Discussion of The Question "Can Money Buy Happiness"

In life, the goal of all of us is to be happy, not to be rich. Since we are children, media convince us that wealth leads to happiness and so convince us that the real goal is to make money to be happy. It's important to remember the sentence that our parents repeatedly told us: money doesn't make you happy. Certainly money can help you in many things and give you a financial freedom, but I think that it is not a real freedom. You can have happiness right now regardless of your finances or what's going on in your life. Anyway, it's interesting to analyze the correlation between happiness and wealth and explore how money affects people and their happiness.

The big question is, “Can money buy happiness?” There’s no simple answer. Some studies prove that rich people are happier than their poor counterparts, but on the contrary, the money's impact on happiness of the rich is not large as that on happiness of the poor. In other words, for a poor family, that has for example an annual income of 20,000€, an extra of 5,000€ a year can make a huge difference in their happiness. Instead, for a wealthy family, that has an annual income of 70,000€, 5,000€ can be a good bonus but they don't make a great difference. If you have clothes to wear, food to eat, and a roof over your head, increased disposable income has just a small influence on your sense of well-being. So, in a way, money can buy some happiness, but it is only a piece of the puzzle. Although it may seem trivial, the key is finding a balance among having too little and having too much.

Our society teaches us by means of media, that bigger is better and to want the things you see on TV, like clothes, devices, cars, etc. So, people who can afford it, tend to buy more than they need. However studies show that materialistic people are less happy than those who aren't and so, to be content we should own and buy less stuff. In fact, It has been tasted that the relationship between spending and happiness is not directly proportional, this means that every time you spend, you are a bit less happy. I'm not saying that you can't spend your money, but you have to do carefully.more spending have a positive effect on you, leading you to more fulfillment, but spending too much can actually have a negative impact on your quality of life. You have to understand when it's “enough”.

A thing that everyone should do is to choose happiness as the priority for the day. Most people seek happiness as a product of their achievements, actions and other things they do during the day. This makes their happiness dependent on what happens during their day. Instead, what we should do is to make happiness an independent choice. Our happiness does not require favorable events, interactions, or any particular stimulus. We tend to think that if we suffer today, working hard and being stressed, we'll be better tomorrow because we'll have greater success and income. Maybe this is true, but, especially in our job, we should work without stress but with creativity and joy, whereas a lot of people when they go out in the morning to go to work thinking only about their radiant future, without focus on the present. In fact, ask yourself questions about your future may instigate in you anxiety, stress and fear.

In conclusion, a balanced life is a fulfilling life. To find balance, you have to figure out how much is “enough” for you, the point where you’re content with what you have and can say “this much, but no more.” In this way you don't buy unnecessary stuff and you save money to use it for things that truly matter. However, it is important to remember that to be happy we have to think about the present, put effort and enjoying what we do and giving the right weight to things.