We toast to wealth, health, love, happiness and the time to enjoy them. Many of us believe our lives are meaningful only if we pursue happiness in everything we do. A concept so precious, one that holds immense value in humanity, has often been attributed to monetary wealth and tied to materialistic accomplishment. At the risk of sounding pessimistic, this complex phenomenon of consistently euphoric human emotion is impossible without grief or hard days, as permanent joy in itself is an anomaly launched by fantasy and wishful thinking. The beautiful thing about positive human emotion is being able to feel it in all of its depth, a sensation amplified by the lows and celebrated at its highs. Happiness is displayed by one and perceived by another. An action often parallel with human nature, we find ourselves desiring what appears to make others happy, whether it be a lavish house or one’s memories of opulent travel, things that are made possible by a paycheck plentiful in zeros and commas.
What it means to be truly happy is an umbrella goal, all-encompassing and full of variation. Some may have a particular idea of something they achieve or possess that will ultimately result in this state. Though emphasized by the properties of wealth that may grant freedom and opportunity, there lie two types of happiness within this narrative: Hedonic happiness is a feeling of pleasure in one moment and exists in reliance on the present. Then, there is eudaimonic happiness, the idea that represents contentment or the long-term representation of a happy life, a sustained space of joy centered around purpose and meaning. We want to feel fulfilled, yet driven, and present at the same time, finding ourselves led by the pursuit of monetary gratification or recognition in order to reach a state of eudaimonic happiness.
Money can buy creature comforts and is the foundation upon which we live, being a vehicle for fame and a vessel of success. Is living life for the sake of the chase putting unrealistic expectations on the ways material value influences our psychological state? The contrast of rich and poor becomes a contrast of happy and unhappy in the ways society views wealth. We can experiment with this idea. If I pose the rhetorical question, “what makes you happy?” perhaps activities come to mind like concerts, adventure or trinkets gathered from memorable outings, all things that are accessible because of shiny coins and crisp green paper. However, if I ask you “what makes you grateful?” a particularly pertinent subject this season, it might be more likely that people come to mind: the actions of a loved one, the sacrifices of a parent, or time with friends. From a spiritual perspective, the monk David Steindl-Rast shared in a TED talk on the roots of joy, “If you’re grateful, you act out of a sense of enough, not a sense of scarcity.” He declares that the basis of happiness is gratitude rather than waiting to obtain something, with happiness being a state of appreciation, a mindset resulting from gratitude for the life we live.
It is important to state that in this world of material consumption and the wage gap that is ever-present in a capitalist society, worries about making a living wage interrupt the attainment of possession-based happiness when it is placed on a pedestal. Desiring comfort that is possessed by means of money is a leg-up in feeling joy in the day to day. All this to be said, there are plenty who live a life of grandeur and appear to be perfectly happy, others on the same side of the street with gold rimmed mansions and caviar for dinner who appear to be completely miserable. Monks with no possessions and off-the-grid adventure seekers with a couple of coins in their pockets seem to contradict the grind for affluence, with the claim that many live a joyful life experiencing hedonic happiness each day, sustained by the meaning-based, long-term eudaimonic happiness.
Although debatably dependent on gratitude, ideas of sustained joy may come down to individual perspective. Many can argue that fulfillment results from work, providing them with funds to participate in what is enjoyable. Being transported in fancy vehicles may very well contribute to a joyful life. Though states of the mind are confusing and we run in circles trying to learn what it all means, I find that the most reliable form of happiness is what we can depend on through the devices of our perception. Finding gratitude in relationships fosters connection and fuels humanity, making our joy reliant on internal sources within the present moment and the ways we reflect upon the human gift of emotion. Money can buy time and possessions, but our own happiness depends on what we do with these things.
