Wednesday, September 8, 2010

RELATIONSHIP BETWWEEN MONEY AND HAPPINESS

Social scientists have been studying the relationship between money and happiness for decades but the truth is money will not make you happier. With this said, a certain amount of money is needed as a stepping stone towards happiness and security. Without money you can't afford the basic necessities in life and that makes it difficult to be happy. This is where the tie between money and happiness comes in.
We have a human desire to always want more. We always want a better job, a bigger raise, a bigger house, a better car etc..and when we get that, we overestimate the pleasure that these items bring us. We as people always adapt to our circumstances. The more our income grows, the more our needs grow. That home that was once enormous may not seem as enormous as it once did.
Our basic needs in life such as food, clothing and shelter doesn't need to be so stressful. We can take public transportation, buy items on sale, and budget carefully to give ourselves a little extra money to make life more pleasant. Saving for that family vacation, going out to a nice dinner with family and friends can definitely enhance your life but constantly struggling to achieve to have what others have can only lead to unhappiness.
Of course there is nothing wrong with wanting an increase in income and looking for ways to make more money, we should actually be striving for that but we can't let the desire for more material items overcome and consume us. When all we focus on is what we don't have and what others have, money becomes the source of our unhappiness.
What will buy us happiness is the amount of time you take to be grateful for what you do have and all your accomplishments. Always keep in mind what the good things in life are such as health, family and friends and this will keep you grounded.
Remember that the only problems money can solve are money problems. It's great to have money and all the things that money can buy but it's better to realize that you don't want to lose the quality in life that money can't buy.

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