really thought the expression, “money can’t buy happiness”, was true. As an infant, just by observing the people around me, I observed when they would obtain money and a huge grin would spread across their face, the corners of their smile spreading from ear to ear. Whenever I would see that grin and a person’s face light up at the sight of a crisp, green bill it would make me believe that I had proved the famous expression wrong. Now that I’ve grown up and matured, my idea of that expression has changed. As of now, I am able to reflect on life more and look deeper into things and particularly into people more than I was able to do years ago. My ideas about this expression changed the most though because of the money situation my family had stumbled upon because of the failing economy. I remember being younger when the economy was doing well and waking up to twenty gifts for each of my three sisters and I. We used to believe that all of those presents, brought in because of money of course, were the best part of waking up on Christmas. Of course all of those toys and material items would make a child happy; however looking back it would only make them happy if it was given to them by somebody who bought it for them with love.