Instead of measuring success by how much money, power and privilege we aquire, why not measure it by how much love, truth and joy we have in our lives – as individuals and societies? This may sound ridiculous on the face of it but other countries are taking this idea seriously. John de Graaf, in Yes! Magazine, this month, published the article: Putting the Science of Happiness Into Practice. He writes: “…science has found that beyond a certain minimum level of income, greater happiness comes from strong and plentiful human connections, a sense of control over one’s life and employment, meaningful work, good health, basic economic security, trust in others and in government, and other factors less directly connected with monetary remuneration.”
What do you think will work best for you, as an individual, and the world as a whole? Currently, many of us accept the idea that money, power and privilege are the keys to success. Money is certainly important because, as a medium of exchange, it enables us to satisfy basic human needs like food and shelter. But, should we view it as the source of happiness? Why can’t we simply choose happiness as a personal value or goal in life?
Happiness, sadness, a sense of pleasure, fear, anger, hate and love are subjective emotions attached to what we think and do. We feel them directly. Emotions are the voice of the soul. They serve as a moral compass to guide us spiritually as surely as our physical senses guide us materially. To the extent we allow ourselves to value money, power and privilege over love, truth and joy, we lose control over our lives.
Look at what happens when the acquisition of money, power and privilege becomes our dominant goal in life: We often become people we don’t like. We do work we don’t like. Some of us will lie, cheat and steal for money. We will lie, cheat and steal to gain power and privilege over others. Pay us enough money and we will kill other people for you. Pay us enough money and we will fire any employee you want, including all of them. Pay us enough money and we will fish out the oceans. Pay us enough money and we will cut down every tree in the forest. Pay us enough money and we will write or vote on any piece of legislation you want, no matter the cost to ourselves or others.
Money is a double edged sword. It can either “make the world go round” or it can be “the root of all evil.” Who really wants to sell their soul “to the company store” Who really wants to give up direct control of themselves? Isn’t a satisfying balance what we are looking for?
The material below is from Thom Hartmann’s message board in response to this article. I post there under the User Name, Worldchangeguy. Thom is a great thinker and so are a lot of people who post on his website. He has a syndicated radio talk show, which you can listen to on his website: http://www.thomhartmann.com/, if you don’t have local radio access to it. – Pete
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Re: Money or Happiness?
by Footprint – Thu Dec 17, 2009 5:26 pm
Money is just a tool to open opportunity if used wisely. I prefer to be happy (which I am) and have enough money to provide for those I choose to support and enjoy those opportunities that enough money can provide to me. It’s not an either/or.
Name a government program that works well, is financially sustainable and benefits everyone in the country.
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Re: Money or Happiness?
by meljomur – Fri Dec 18, 2009 2:09 am
Footprint wrote: Money is just a tool to open opportunity if used wisely. I prefer to be happy (which I am) and have enough money to provide for those I choose to support and enjoy those opportunities that enough money can provide to me. It’s not an either/or.
Interesting…. I find you, Saw, and a few other Cons to be by far the crabbiest, most disgruntled posters on this site. If money makes you happy, I certainly hope you guys are NOT the poster boys for that sentiment.
God Save the Queen!
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Re: Money or Happiness?
by drew013 – Fri Dec 18, 2009 6:57 am
meljomur wrote (Fri Dec 18, 2009 2:09 am): Interesting…. I find you, Saw, and a few other Cons. to be by far the crabbiest, most disgruntled posters on this site. If money makes you happy, I certainly hope you guys are NOT the poster boys for that sentiment.
Footprint wrote (Thu Dec 17, 2009 5:26 pm): Money is just a tool to open opportunity if used wisely. I prefer to be happy (which I am) and have enough money to provide for those I choose to support and enjoy those opportunities that enough money can provide to me. It’s not an either/or.
