I bet you have already heard many people saying that money can buy happiness. Is it true that riches can buy happiness? They can buy many kind of luxuries, but not happiness itself — in the truth, money and status can steal our happiness. Can you picture a public person such as Madonna walking on the street without being disturbed or stared at by anybody? No, because she have lost a lot of her freedom once she became a public person, and freedom is one of the things that happiness is made of.
Imagine yourself not being able to go to the mall, to a restaurant or to a church because people you don’t know will stop you by and ask for pictures and think if you’d be happy with this on the long run. Of course money can buy us some hours with a shrink about our lack of happiness, but can’t buy a friend who listens to you because of who you are instead of how much you are paying.
How do we get happy? Simply by doing what pleases us, from doing what our heart, mind and body desires. When we go after what we want — not being forced to do anything we don’t want to — is when we get contentment.
Remember also that the more money and status you have, bigger is your responsibility simply because people expect much more from you. Because of this, quite often money breaks relationships, destroy friendships and tear families apart. Remember any person with a good status that done anything you condemned and how your admiration for this person in a flash. Sometimes it happens even with someone you never met, so imagine how huge are the things you say or do, and how easy it is to disappoint somebody.
But you want to buy happiness anyway without feeling guilty for anything? Yes, it is possible and sometimes I do it myself, but don’t be surprised. If you have more than your minimum requirement of money, make a donation to an institution of charity, such as an orphanage or an organization that fights poverty. When you do it and you know the institution and how the money will be used, you will surely feel a sense of genuine happiness. You’ll be able to do something that make others happy, and by making someone happy, you become happy.
No golf irons, new dresses or fancy dinners in expensive restaurants can make you feel as happy as the smile of kids you have given money for their food or medicine.
