Money ~ Happine$$

Whenever I dine out or go on a holiday, I would think to myself, how nice it is to have money. With money, I am able to enjoy a good meal or a good holiday with my loved ones and that makes me happy. Living in Singapore, we have less things to worry about as compared to other countries, which should eliminate some sources of unhappiness. We are free of natural disasters (yes we have the haze, flooding, drought once in a while but they are not as serious as other countries). Our police force is efficient and our streets are safe at night. We have an extensive transport system (despite the breakdowns but infrastructure is there). Amenities and medical facilities are also reachable. So, the element that makes most Singaporean unhappy about is money (or rather the lack of money).

I shall not elaborate on the reasons why the lack of more money is making many unhappy because the more we dwell on this subject, the more we are glorifying money and the unhappier we will get. We will never have enough because greed and insecurity will set in and we want more. Let me ask a simple question, if you were given $100,000 with no strings attached, will you be happy? I think most people will be happy to receive $100,000. However, if there is a condition that upon receiving this $100,000, you will have to sacrifice something important from your life, say your health, your loved ones or your freedom, will you still do it? If the answer is no, then why no? The reason is because we value our loved ones, our health and our freedom more than what money can offer us, all these are priceless. If money is so important, why can't it replace our health, our loved ones or the things we hold dearly?

Money is necessary to fulfill our basic needs, food, shelter, living expenses but beyond that, money is used to satisfy our wants. If we are unhappy today because we think we don't have enough money, then we might be focusing on the wrong area (thinking that only money can makes us happy). There are things in life, other than money, that contribute to how happy we are and if we can shift the focus back to these things, we will be happier. Having more money can make us happier but it does not makes us 2 or 3 times happier than what we are now. Going back to the thought which I had when I dine out or go on a holiday, yes money does makes it possible but I am happy because of the people I am with and I will probably be just as happy eating at home or touring around Singapore with my loved ones. Without them by my side, I will not be happy even if I have all the money in the world.

Happiness is really all about finding contentment in life, a poor man can be happy just as an unsatisfied rich man can be unhappy. If you are constantly fretting about money not being enough, it may be good to rethink this perspective and re-evaluate how rich or how poor you really are.

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