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Photo credit: http://everythingfab.tumblr.com/
Quote: Coco Chanel
Remember back when I selfishly asked all of you to respond to my Happiness Survey? And 84 of you rad dudes and dudettes participated in my indulgence by sharing your lovely little moments of joy in my comments section?
*Sigh* That was awesome.
But so far, I’ve fallen down on my end of the deal. I told you guys I had a theory and I implied that I was going to share it with you. I admit, I’ve been putting it off – I told myself I hadn’t reached my goal of 100 responses yet, so technically, I wasn’t really letting anyone down. But let’s be honest – I don’t have the energy to squeeze 16 more responses out of you guys. And after weeks of mulling it over, I’m satisfied. And I think I’ve proven my theory correct, so unless 16 people respond to this post telling me otherwise, I’m assuming that I am awesome and I have discovered something amazing. Yay me!
Okay, maybe it’s not that amazing.
Truthfully, I think the answer might be kind of obvious. And I actually feel a little ridiculous ‘cause if you asked anyone on the street I think they’d tell you it was really obvious, but I guess I’m not really sure if we all believe it. So here goes:
Not one single solitary person out of the 84 who responded said that making, having, receiving, or spending money was even a part of their most recent moment of true happiness or joy.
See what I mean about obvious? If I were to ask you upfront, “Was money the last thing that made you truly happy?” you’d probably laugh at me. You’d likely talk about your family, or friends, or an amazing experience, or a perfect moment, or any one of the other fantabulous occasions you listed in the survey.
And yet, here we are, stuck in a world that keeps pushing us to make more, buy more, spend more, have more – all under the guise that it’s going to make us better people and answer all life’s problems. I’m not saying that money isn’t a great thing – or that it can’t bring you happiness. Heck, if someone were to knock on my door with a cheque for a million dollars, I’d be pretty freakin’ happy. But would it make me the happiest I’ve ever been? Probably not. I’m not even sure if it would make me the happiest I’ve been this week. Sad thing is, it would likely just stress me out.
So, what can we take away from this?
That’s what I’ve been debating for the last few weeks. To be honest, I’m not really sure. I don’t think it’s practical to suggest that we don’t need money in order to be happy – we all have the desire to live our lives with the amenities that make us comfortable, safe and, dare I say, happy. But is money essential in creating those key moments of true happiness and joy? Evidently not.
The best I can do is this: The next time I get wrapped up in the latest sale at Pier 1 or balancing my bank accounts or wishing for a bigger house/new car/fantastic vacation, I’m going to think back to that moment when I met my husband at the Paris airport, or found my lost Canada toque hanging on a doorknob, or planted spring flowers in my backyard, or any other moment of total happiness and remember that that joy had absolutely nothing to do with having money in my pocket. My life is rich in many other ways.
What do you think? What role do you think money plays in creating happiness? I wanna hear your two cents!
And if you haven’t participated already – when was the last time you experienced true joy or happiness?
