50p
What Makes You Happy?
Imagine having so much money that you could buy anything you want, and more. Say you’re walking in the mall and see a nice pair of shoes, so you buy them. Then you see a new collection of hoodies in your favorite store, so you have to get them too. At the end of the day, you walk out of the mall with a whole new wardrobe and not a single dent in your bank account, so you must be happy? I mean money just got you all the stuff you wanted, but is that really what makes you happy?
You see, buying these things doesn’t make us happy. Sure it gives you a sense of joy for a few days, but what happens after? So today, I will be talking about why money can’t buy happiness, how it brings more stress into life, and making a change.
Happiness is a hard topic to define; everyone has their own opinion on happiness based on their past experiences in life. As someone who has grown up and witnessed many different perspectives of wealth, I can say money can't buy your happiness. Not only do I believe this, but so many celebrities such as Cameron Diaz, Bob Marley and so on claim that success and the rich lifestyle did nothing to make them happy. Bob Marley even said in an interview that his “Richness is life”. So, money may be something that gives you financial security, but it cannot assure you a happy life.
A study published by the journal Nature Human Behavior proved that more money makes you less happy. You might be wondering why that is? Well, once the average income of a household reaches $105,000 in the United States, the process of reduced life satisfaction begins. Researchers from Purdue University quoted that money can lead to “social comparisons, which could, ironically, lower well-being.” Not only this, but psychologist Elizabeth Lombardo, who studied high net worth families, came to the conclusion that “We think external things we buy will bring us happiness, but then we get them and we wonder what’s next and that next thing has to be bigger and better.”
Ultimately, money can’t buy happiness. It brings you safety and security, but not happiness.
So what does?
Well, what about focusing on the small things that bring you joy. Maybe that is going on a walk, or drinking tea, or just spending time with friends and family. But we can’t do that because we are constantly pushed deeper into this robotic life where everything is about money and how much more money someone has than you. You see, we are living in a society that is normalizing the mindset of ‘If I have so much money, I matter.’ But we must change this. We must stop normalizing this unspoken burden that money has us all wrapped around, because we are losing sight of the memories and the people we already have that make us happy.
And with that, I hope you’ve learnt a bit about what can bring you true happiness. Thank you.
Teagan K, Allard ‘25
You see, buying these things doesn’t make us happy. Sure it gives you a sense of joy for a few days, but what happens after? So today, I will be talking about why money can’t buy happiness, how it brings more stress into life, and making a change.
Happiness is a hard topic to define; everyone has their own opinion on happiness based on their past experiences in life. As someone who has grown up and witnessed many different perspectives of wealth, I can say money can't buy your happiness. Not only do I believe this, but so many celebrities such as Cameron Diaz, Bob Marley and so on claim that success and the rich lifestyle did nothing to make them happy. Bob Marley even said in an interview that his “Richness is life”. So, money may be something that gives you financial security, but it cannot assure you a happy life.
A study published by the journal Nature Human Behavior proved that more money makes you less happy. You might be wondering why that is? Well, once the average income of a household reaches $105,000 in the United States, the process of reduced life satisfaction begins. Researchers from Purdue University quoted that money can lead to “social comparisons, which could, ironically, lower well-being.” Not only this, but psychologist Elizabeth Lombardo, who studied high net worth families, came to the conclusion that “We think external things we buy will bring us happiness, but then we get them and we wonder what’s next and that next thing has to be bigger and better.”
Ultimately, money can’t buy happiness. It brings you safety and security, but not happiness.
So what does?
Well, what about focusing on the small things that bring you joy. Maybe that is going on a walk, or drinking tea, or just spending time with friends and family. But we can’t do that because we are constantly pushed deeper into this robotic life where everything is about money and how much more money someone has than you. You see, we are living in a society that is normalizing the mindset of ‘If I have so much money, I matter.’ But we must change this. We must stop normalizing this unspoken burden that money has us all wrapped around, because we are losing sight of the memories and the people we already have that make us happy.
And with that, I hope you’ve learnt a bit about what can bring you true happiness. Thank you.
Teagan K, Allard ‘25