I’ll second that…
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Re: Money or Happiness?
by longshot – Fri Dec 18, 2009 7:15 am
Worldchangeguy wrote: We become people we don’t like. We do work we don’t like. Some of us will lie, cheat and steal for money. We will lie, cheat and steal to gain power and privilege over others. Pay us enough money and we will kill other people for you. Pay us enough money and we will fire any employee you want, including all of them. Pay us enough money and we will fish out the oceans. Pay us enough money and we will cut down every tree in the forest. Pay us enough money and we will write or vote on any piece of legislation you want, no matter the cost to ourselves or others.
These behaviors don’t sound very nice at all. In fact they sound downright evil. You will lie cheat and steal? You would kill other people for money? Talk about being brutally honest. Yikes. Seriously you guys, please don’t steal and kill for money. It’s wrong.
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Re: Money or Happiness?
by Pete – Fri Dec 18, 2009 9:42 am
Pete wrote: We become people we don’t like. We do work we don’t like. Some of us will lie, cheat and steal for money. We will lie, cheat and steal to gain power and privilege over others. Pay us enough money and we will kill other people for you. Pay us enough money and we will fire any employee you want, including all of them. Pay us enough money and we will fish out the oceans. Pay us enough money and we will cut down every tree in the forest. Pay us enough money and we will write or vote on any piece of legislation you want, no matter the cost to ourselves or others.
longshot wrote (Fri Dec 18, 2009 7:15 am): These behaviors don’t sound very nice at all. In fact they sound downright evil. You will lie cheat and steal? You would kill other people for money? Talk about being brutally honest. Yikes. Seriously you guys, please don’t steal and kill for money. It’s wrong.
“Yikes” is right, longshot! When you remove the first sentence from this paragraph (Look at what happens when money, power and privilege become our primary goals in life!) you change the meaning of this article. It’s like seeing a sand painting, and just because you’re alone and you can, you run your fingers through it to destroy its contextual integrity so the next person viewing it sees something completely different than you. Why would you want to do that? The behavior outlined in this paragraph is all around us and in us as potential behavior, deny it though you may. Dishonesty and denial do not help us become better people and they certainly do not help us become a better country.
We’ve been told to believe that we’re basically bad and we can’t trust ourselves (the Bible and church). It’s time for us to remember how good we are, how much we do and how well we do it. As we think, we create. Change what we think and we change what we create.
Cheers,
Pete
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Re: Money or Happiness?
by polycarp2 – Fri Dec 18, 2009 9:54 am
In my line of work, I’ve never seen anyone on their deathbed wish they had made more money or bought more stuff or obtained a bigger McMansion. The regrets are usually what they could have done had they not been so concerned with getting more. That goes for the rich as well as for those less well off.
Happiness can’t be found at Neiman Marcus anymore than it can be found at WalMart. Gratification/happiness aren’t the same thing…and people often confuse one with the other.
If gratification was happiness…one trip to Walmart ought to do it,….. one good stock trade would make it complete.
Retired Monk
“Ideology is a disease”.
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Re: Money or Happiness?
by norske – Fri Dec 18, 2009 10:04 am
polycarp2 wrote (Fri Dec 18, 2009 9:54 am): In my line of work, I’ve never seen anyone on their deathbed wish they had made more money or bought more stuff or obtained a bigger McMansion.
At Hospice, the number one regret I hear is not spending more time with their family, especially the children. It transcends all classes.
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Re: Money or Happiness?
by polycarp2 – Fri Dec 18, 2009 11:10 am
Precisely. It’s about human relationships…not bank accounts to buy those relationships in absentia. The most valuable thing human beings have is their time…and how they spend it.
What is Life ? It is the flash of a firefly in the night.
It is the breath of a buffalo in the winter time.
It is the little shadow which runs across the grass
and loses itself in the Sunset.”
-Crowfoot….April 1890, on his deathbed”
Don’t waste life on nonsense. The last 20 years were how long in retrospect? Spent how? Gone…. like the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. The next 20 disappear just as quickly.
