According to the ancient Greeks, “Happiness is the joy that we feel when we’re striving after our potential" (Khoddam). Aristotle thought that happiness is “a state of activity” (Khoddam). Modern day Psychologist and author Dr. Shefali Tsabary believes we feel happy “when we fill our own need and feel satiated from within” (Khoddam). Everyone has their own definition of happiness and how one reaches it. However, the underlying themes behind these meanings are the ideas of loving who you are and what you are doing. Today, in a society that is all about money and fame, people seem to have lost their true meaning of happiness and rely on wealth as their primary source of satisfaction or fulfillment. Money seems to bring people joy. However, there are many misconceptions when it comes to the correlation between the number of zeros in a bank account and joy. Money can not always buy happiness.
What is Happiness?
The first step in understanding why money can not be a person’s sole source of happiness is to understand where happiness comes from. We feel happiness when our bodies release certain feel-good hormones, like serotonin, endorphins, dopamine, and oxytocin (Buckner). These hormones get released when we perform activities such as working out, eating, or helping others. Different people release these hormones on other occasions too, based on what they enjoy (Buckner). Therefore, happiness might not be a single emotion, but rather a collection of experiences and feelings that we go through that affect us positively. A “happy person” is not someone who always feels happy, but someone who has a large amount of continuous positive and joyous experiences.
Money and Misconceptions
However, in a culture today where everything moves at one hundred miles per minute and we value our position on the economic totem pole more than anything else, our idea of happiness has shifted. Essentially, we believe that the more monetary wealth we own, the happier we will be. For example, we associate money with material items. We believe that having the newest iPhone or coolest fashion is going to make us feel better. Possessions give us a temporary positive attitude, until we begin to hate our old phone and despise the ugly clothes in our closet. The objects that give us some happiness for a short amount of time become a burden in the long run. Therefore, materials are not a good source of happiness.
Advantages of the Wealthy
Still, there is the idea that more money leads to the ability to have a safer life with better opportunities. Those with more money can afford to go on amazing memorable vacations and can feel satisfaction from writing a fat check for a children’s charity. Some might argue that since money gives people these experiences in which they can feel happy, money is buying their happiness. Even though money does give people opportunities for things like this, it is the events making them happy, not the money itself, even if it is a factor. Money brings the opportunities, not the emotions.
A Miserable America
Even for those who argue that their money makes them happy, there are many statistics going against that. We earn money by working, but when we feel miserable with the work we are doing, is it really worth it? Over 70% of Americans are unsatisfied with their careers (O’Donnell). This statistic might sound mind boggling, but it makes sense considering that today people are picking careers based on the paycheck rather than the interest. So if we feel happy for the moment that we get our paychecks at the end of every other week, but feel miserable at our jobs for forty hours a week, I’d say it is not a fair balance.
The World’s Happiest Man
Matthieu Ricard, a French academic turned Tibetan Buddhist monk, has been tagged the title “The world’s happiest man” (Shontell). He is a humble, selfless, benevolent, and modest man who lives a simple life. This man lives such a happy and content life that scientists and doctors do brain studies on him— including a huge twelve year clinical study with neuroscience Richard Davidson from the University of Wisconsin (Shontell). According to Riccard, “‘Our life can be greatly transformed by even a minimal change in how we manage our thoughts and perceive and interpret the world. Happiness is a skill. It requires effort and time’” (Barnes). Never has he mentioned the role money has played in his journey toward becoming happy. Matthieu Ricard represents how to truly feel felicity.
Stop Looking
I could go on forever about how we need to find our passions and live life to the fullest in order to be happy. It all sounds cheesy, I know. Happiness ultimately comes down to the individual. There is no model or process for how to “find” it because humans are not perfect. Perhaps this is because if we try to find happiness, we become consumed with searching and miss some of life’s greatest joys. However, happiness can be formed by the individual by practicing simple positive habits and doing things we truly love, not focusing on money. Those who create their own happiness are the richest in the end.
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