“Money doesn’t make you happy,” time back my grandma insisted, while she was whipping carrots and tomatoes out of the kitchen cupboard, one fine morning. “Money doesn’t make you laugh when you are lonely or make you full of contentment on a New Year. But wherever you are, you have to work for your living,” she added.
So, do you think that a lottery win would make you happy forever? No, a big payout won’t make that much of a difference. Winning the lottery isn’t a ticket to true happiness, however enticing it might be to imagine never working again and being able to afford anything you want.
It seems that as long as you cannot afford to avoid the basic miseries of life, having loads of spare cash doesn’t make you very much happier.
Our happiness depends on how we feel relative to our peers.
Lottery win may make you feel richer than your neighbours. You may move to a new mansion in a new locality, which may make you feel happy. But, sooner, you will realize that all your new friends are living in bigger mansions.
Happiness isn’t a quality like height, weight or income that can be easily measured. It is a complex, nebulous state that is fed by transient simple pleasures, as well as the more sustained rewards of activities.
Actually, happiness is having satisfaction and meaning in your life. It’s the propensity to feel positive emotions and holding a sense of purpose. Happiness is not having a lot of privilege or money. It’s not a constant pleasure. It’s a broader thing: Our ability to connect with others, to have meaningful relationships, to have a better community. People who say they’re happy to have strong connections and communications with other people – that is a sort of recipe for happiness. Money increases happiness until about a certain level of earning, and after that our emotional well-being doesn’t increase with income.
Close circle of friends and family is most important for happiness. The material possessions like iPhones, computers, being wealthy and owning a sports car will not provide the same level of contentment.
At the same time, it is true that money is important for happiness. But, this statement is very subjective in the sense that, neither money nor happiness is constant. Also, money might make you happy, but it does not necessarily have to make me happy. What if my only purpose in life is to build a school for those who can't afford basic education? In this case I do require the funds, and money is a means to achieve that happiness that I truly desire. But, it is not the money that makes me happy, it's the fulfillment of that wish I have that makes me happy.