My own fondest memories aren’t of my wealthy uncle who showered me with gifts…they are about grandma and the time we spent together on trout streams or gorging ourselves on watermelon. Well….I did the gorging thanks to grandma’s garden. She did more slicing than eating!
Grandma had it right and few regrets. I still miss her after nearly 50 years… and we weren’t related by blood. A beautiful, kindly step-grandma. Poor as a church mouse with a joy in living. She shared that joy with others. I miss her.
Retired Monk
“Ideology is a disease”
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Re: Money or Happiness?
by norske – Fri Dec 18, 2009 11:53 am
One of the happiest times in my life was when I was working on a ranch in Texas, living in a broken down trailer, shooting quail for lunch and gathering eggs for breakfast and dinner. After that it was when my wife and I had our first apt., sleeping on the floor, cable spool for a table, and bricks and boards for bookshelves. Going to the store and buying Top Ramen and a turkey leg for dinner was a highlight. You really can’t go back home.
For a while I was caught up with my motorcycles and books, that was about it. Got rid of most of the bikes and farming out most of the books as I write. Never was into the mass consumerism thing. My best friend who earns around $160,000 a year or so has a nice little 50 acre spread and a nice house. He and his wife (Mostly the wife) accumulate more worthless items that sit unopened than I have ever seen. His wife has some serious issues. She has every book written about quilts there is. She has a $10,000 sewing machine just for quilts. She goes to quilting meetings twice a week. This has gone on for about 10 years. Every once in a while I will ask him how the quilting is going. “Quilting. You see that quilt on the bed? Bought that at Sears. She has not made one patch of a quilt, not one.” About twice a year I come over and help him toss much of it out or donate it to charity. He works 70 hours a week to buy things he doesn’t need. Not very happy either.
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Re: Money or Happiness?
by longshot – Fri Dec 18, 2009 11:56 am
Pete wrote: We become people we don’t like. We do work we don’t like. Some of us will lie, cheat and steal for money. We will lie, cheat and steal to gain power and privilege over others. Pay us enough money and we will kill other people for you. Pay us enough money and we will fire any employee you want, including all of them. Pay us enough money and we will fish out the oceans. Pay us enough money and we will cut down every tree in the forest. Pay us enough money and we will write or vote on any piece of legislation you want, no matter the cost to ourselves or others.
longshot wrote (Fri Dec 18, 2009 7:15 am): These behaviors don’t sound very nice at all. In fact they sound downright evil. You will lie cheat and steal? You would kill other people for money? Talk about being brutally honest. Yikes. Seriously you guys, please don’t steal and kill for money. It’s wrong.
Pete wrote (Fri Dec 18, 2009 9:42 am): “Yikes” is right, longshot! When you remove the first sentence from this paragraph (Look at what happens when money, power and privilege become our primary goals in life!) you change the meaning of this article. It’s like seeing a sand painting, and just because you’re alone and you can, you run your fingers through it to destroy its contextual integrity so the next person viewing it sees something completely different than you. Why would you want to do that? The behavior outlined in this paragraph is all around us and in us as potential behavior, deny it though you may. Dishonesty and denial do not help us become better people and they certainly do not help us become a better country. We’ve been told to believe that we’re basically bad and we can’t trust ourselves (the Bible). It’s time for us to remember how good we are, how much we do and how well we do it. As we think, we create. Change what we think and we change what we create.
Cheers,
Pete
Longshot wrote: Sorry, didn’t mean to butcher the context. I don’t know whether it came across, but I was actually agreeing with you. You described how you guys have made money, power, and privilege your primary goals, and then described all the horrible things you guys end up doing because of this. Even with the first sentence included, I still think that you’re making a mistake to let money, power, and privilege become your primary goal. As you accurately observed, it will drive you to do all sorts of nasty things. That’s my point, and I stick by it even considering the entire quote. Regarding your thoughts on the possibility for change, I agree. If you’re in a place where money, power, and privilege are your primary goals, you should definitely look to change what you think and create. The rest of us (the ones being stolen from and killed) would certainly appreciate it.
