We all wonder at some point in our life whether money is a medium of our happiness or it is merely a medium to buy materialistic things in the pursuit of happiness? This question lingers in our minds at least once in our lifetime. Today let’s try to find out the answer to this unresolved mystery.
Can Money Buy Happiness?
Money can play a huge role in fulfilling your satisfaction and your desire, it can provide you a temporary feeling of happiness for sure. For people who struggle with managing their basic requirements it might feel like a great source of happiness but despite that money is merely a tool that can provide you happiness only up to some extent. Up to the point where we can fulfill the basic requirement and some additional to fulfill our inner desires or dreams, money can be a source that can help us find our happiness.
Though it can not be denied that money is merely a tool that can benefit us only up to a certain level it depends on us how effectively we utilize our resources. It does not necessarily mean that it is a source to find our happiness, it won’t fulfill our desire or improve our mindset, and buying more commodities will not necessarily provide happiness.
The Reason Why Money Can Not Necessarily Buy You Happiness?
Happiness comes from Within
Happiness is a state of emotion and it is not connected with external factors. The thing with happiness is that it is a state of being and we can’t buy such feelings. No matter how much you earn and spend. If one feels empty from within it’s not worth it.
You might get stuck in the vicious cycle of desiring more
It does not matter how much you earn, sometimes people get a little too obsessed with the idea of a successful life. It is like gambling when people taste the luxury of earning more than they get too much engraved to earn more and do everything in their power to stay at the top. When one desire is never-ending it will only cause the feeling of uncertainty and worries. They might always feel on edge.
Happiness becomes elusive when you are working for long durations
Earning more can be a blissful feeling when you earn for a few times in tough situations, and working for hours, and ignoring your fatigue. But after some point in time, it will only lead to stress and declined happiness, we all want to earn enough to spend time with our loved ones and to attain our dreams but sometimes earning more leads to stress and workload. Everyone doesn’t need to feel that way some will enjoy the turmoil but at the end of the day happiness derived from materialistic things is insufficient and scant.
Happiness is a dynamic concept!
The meaning of happiness keeps on changing, at one point money might help you in achieving happiness, at some point it’s the feeling of belongingness that provides us happiness
Ways In Which Money Can Buy You Happiness
With the money, one can buy memories
Life is all about making the best out of it as the saying – YOLO “You only live once”. Money allows you to make trips and leisure time with your family and friends, you just have to plan for the vacation and money can provide you a way to accomplish it.
It helps you complete your bucket lists. Happiness is in all those small things and time we share with our loved ones.
Helping others and working for Charity
Sometimes our small actions can be a reason for other to smile and be happy, and that feeling that you were the reason behind their happiness and hope, provides you an eternal feeling of happiness, a feeling of accomplishment that you worked for the welfare of those who struggle and your one step can help in making a big change.
Providing for family and friends
Being able to provide the best for your family and loved ones is one blissful feeling that can not be compared. Some of the examples in this area can be providing the best facilities when it comes to education or medical expenses. Even the small things like repairing can provide a sense of happiness from within.
Having a Legacy and buying time
Knowing that your hard-earned money can lead to the fulfillment of other dreams and spark a sense of joy and faith among others gives you a feeling of fulfillment and happiness from within.
Money also helps us buy time to spend time with our loved ones, and enjoy our leisure the way we want, it can be a simple thing like gardening, watching series with loved ones to some adventurous trips which might include hiking, adventure sports.
How Much Money Do You Need To Make Yourself Feel Happy?
Well if you ask me this question is easy, a short survey done in 2010 at Princeton University to explore to get the answer to this question. As per their research, the people were able to find their happiness with a small addition to the living expenses to feel happy. More than that amount, made no change in their happiness whereas less than that amount caused a feeling of distress. It’s not surprising that people need a little addition after paying off their bills and having a little additional amount for spending on their wants.
Conclusion
There is a fair share of good and bad on both sides of the argument. It all depends on how one perceives happiness. Money is merely a tool that can provide you happiness for a short time and can also help in fulfilling your dreams, for some, it can all depend on how much time they spend with their loved ones or simply a means of releasing their stress and worries.
So, to answer the question ‘Can money buy happiness?’ well it certainly depends, considering both sides of the coin. Though money can help in fulfilling our needs and dreams like getting higher education from a well-deemed university, it also leads many to unrealistic desire to earn more than they already have, which further makes one anxious and stressed. It is not how we spend our money but how we utilize it to find our happiness. It is all about the pursuit of happiness.
