Step #2 Money and Possessions …
Understand that Happiness is not Related to Having Things
While many people think that more money and possessions will bring them true happiness, that is not really the case. The following examples, case studies, survey results and quotes from people with great material wealth will change your perspective.
Lessons from a Navajo Boarding School about Money and Possessions …
What is the relationship between money and possessions and happiness? … In 1969, author John DeGraaf taught briefly at a Navajo Indian boarding school in Shiprock, New Mexico. His third grade students were among the poorest children in America, possessing little more than the clothes on their backs. They had few toys or other sources of entertainment. Yet, John never heard the children say they were bored. They were continually making up their own games. At the age of ten, very happy and well adjusted kids. They were happy even though they had little money and possessions. It did not matter to them and they did not know or care otherwise. That Christmas, John went to visit his family. He remembers the scene, a floor full of packages under the tree, his own ten year old brother opened a dozen or so of them, quickly moving from on to the next. A few days later, John found his brother and a friend watching TV, the Christmas toys tossed aside in his brother’s bedroom. Both boys complained to John that they had nothing to do. “We’re bored,” they said. For John, it was a clear indication that happiness does not come from money and possessions, or “stuff,” even though powerful forces in our society keep trying to persuade us otherwise!
Founder of Domino's Pizza sees "Things" in Proper Perspective
Thomas Monaghan, founder of Domino’s Pizza, in 1991, began to suddenly sell off many of his prized possessions, including three houses designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, 30 antique automobiles, (1 costing over $8 million), his Detroit Tigers baseball team and a multi-million dollar house not yet completed. He was quoted as saying, “I sold them because none of the things I have ever bought, and I mean NONE of them, has ever really made me happy.”
A Doctor's View on the Disease of "Possession Overload"…
Dr. Richard Swenson, who lives in Wisconsin, concludes from him medical practice … “Many of my patients are suffering from a disease I call ‘Possession Overload’ … the problem of dealing with too much stuff. This is the kind of problem where you have so many things you find your life being taken up maintaining and caring for the things instead of people. He says there is an addictive quality in consumerism. The tragedy of wanting something badly, getting it and finding it empty!”
Results of a National Survey on Money and Happiness …
With Surprising Results!
Seminar leaders Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin refer to a Money and Happiness Survey they have conducted over the years to allow people the opportunity to rate on a scale of 1 to 5 the degree of happiness they experience in their daily lives. With one being very unhappy and five being very happy, over 1,000 participants averaged consistently between 2.6 and 2.8 (which is below the mid-point of 3.0!) What was interesting is that when correlated to income level, the people making the most money were less happy than those who were making less money! But … when each participant was asked how much money it would take to make them happy, it was always, “More than I have now, “ by a factor of between 50% and 100%. You see the problem here? The perception of reality did not match reality! The very thing (more money) that everyone thought would make them happier … actually had the opposite result!
Has There been Progress Since 1958 … and What do we Mean by "Progress?"
In 1958, economist John Kenneth Galbraith described the U.S. as an “affluent society.” Back then :- 9.5% of U.S. households had air conditioning
- 4.0% had dishwashers
- Less than 15% had more than one car
Yet, in 1980 … air conditioning was up 500%, dishwashers were up 700% … and yet polls showed that Americans felt significantly less well-off than they had 22 years earlier!
What is the Connection Between the "Feeling of Affluence" and our Overall Happiness?
1957 was the year when the most people surveyed described themselves as being “very happy.”Since that time, the figure has declined and never reached that point again. Since then, in terms of Gross National Product, we have twice as much prosperity as we did then, yet the feeling of affluence and happiness is lower now than it was in 1957. Could there be a connection between the increase in prosperity and the decrease in happiness? This is just the opposite of the conventional wisdom about money and possessions.
Seeing Advertising for What it Really is … How does it Affect our Happiness?
A large part of the blame for our decreasing happiness must be laid squarely at the feel of the advertising industry! Advertising … whether it is TV, magazines, billboards or the Internet, has as it aim the constant promoting of dissatisfaction. When you have bought into the idea of being dissatisfied, you will desire their product in search of finding that satisfaction!
If money had anything to do with happiness, why are there so many divorces? The average income of divorced couples is 20% higher than the national average! Couples with more money and possessions do not have more happiness, they have less, and divorce at a higher rate.
Three Voices of Experience Weigh in on Money and Possessions and Happiness:
- Benjamin Franklin on money and possessions … “Money never made a man happy yet, nor will it. There is nothing in its nature to produce happiness. The more a man has, the more he wants. Instead of filling a vacuum, it makes one.”
- John D. Rockefeller on money and happiness … “I have made millions, but not one of them has ever made me happy.”
- Andrew Carnegie on money and happiness … “Millionaires who laugh are rare, very rare indeed!”
Post this to the bathroom mirror!
Money and Possessions have never produced genuine happiness … and in reality… history has proven the opposite to be the case.
So, what do we do now? Take 15 minutes to list the things in your life that have given you the maximum amount of genuine happiness. Look closely at how many have nothing to do with money and possessions … and commit to make “having things” a smaller part of your life in the future.
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