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Re: Money or Happiness?
by Pete – Fri Dec 18, 2009 1:06 pm
Polycarp2 and Norske,
Great stories! I read them to my wife, and being a very emotional person, struggled not to cry as I read them. Speaking of emotions, some men object to them but I find they provide me with access to an inner reality few of us ever discuss, even though some of our greatest music and writings have been inspired by dreams and visions. If you have time, read: The “Suck Face” Incident. It’s a provocative name but it illustrates how our outer and inner senses can work together to help us resolve issues or challenges in our lives.
Again, your stories and observations were great. Thank you for sharing them!
Pete
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Re: Money or Happiness?
by Pete – Fri Dec 18, 2009 1:46 pm
longshot wrote (Fri Dec 18, 2009 11:56 am): Sorry, didn’t mean to butcher the context. I don’t know whether it came across, but I was actually agreeing with you. You described how you guys have made money, power, and privilege your primary goals, and then described all the horrible things you guys end up doing because of this.
Longshot, I think of All That Is as both one and separate. The same holds for the way I look at humanity. When I use the word “us”, I include myself even though I don’t personally choose to do the things I described. I see us all as both one and separate. What I do to you, I do to me, and so on. As a result, I often wonder if the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder so many of our troops experience is the result of knowing that when they kill someone, they intuitively understand that they’re killing a part of themselves. This would present them with a profound dilemma. On the one hand they’re told they’re doing a good thing by their superiors (masters?) and on the other, they sense it as self-destructive. How do you reconcile such a profound conflict of ideas and feelings, especially when they spill over into your imagination and dreams? Speaking from our oneness, I’m suggesting that in our present culture of ideas some of us unwittingly choose to put money ahead of feeling, not realizing the consequences. We must be aware of that, if we want to make choices that serve our best interest both individually AND collectively.
I like money! It’s a form of energy and a medium of exchange. But, love, truth and joy – happiness – is more important to me than money. As souls learning how to create a pleasing reality, we offer one another great opportunities for learning. One of my favorite affirmations is: What an amazing gift we are to each other and what an amazing gift life itself is!
Cheers my friend,
Pete
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Re: Money or Happiness?
by peewee returns – Fri Dec 18, 2009 2:51 pm
Footprint wrote (Thu Dec 17, 2009 5:26 pm): Money is just a tool to open opportunity if used wisely. I prefer to be happy (which I am) and have enough money to provide for those I choose to support and enjoy those opportunities that enough money can provide to me. It’s not an either/or.
meljomur wrote (Fri Dec 18, 2009 2:09 am): Interesting…. I find you, Saw, and a few other Cons to be by far the crabbiest, most disgruntled posters on this site. If money makes you happy, I certainly hope you guys are NOT the poster boys for that sentiment.
Mel, that was a pretty crabby response to a pretty reasonable post. Are you in a bad mood today?
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Re: Money or Happiness?
by bdc – Fri Dec 18, 2009 3:45 pm
Money will not for sure make a person happy, but poverty will certainly make a person unhappy and worse……..I favor redistribution of wealth………..
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Re: Money or Happiness?
by Footprint – Fri Dec 18, 2009 9:42 pm
meljomur wrote (Fri Dec 18, 2009 2:09 am): Interesting…. I find you, Saw, and a few other Cons to be by far the crabbiest, most disgruntled posters on this site. If money makes you happy, I certainly hope you guys are NOT the poster boys for that sentiment.
Somehow….what you “find”, is supposed to matter…. somehow…. Money in it’s form and what it’s used for, doesn’t have anything to do with “happiness”. Money is merely a tool. I will admit that pre 1898 double eagle gold coins do make me happy, Those minted in Carson City especially, as the gold was most likely mined from Bodie, Ca. which I have explored and studied.
