Can Money Buy You Happiness?

What exactly is happiness? Happiness means different things to different people and so it is ridiculous to suggest that money can buy you happiness. Of course, money can buy you a certain degree of security and enable you to lead the kind of lifestyle you want, which is why so many people wish that they could win the lottery. Who wouldn't want to be super-rich without even having to work for it? Having money can make life easier, because you don't have to worry about how you're going to pay the bills and you can treat yourself and your family to nice things without getting into debt.

However, being ridiculously wealthy also has its problems, because you're never sure what people's intentions are. You may discover that your friends are not really your friends and that they only want to be around you because you are rich and successful, whilst there will no doubt be relatives who crawl out of the woodwork to ask for money. If you suddenly come into money, you have to deal with the attention and start thinking about how you're going to spend the money. You may want to help some people and not others, which could lead to tension and arguments.

You often see instances where individuals have won lots of money on the lottery and being unaccustomed to having so much money, they end up blowing millions on flash cars, big houses and their so-called friends. Their marriages end, they end up depressed and lonely – some end up addicted to drugs; others commit suicide. Although there are undoubtedly happy endings when it comes to big lottery wins and receiving large sums of money, for many people it is a burden and something they struggle to deal with.

It is obviously a bit different for those individuals who have always had money. They've never had to earn their way in the world and they've never had to think what it would be like to not have any money. When you've always had money, it can be difficult to find yourself without it and to have to adapt to a new situation, and so many people who've had money and lost money think that becoming rich again will make them happy. It can certainly make life easier, but surely there has to be more to life than money, doesn't there?

Clearly, people have different expectations of life and different interests and passions, so the idea that money can provide universal happiness is unrealistic. Money can offer you security, so that you no longer have to worry about meeting your financial commitments, but it can also lead to other headaches. When you're rich you sometimes have to deal with friends and relatives asking for handouts and people who you previously thought you could count on decide that they're jealous and you may end up thinking that the money is more hassle than it's worth!

Although it isn't much fun being poor and having no money, coming into money or being born into wealth is no guarantee of happiness. You can have all the money in the world, but no one to share your life with; you can feel lonely and isolated, as well as depressed, and money is unlikely to do anything to remedy the situation.