"Money can't buy happiness," we often hear this tagline repeated during many conversations, seminars, lectures, or motivational talks and the funny thing is that most people who offer this advice are rich and charge money to give those lectures. It is very easy to say that money can't solve all the problems or money can't buy happiness, but does lack of money solve all the problems or bring any happiness? Happiness is a state of mind that depends on so many factors and it differs from person to person. Every person defines happiness in their own way, unnecessarily people try to standardize the definition of happiness like we try to standardize beauty, success, and many other personal things, and such statements are the result of this standardization process. There was a time in my life when I used to think that money could solve all the problems, this was because of our financial and social situation at that time. During that phase of my life, the reason for most of our problems and troubles was lack of money. We continuously felt a shortage of money almost for everything starting from education, home, and travel, every issue used to end with having or not having money. I still think that money can solve many problems, it is better to have money than not to have it. But it is also true that money cannot solve all problems, and this is true for any other tool, there is not a single solution for all problems faced by any individual. Also, the desire to have or not to have money is entirely personal, some people are okay with not having material possessions and for them, money doesn't hold much significance, but for some money might be important, it is an entirely personal matter.
Actually, the statement "money can't buy happiness" is a result of money-oriented culture. In a consumerist society, we need money to buy almost everything. It is the ultimate currency that works everywhere, people may or may not believe in religion, god, science, government, or media but almost everyone believes in money. Because of the universal acceptance of money as a symbol of power and status, its possession is directly linked to happiness. People equate the amount of money with the amount of happiness. However, this is not the correct assumption, the amount of money is not proportional to the amount of happiness. Happiness is a personal feeling, and it depends on so many things and money is just one of them. Everyone has different needs and desires but in today's world because of aggressive marketing and brainwashing there is a very narrow definition of happiness, and everyone tries to fit into that definition. The ultimate aim for most people in society is to earn enough money to buy as many things as possible, thinking it will bring happiness in their lives. This desire to earn "enough" money then becomes the sole purpose of their life, and that "enough" is never achieved because as time passes the desires keep on changing and the definition of "enough money" also keeps on changing. This continuous chase creates many problems in a person's life, issues like stress, anxiety, frustrations, lack of free time, and health-related issues crop up, even relationships start getting affected and ultimately the happiness for which this quest was started remains a distant goal. At this junction, "money can't buy happiness" starts making sense, but it is not the fault of money that it can't buy happiness, it is the fault of that person that they forgot what happiness meant for them. There is nothing wrong with having the desire to make more money, this desire can result in a very successful and productive professional life, which in turn can generate a lot of happiness. Money does have the capacity to solve many problems, it can help people to achieve their dreams but only if those dreams were their own dreams, not some borrowed dreams. The presence or absence of money can cause a lot of issues, so one needs to strike the balance as per one's own needs and requirements. Many people struggle because of their inability to strike this balance.
Money holds certain status and power in today's world, and no one can deny this. Its proper use can result in a lot of happiness and comfort in anyone's life. But this needs a lot of clarity and proper planning. I believe that money can buy happiness and I am saying this based on my personal experience. How much money one needs to be happy differs from person to person, there is no standard chart to correlate money and happiness. I know that money can't solve all the problems but nothing else can do it, so, there is no use in blaming money for this. It all depends on how we use money, after all, money is like any other tool or weapon, and the results of its use depend on how we use it. Like any other tool and weapon, please remember that money can hurt us and others around us if not used properly. So, use money wisely, be prosperous, help others, and be happy.
Actually, the statement "money can't buy happiness" is a result of money-oriented culture. In a consumerist society, we need money to buy almost everything. It is the ultimate currency that works everywhere, people may or may not believe in religion, god, science, government, or media but almost everyone believes in money. Because of the universal acceptance of money as a symbol of power and status, its possession is directly linked to happiness. People equate the amount of money with the amount of happiness. However, this is not the correct assumption, the amount of money is not proportional to the amount of happiness. Happiness is a personal feeling, and it depends on so many things and money is just one of them. Everyone has different needs and desires but in today's world because of aggressive marketing and brainwashing there is a very narrow definition of happiness, and everyone tries to fit into that definition. The ultimate aim for most people in society is to earn enough money to buy as many things as possible, thinking it will bring happiness in their lives. This desire to earn "enough" money then becomes the sole purpose of their life, and that "enough" is never achieved because as time passes the desires keep on changing and the definition of "enough money" also keeps on changing. This continuous chase creates many problems in a person's life, issues like stress, anxiety, frustrations, lack of free time, and health-related issues crop up, even relationships start getting affected and ultimately the happiness for which this quest was started remains a distant goal. At this junction, "money can't buy happiness" starts making sense, but it is not the fault of money that it can't buy happiness, it is the fault of that person that they forgot what happiness meant for them. There is nothing wrong with having the desire to make more money, this desire can result in a very successful and productive professional life, which in turn can generate a lot of happiness. Money does have the capacity to solve many problems, it can help people to achieve their dreams but only if those dreams were their own dreams, not some borrowed dreams. The presence or absence of money can cause a lot of issues, so one needs to strike the balance as per one's own needs and requirements. Many people struggle because of their inability to strike this balance.
Money holds certain status and power in today's world, and no one can deny this. Its proper use can result in a lot of happiness and comfort in anyone's life. But this needs a lot of clarity and proper planning. I believe that money can buy happiness and I am saying this based on my personal experience. How much money one needs to be happy differs from person to person, there is no standard chart to correlate money and happiness. I know that money can't solve all the problems but nothing else can do it, so, there is no use in blaming money for this. It all depends on how we use money, after all, money is like any other tool or weapon, and the results of its use depend on how we use it. Like any other tool and weapon, please remember that money can hurt us and others around us if not used properly. So, use money wisely, be prosperous, help others, and be happy.
Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.
[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]
Happiness can never be attach to money . Happiness is a state of mind and either you have money or not it does not matter. As per your blog I can conclude that , Who has money that person never be sad or unhappy ? !!! Which is not the truth . Lust what makes us to run behind money and ego one of other factor. And not only through money by any means happiness can not be buy-able.Happiness lies inside and it need to explore.
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