“Money doesn’t buy happiness.” Agree or disagree?
A post on Instagram said, “As you get older, you’ll realize that a $300 and $30 watch both tell the same time. A Michael Kors wallet and a Forever 21 wallet hold the same amount of money.
A $100,000 house and a $300,000 home hold the same loneliness. A Bentley will also drive you as far as a Ford.
True happiness is not found in materialistic things, it comes from the love and laughter found with each other. Stay humble, the holes dug for us in the ground are all the same size.”
What garbage! If money doesn’t buy happiness then poverty does? Does poverty bring you happiness?
Why People Believe The Myth
It’s exactly this kind of trash that’s been spreading around on social media. This is how broke people rationalize their failures. It’s also how people look at wealth. If you’re rich, you can’t be happy!
They say things like, “I would rather be healthy than rich, I would rather be happy than rich.” This ridiculous thinking is like saying, “Which is more important, my right hand or my right foot?”
How about both? Both are important.
Why can’t you be both wealthy and happy? Why can’t you be both wealthy and loving? What’s the problem with that?
You probably have those beliefs because at a young age, you’ve been brainwashed by your parents, by the media, by the government, by the school system, and your perception of people who have money.
I’ve met people who are successful financially and people who struggle financially. When I was in debt, I was sleeping in a sleeping bag, and my mom and I had to go to Superstore and eat expired fruit and vegetables. I know I wasn’t very happy.
The people that you know who are in debt, who are stuck in a dead end job, are they happy?
Why does the media want you to believe that rich people are not happy? Here’s why. If rich people are wealthy and happy, where does that leave you? You can’t deposit excuses at the bank.
When my father had his first stroke, I was so broke at the time I couldn’t even afford to purchase a plane ticket to fly back to Hong Kong and see him at the hospital. I was miserable. I cannot call up the airline and say, “I got no money, but I have love. Can I use some love to buy the tickets to go see my dad? He just had a stroke.”
The True Purpose of Money
So, money doesn’t buy you happiness. It’s not supposed to buy you happiness! Money does three things only.
- Money gives you comfort, to make life a little bit easier, to make things just a little bit smoother.
- It can help you extend the good that you do beyond your physical presence. You can donate to a charity or a foundation. If you want to help the people that you love and you care about, it takes money to do that.
- Money can make problems that make you unhappy go away.
That’s the purpose of money. Not to make you happy.
And if you’re worried that money will make you into a bad person, consider this. Money is an amplifier. If you’re a jerk, more money will make you a bigger jerk. If you’re kind and caring, money will make you kinder and more caring. It’s that simple.
So, don’t buy into the nonsense you read on social media. You read those posts, and you wonder why people are struggling. It’s actually their belief system. Money doesn’t buy happiness, it’s not supposed to buy you happiness, but neither does poverty.
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