What makes us Happy?
Money? Or Something Else?
Even though people will have you believe that you have to be nothing but the best, the truth is, you don’t have to be. You can be average and even below average to lead a stable and happy life. Unlike what is being advertised everywhere, you don’t have to be a millionaire to be happy. Yes, when asked questions like ‘Would you like to be poor and happy, or rich and sad?”, most people today would choose the latter. Because the grass is always greener on the other side.
However, what we tend to forget even when we witness it everyday is that these millionaires and billionaires, that we want to become like, are not all that happy. Most often than not, their personal life is on the rocks. They have to battle rumors left, right and center. They can’t go anywhere without their bodyguards. They are always in the public eye and making mistakes can be really difficult for them because they are grilled terribly by the media for it and for a long time.
The movies, tv shows and social media are full of all the things that we would be able to do if we were rich. The places we’d be able to go to, the people we’d attract, the clothes we’d be able to wear, the modes of transport we’d be able to afford, the gadgets we’d have and what not. Even though we have plenty of proofs out there that we don’t need to be a millionaire to lead that kind of life, we forget.
No, we choose to ignore it.
Think of our ancestors. I know a lot of you must be rolling your eyes right now but that’s true, isn’t it? They didn’t have half the luxuries and comforts that we have. Yet, they were happy and more importantly, content with their lives. Why? Because they had the things that they really needed to survive. Today we have much more and it’s much easier to live our lives than before but are we satisfied? No, we want more.
We want everything. This is where the fault lies. We want everything when we don’t need everything. We have what we need but there is no contentment. We hate the food that we are eating while there are people around the world who are battling food scarcity and hunger. We’re not happy with the clothes we have and want more or other fancy clothes. Then we know that there are people in the world who do not have enough clothes to protect themselves from harsh weather, forget having fancy clothes. We get bored of our gadgets and discard the old ones for new and updated ones even when they are pretty much in good condition and useful to us. On the other hand, there are people who do not even have access to electricity. Having gadgets of any kind might not even be in their wildest dreams.
I’m not saying that it is bad to have the things that we have or money is bad. There are many people who have a lot of money, and a healthy and happy family life. What I’m saying is that we’re being led to believe that only when we have more money than we already do will we be happy. This idea is dangerous. This idea is making people do dishonest work, become corrupt and even commit crimes. Instead, we should be glad and grateful that we live in a place where we have everything we need to lead a quality life. If we are not happy with what we already have, then we are lying to ourselves when we think that we’ll be happy when we earn a little more or become a millionaire. Because greed knows no limits and that’s what we are moving towards, insatiable greed.
Contentment leads to Happiness.
Our bank account doesn’t determine whether we are happy or not. The clothes we wear or the food we eat don’t make us rich or poor. Contentment makes us rich or poor, happy or sad. When we are content with what we have, we’re happy. When we are not content, we’re sad. So, unless we become content with what we already have, we’ll not be happy ever, whether we are a pauper or a king.
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