Money is essential. Imagine your reserves plummeting and you fretting over meeting expenses on a daily basis. It is sure to make you lose sleep. Money smoothens life to a great extent as you go about paying your bills while heaving a sigh of relief knowing that there is a contingency fund too. However, chasing money thinking that it will bring happiness is a false notion that many subscribe to.
The American Psychological Association published an article which talked about wealthy people and the problems faced by them. A number of people considered wealthy were interviewed, and it was found that loneliness, less trustworthy friends, life-threatening and irreversible diseases, and children not following a purpose were some of the issues that plagued them. For many, it got too bothersome to completely enjoy the perks of surplus money.
In this era of technology and social media, there is a constant bombardment of brands, inclination towards a luxurious lifestyle and pretence of money induced happiness. So it may become easy to fall prey to the ‘false web of happiness’ that wealth brings. When one starts chasing it, not keeping into account the basic requisites of a happy and healthy life, one may find happiness eluding them, in spite of increased wealth.
Further, as one spends more time in making money, they often compromise on health, both physical and mental – an absolute must to enjoy life whole-heartedly. With no time to pursue passions in a race to the finish line, people also tend to suffer from stress and other maladies. It has been seen that an unchecked pursuit of wealth often derails one from the actual path to happiness. So let us delve deeper into why money can’t buy happiness, although we buy innumerable things with it.
Once you start wanting more money and more possessions even when you seem to have it all, know that it’s a trap that engulfing you. You may be looking for that indescribable happiness that you felt when you bought your first vehicle or home. But clothes, home décor and stuff that once brought pleasure seem to look like unwanted junk now.
At this point, it is important to remember that happiness of receiving something for the first time is seldom replicated. Further, getting too many possessions clutter the mind, bringing stress and anxiety with it instead of that elusive happiness.
The more ‘things’ you have, the more you might be stressing about their upkeep and safety. If you keep thinking about maintaining or upgrading to a certain level of lifestyle, you will be under constant stress. It can even be overwhelming at times. Ironically, doing so takes you away from the simple pleasures of life that actually give contentment and fulfilment.
Taking a few moments to stroll in the fresh air in a garden, appreciating a colourful bunch of flowers or a fruit loaded tree, are things that melt away stress, not materialistic possessions. These are the simple pleasures that refresh and rejuvenate. So, while your workplace or home may be loaded with luxuries and things necessary to make you feel comfortable, it is nature and the outdoors and not indoors that add to what the wise call transient happiness.
Chasing money thinking that it will bring more happiness is a false notion that many subscribe to.
Finding happiness through money alone can trap people into the vicious cycle of comparisons. We end up comparing our tangibles and lifestyle with one and all – it could be our neighbour, our sibling, our friend or co-worker.
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