Studies on lottery winners in the 1970s reported that people who hit the jackpot claimed to have no noticeable difference in their level of happiness a year or so after coming into more money. In fact, aside from resources for basic survival and comfort needs, people who earn higher salaries often report the same or lower levels of satisfaction with their lives compared to others. So why is your multimillion dollar lawyer less content than your starving artist? Let me tell you a quick little story…
A fisherman off the coast of South America brings in his catch everyday and a visiting tourist from Harvard in America
“No, no, no,” he explains. “You should go catch more fish. Then you will earn more money from selling them.”
“And then what?” the fisherman inquires.
“Then you’ll have enough money to hire more hands to catch more fish and make even more money,” the Harvard man says.
“Then what?”
“Then you can buy a canning factory and sell directly to customers around the world.”
“Then what?”
“Then you’ll have more money and can set yourself up in New York
“Then what?”
“Then you’ll manage your corporation for many years and eventually sell your own stock in the company and retire.”
“Then what?”
“Then you can hang out near the beach, catch a few fish for fun, have siestas with your wife, play guitar with your friends, and drink wine in the evenings.”
The fisherman simply shakes his head, shrugs, and walks off to go have a siesta with his wife.
Obviously, this isn’t my story, but the idea is the same. You don’t need to be rich to enjoy the very best of life. And it’s in living, not in making money, that we truly find purpose.
That's a great story. Thanks for reminding me to enjoy today and not wait for wealth to be happy!
ReplyDeleteNo problem:) Hope that it makes your Monday a little brighter:)
ReplyDeleteHmmm...I think I need to find another line of work! Perhaps something involving siesta's.
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I love those pictures, especially the first one. I remembered over the weekend that I don't need a book deal to make me happy- I'm already there.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great story, but I admit if you do what you love and just happen to make a lot of money doing it, it certainly doesn't hurt. ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks Stephanie and Meghan, all valid points:) I think the guiding star I go by myself is that everything we do must be worthwhile in of itself, i.e. the ends don't justify the means. Whether writing, reading or just living life it all comes full circle:)
ReplyDeleteMoney, would make me happier if I had any! I guess its just fate that makes me happy for having none. Uncle Jeff.
ReplyDeleteHi Jeff:) I shall respond with another quick story...Planet Earth had a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much all of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movement of small green pieces of paper, which was odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.
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