The Green Dream

Have you ever noticed that whenever people discuss the idea of happiness, money always rears it’s fancy green head?  People without money often seem to take the stance that having money would “solve everything.”  I have heard this many times and I must admit at times I concur. I wonder however, how could money truly change our lives for the better? Aside from going on great vacations, driving a nice car, and wearing beautiful clothes, how would our thought process change by living a wealthier lifestyle.  I wonder could we become a different person by having wealth? I have heard people say often times, “money has changed him/her” when referring to people who have newfound riches.  Could having money change a person for the better?

Sonja Lyubomirsky wrote an interesting article posted on the Scientific American website titled, "Can Money Buy Happiness,"where she discusses, the positive and negatives of having money, and offers us some refreshing new ways to view wealth.  Lyubomirsky suggest that our unstable economic times, is leading many in our society to harbor negative feelings toward the rich.  The Statistic showing that the wealthiest Americans earning over $300,000 annually, donate a mere 4 percent of their incomes to charity, only stoke the burning coals of envy and anger. Before we get too green with envy however, consider a study that Lyubomirsky revealed in her article, which was reported on in, Psychological Science.  Through this study involving, chocolates, and pictures of money, it was conveyed that, although wealth may grant us opportunities to purchase many things, it simultaneously impairs our ability to enjoy those things. This quirky research revealed oddly enough, that money had the ability to ruin our appetite. Participants who were shown pictures of money seemed less able to enjoy the pleasurable task of eating the chocolate, than participants not shown the pictures of money. It seems through this study that money does have a profound effect on us.

Further more, Lyubomirsky’s article hypothesizes that being wealthy allows one to experience the best that life has to offer, and in doing so undermines one’s ability to enjoy the little things in life, while at the same time raising expectation levels regarding happiness. The idea however, that money cannot make us happy may be somewhat of a stretch. Lyubomirsky also notes, that a growing social science of money, is showing how we can compensate for some of it’s damaging effects, by gaining rewarding experiences out of our spending, and by using money to grow as a person.  Using money to acquire the ability learn guitar for example, or using it to find ways to contribute to the community, experiencing new activities and hobbies, and, finally, spending on small pleasures, rather than on lavish ones, are among ways to maintain inner happiness through wealth. 

During my research,  I inquired into one of The Dali Lama’s famous quote regarding money and happiness. The quote, “Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present moment or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and the dies having never really lived,” has gotten Forbes magazine contributor, Erik Kain, expressing some valid concerns.  In his article titled,"The Dali Lama is Wrong,"Kain, questions The Dali Lama’s truths, by asking, if our society is so perverse as to ignore our families and ourselves by simply earning money to live on?  Kain does not think so.  Kain brings up the fact that, in the United Sates, many people access the healthcare system through their work. So, to strive to make money can make even more sense when contemplating one’s health.  Kain goes on to imply that, perhaps The Dali Lama isn’t able to connect with the ideas of working hard for a living, due to being born into a high Tibetan social pyramid.  Kain suggest that, The Dali Lama has perhaps, never needed to worry about money due to his social standing.  Kain’s points regarding his feeling, that most people do struggle and work hard for their loved one’s, in order to sneak in quality time with them, seem valid, and easy to understand.  His sentiment is in strong opposition to the Dali Lamas idea that, most people live as though they will never die and then die without ever having truly lived. 

Does working hard, and striving for money damage the inner soul of man as the Dali Lama alludes?  Does the relentless search for more green keep us unhappy and unhealthy?  These questions, and impressions, bring me back to the beginning of this post; perhaps money can bring more happiness, while affording us the ability to spend more time with loved ones.  It seems we might gain happiness through money as well, by spending it with more meaning and deeper thought.  Many of us won’t have much money in our lifetime however. What are other ways can we find happiness if money is not in our cards?