We all have been led to believe that our lives would be so much easier, and we would be so much happier, if we had plenty of money. The dictionary definition of wealth means to have an abundance of money or possessions. But is having an excess of money and things really the key to happiness?
Talking about our own money and personal finances is considered taboo. Our dinner conversations with family and friends, rarely centres around how much money we are worth or how much money we have in the bank (unless you hang with public figure millionaires and billionaires like the Bezos’ or the Gates’, although they both are now divorced). The money we earn, spend, and save is considered personal and confidential information, and not information that most of us choose to share with our friends or publicly.
We all assumed that people who drove shiny sports cars and lived in gigantic homes, were wealthy. However, books like “the Millionaire Next Door” uncovered to us, that just because people drive fancy cars and reside in enormous homes, does not mean that they have money. They may, in fact, be drowning debt. People who live above their means, overspend, and fail to open retirement and savings accounts, like to fool people by pretending that they have lots of money, when in reality they are only fooling themselves.
Many books have been written and devoted to money and personal finance, with titles such as “How to get Rich”, “How to Make Money”, and “How to Become a Millionaire”. Finance experts from every media, including books, magazines, television, and online websites, all want to teach us how to get rich quick. We even buy weekly lottery tickets with the hopes of being the small statistic of winners who collect the weekly jackpot. We love to share with our family and friends our dreams of what we would do with all the money we won, all the things that we would buy.
Why are we so obsessed with money and does having lots of money really make us happier? Research suggests that having a large quantity of money does not necessarily make us happier. About 11 years ago, Purdue University researchers conducted detailed studies and gallup polls, and discovered that wages of $75,000 was the maximum amount of earnings required to be happy. Their Studies demonstrated that people who earn more than $75,000 per year were not any happier than those earning, say $1,000,000 per year. Even if we include yearly inflation since those studies were conducted, results indicate that earnings of more than $100,000 per year in today’s dollars does not make you happier. The basis of the research suggests that once your necessary needs and living expenses are met, any additional money will not buy you happiness.
If having an excess of money does not make us happier, then what is success and what will make us happy? Best-selling author Michelle Obama has said “Success isn’t about how much money you make. It is about the difference you make in someone else’s life”. Best-selling author and researcher, Brene Brown, also claims that “the only currency that matters in this world is what you share with someone else” and the role you play in other people’s lives is your greatest wealth”. Both of their definitions of wealth focus on service, social interactions, and significant relationships, with no mention of money.
Both authors challenge us to view wealth differently than the traditional dictionary definition. I am going to also suggest that our physical and mental health is instrumental to us being wealthy, because, if we do not have good health, then everything else in our life is insignificant. It does not matter how much money we have if our destiny does not allow us to live a long and happy life. Many will say that wealth is health, and I agree.
If you are seeking wealth in your daily spiritual life, I would suggest that you stop focusing on having more money and material things than you need. The material possessions that you have accrued are not going to bring you more contentment and do not really matter, particularly as you get to the end of your life. Someone else will either inherit them or will have to get rid of them for you. Research has taught us that having more money and stuff than we need, does not add more contentment to our lives.
Now, I am not going to lie. I cannot help but smile and become ecstatic whenever I discover a little extra cash that I get to spend on travel and other experiences and adventures that enrich my life and create memories for me. But then again, it has also been proven that there is a difference between contentment derived from material belongings vs life experiences. The next time I buy someone special a gift, I am going to think about what they like to do, and not what I think that they may need to have.
What brings us joy in our daily spiritual life is having enough money to spend and tend to our daily living requirements, having meaningful relationships in our life, sharing our gifts and resources with others, our good emotional and physical well-being, and being grateful everyday for everything that we have been blessed with in our life. For me, that is the real definition of wealth and what we should strive to achieve for living a truly wealthy life. What is your definition of wealth?
Joyful Life Blog 