Money as a tool can open great opportunities in the societies we live in. It is the form of commerce. If you have the means (money) you can explore more, purchase more, educate more, empower more, and enjoy luxuries more. It’s not a bad thing and the premise that money and happiness don’t co-exist, is naive at best. To be short, I’ve tried it both ways. IMO, life is more enjoyable when you have more options. It depends on what you want to do.
People will be happy or unhappy whether they have money or not. I’m far from crabby and/or disgruntled. I’m very satisfied with life and where I’m at. My feet hit the floor 7 days a week and can’t wait to do what is on my busy agenda. I couldn’t get it all done if there was 2 of me, and that’s what I enjoy.
Some of the best times I’ve had have been quality time with family and friends hangin on my deck listening to the wildlife, laughing around a campfire, quiet time reading a book listening to the rain on the roof, hunting with my son, or watching the sunset while walking hand in hand with my wife on Kaanapali beach. On the other hand, cruising at 70mph in a 150K offshore boat sipping a margarita, marlin fishing off Cabo, racing exotic cars at the track, or taking helicopter rides in Kauai for the thrill of it, providing an education for another, buying food, clothing, and housing for those who can’t, contributing to the cure for cancer, and so much more is a fulfilling use of earning money.
Money is just an enhancement to opportunity. Happy is from within.
Name a government program that works well, is financially sustainable and benefits everyone in the country.
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Re: Money or Happiness?
by Pete – Sat Dec 19, 2009 10:09 am
I slept on what polycarp2 and norske said earlier on this thread, about what’s been really important to them and the people they’ve known in life. Others have spoken since. It’s love of “being” itself!
When I woke up this morning, I started thinking about the Catholic Sign of the Cross, a ritual where you touch your forehead, heart, left shoulder and right shoulder to form a cross as you utter the words: “In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the the Holy Spirit (their sacred Father-Son relationship) – Amen.” As I thought about this ritual, I realized I was being asked to forget my own worth and give greater value to something outside me, something supposedly more worthy than me! The words and my signing made me feel left out in the cold. By performing this ritual, it felt like I was teaching or programming myself to worship external authority above my own. The words: “In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit – Amen”, rang hollow to me.
I wondered what would happen if I replaced these words with: I love You, I love Me, I love Us (our relationship) and All That Is? Would that add more meaning to this ritual? When I recited these words, while imaginatively crossing myself, it did mean more to me! Suddenly you and I, and our relationship, were sacred too. I no longer felt outside in the cold and left to fend for myself. For the first time, I felt that my being was right within the world. I could see that the being of everyone and everything was right in the world. By acknowledging You, Me, Us and All That Is, we include all of us in the sacred circle. In doing so, not only do we acknowledge our oneness AND separation, we acknowledge that we’re not only products of creation; we’re creation itself!
Even as a young child, I felt uncomfortable reciting the Catholic Sign of the Cross. Something about it didn’t seem right. It felt like I was giving away my power. The thought that I would willing do it made me feel sick to my stomach. It was like admitting that I was unworthy of having power because I was bad and couldn’t be trusted. What a terrible self-indictment. By creating my own Sign of the Cross, I proclaimed my goodness and the goodness of all. We’re all free to make our own choices, to create our own reality. I want to create an understanding and a reality that has meaning for me.
Sleep on this idea. Experiment with it and see how it feels to include yourself as a valued, loved and loving part of All That Is. Trust your feelings for the answer.
All that Is, is sacred. Without it, how can we exist?
Pete – http://realtalkworld.com/
“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having (creating) a human experience.” – Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
“How you define yourself and the world around you, forms your intent, which, in turn, forms your reality.” – Seth
In other words, we create reality from what we believe about ourselves and the world around us.
If we don’t consciously choose our beliefs, we unconsciously absorb them from our surroundings.
If our beliefs, attitudes, values and expectations create reality, can we afford not to question them?
The more we love, understand, and appreciate ourselves, the better we treat ourselves and the world.
Bless us all with love and understanding!
The secrets of the universe lie hidden in the shadows of our experience. Look for them!
