DO WE NEED MONEY TO BE HAPPY?

HAPPINESS

Happiness is what we all strive for. Everyone wants to be happy, but is happiness a material concept or a state of mind? are they dependent on each other or mutually exclusive, let us dive into human feelings for a moment. The reason we all want; is because of the feelings of getting what we want. We all want to feel good, that is the end game here. It has been that way since the beginning of time, I can imagine our early ancestors jeering happily after a good hunt. This reward system is very reasonable and logical, but what happens when we don't get what we want, should we devolve into the opposite of happiness?

How many times have you had a "gut feeling" that something is about to happen? and it happened, that feeling came before the material realization. So if your feelings are dependent on material things? why is "gut feelings" very common among humans?

SEPARATING HAPPINESS FROM MATERIAL THINGS

Like I said earlier, you don't want money or material things; you want the feeling that comes with it. let us assume in an alternate universe; money gave a bad feeling, most people would love to be dressed in rags.

To make my point clearer, I would suggest you see your feelings as a bunch of currencies you possess. you have them, You control them. Now imagine the different currencies have different stock values, sadness has a negative value and happiness tops the list.

CAN YOU CHOOSE TO BE HAPPY?

Well yes, you can; you choose to be unhappy in the first place. If you are lacking material things; I want you to just do a simple task, take a moment and detach yourself from the situation look at yourself from the outside and ask yourself "does being unhappy help your situation" If your answer is no then you are on the right step.

Emotional detachment is the solution to constant thinking about past and worrying about the future. Detach yourself look at yourself in the present. Does being unhappy solve the problem? surely not.

STEPS TO HAPPINESS

After you detach yourself from the situation, the next step to happiness is gratefulness. No matter where you are right now, there are some things in your life that you can be grateful about; your pet, your favourite tv show, your friends, the people who make you laugh, nature, being alive, your morning coffee, and even the steemit platform.

Keep a gratitude diary and write down at least 2 things per day and meditate on them. I remember a friend once told me that he woke up on the wrong side of the bed today, I said "bro be thankful that you woke today because some people sleep and never woke up." gratitude is another currency you possess it might not have same stock value with happiness but if you keep spending it, you will see a huge difference as you approach happiness.

Another step is; doing things that make you happy. If you are unhappy why should you sit and continue spending that worthless currency? get up and do something you love, maybe you have a hobby, watch a movie, go meet a friend.

Learn to give out positive emotions to people and friends, even by giving compliments unto others, giving is receiving. If you try to make people smile, chances are they would also return the favour.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I am not saying material things are unimportant "I am typing on my laptop" guess I'm grateful for that lol, we just need to learn to control our emotions so material things do not dictate how we feel.

And yes money can buy happiness but, guess what? it also works in reverse because if you are happy and put yourself in a clear positive space you can easily find ways to solve your material problems. I would even go as far as to say; Happiness brings more money.

Thanks for reading, hope I've made you happy today 😊.

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