money makes you happy

Most of us have been taught to believe that money does not make people happy. More than likely, this is people lying to themselves so they don't feel bad about not having a lot of money. Who isn't happy when they receive a giant check? You've got to admit, your heart runs a little faster, too.

Before proceeding further, I should mention that it is true that money alone cannot buy happiness. A person who is sad because of the death of a close family member will not be made happy with any amount of money; a person who's dream is to sing on Broadway will never replace the happiness of achieving that goal with a pile of cash. There are times, yes, where money does not make you happy.

For all the other times, it does. When confronted by somebody who thinks otherwise, tell them this: "money does not buy happiness. But, what it can do is buy me the time to spend with the people I love, and buy me the time to do things I love. Also, it can pay people to do things that I hate doing."

Alone is the Key Word

Money alone does not make you happy. That doesn't mean that money combined with other things can't. Though it is combined, money is still necessary to make you happy. For example, if your dream is to scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, your chances of being able to live that dream are greatly increased if you have lots of expendable cash. Let's face it - you need money to see the world.

Sure, people "see the world" without much money. There are backpackers all over the world who see lots of neat things. There are lots of people who invest a few years of their time into finding opportunities that include paid travel, or they find jobs overseas. So, yes, they "experience many cultures." But, what they do not do is experience the finer things in each of those cultures; they cannot live in the different cultures, except for at the bottom rung with the other folks who are just as poor as they are.

So, let's face it. Money can indeed make a lot of your dreams come true, or at least give you the opportunity. So, rather than continue to lie to ourselves, let's realize that we need money and we should do whatever it takes (without being immoral or unethical) to acquire as much of it as we can. Let's grow up and just accept this fact: money makes you happy.