Does Money Equal Happiness?

Yesterday I might have left you with the idea that happiness is equal to the amount of money you earn.  But we all know money doesn’t buy happiness.  But money can buy peace of mind and having the sense of security that your house is paid for and there is a nest egg in the bank for your retirement certainly gives a person a sense of ease.  A person who needs to worry every day about making ends meet is not going have that same sense of ease, or “happiness” that a person with some security will have.

       So, yes, in a way money does buy happiness.

       Money aside however, there are other aspects in a person’s life that can make or break happiness regardless of money.  Throughout a person’s life choices need to be made, from making friends, to saying no to drugs or alcohol, to valuing virtues, to treating others well and the list goes on and on.  Some people have the misfortune to live with depression or other disorders and to that I do not pretend to have honest, true or correct answers.  But for those not suffering from these problems, they can have a choice in whether they want to look at the glass half full or half empty. 

       Is it a choice?  I’m not sure, but I believe that a person can make an effort to change their mental processes when it comes to being happy, satisfied or discontented.  I honestly believe that this is a choice when a person becomes an adult, if not before.  In this modern world we live in we are provided with a vast amount of free information that can help us to “Live Our Best Life”, to quote Oprah.

       A person doesn’t have to be a Sad Sack – at least, I hope not.