Can
Money Buy Happiness?
Teixeira
March
21st, 2020 11:20 AM PST
Is it hard to believe how much
control money has over one person’s happiness? Now, I don’t necessarily believe
that money equals happiness, but I do consider the fact that money can make you
feel secure and be a tool for prolonged happiness if used correctly. There’s a
difference between fleeting happiness and true underlying joy. Happiness can
come and go, but the underlying joy of a person is more constant.
There are a number of reasons why
money can’t buy you happiness. Things will only make you happy for so long. A
new pair of shoes or an expensive piece of luxury may bring you momentary
happiness, but it won’t bring you lasting joy. People seem to be constantly
wanting the next best thing, which is an endless cycle of wanting and buying
more to temporarily fill a constant void that might just be bigger than
purchasing a want over a need. Many people will adapt to finding a career that will
benefit in a higher salary, over a career that would give them long term joy.
With this mindset, it’s easy to get money hungry which then leads to extra
hours at the office. Those extra hours can cost you that precious time with the
people you love and care about. It’s about finding that healthy balance of work
and play and assuring you can put time aside to enjoy life outside of work with
your loved ones.
According to Sarah Gervais, the
Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln,
spending is just a limited resource to happiness. Sarah deems to make three important
points in her article about the connection between money and happiness. First, is
that being rich isn’t necessarily the path to happiness, which expresses that
once you’ve fulfilled all your wants, you reach a breaking point that money
can’t fix. Second, is that doing makes us happier than having. Spending money
on an experience that will last a lifetime through monumental stories over a
physical object that eventually fades into the background. Lastly, is to
consider spending money on others. It’s been reported that spending money on
others makes us feel good about ourselves because seeing someone else happy
makes us happy.
To conclude, money can help reduce
your stress, but happiness is up to you. I strongly believe that money cannot
bring eternal joy into our life, but it is a source of short-term happiness
that only gives us pleasure. Wealth is a material asset that gives us synthetic
blissfulness that will eventually fade away. Finding joy in the little things
is what will give us prolonged happiness, and letting money have this control over
you will only make you go stir crazy.
Sources:
“Three Psychological Principles to
Consider Before You Make Your Next Purchase”
by Sarah Gervais
https://psychology.unl.edu/can-money-buy-happiness
I definitely agree, from my own experience, money can only go so far when used for material things, but I think the key is, as you said, to use it on experiences instead of items.
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