Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Can Money Buy You Happiness?

           What is happiness? Happiness can mean many things. It can either mean having lots of money for you to spend or having great moments with your family and friends. Happiness is not about getting possessions that you want but appreciating the possessions you have. Spending money on specific things you want can make you feel happy in that short time but it cannot make you feel happy forever. People you enjoy being with and the moment that you accomplish a cherished goal is the time that you actually receive happiness. Therefore, money cannot buy you happiness.

           Why do people keep caring about money? The reason is that if they don’t have money, it could lead to stress. In addition, they care about money because they want to compare with other people on incomes and assets. Having all that money won’t make your life become happy. The important thing is to have precious people around you. For example, people who are poor can still live happily such as the people in Nepal. Those people struggle with hunger and lack of money, but because of the people around them, they can live joyfully. Money can certainly make you relieve stress but it cannot buy you happiness. In short, having less money can make your life become happier.

            A person who has huge amounts of money or even has all the money in the world might not be happy forever. For example, in a book called “Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.,” John D. Rockefeller, Sr. was the first billionaire in America. When he was thirteen, he started to earn his own money and donated money to his church and some other charities. Furthermore, he gave generously to the Rockefeller Foundation and the University of Chicago. People found out that he was really rich so they kept going to him and ask for money and even banging on his house front door just to get money from him. From this situation, it made John D. Rockefeller, Sr. live a depressing and tortured life. In brief, having all the money in the world won’t make your life become happier.

            In conclusion, money cannot buy you happiness because what can make you happy is the loved ones around you, not the money. Spending money on possessions can only make you feel happy temporarily, not forever. Thus, the family and friends you enjoy spending time with are the real happiness that is everlasting.

Works Cited:

1. "The Odd Relationship Between Money and Happiness." Bucks Blog. N.p., 27 Sept. 2010. Web.         02 Mar. 2015. http://bucks.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/27/the-odd-relationship-between-money-         and-happiness/

2. Chernow, Ron. Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. New York: Random House, 1998.

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