Can Happiness Be Bought?

Can Happiness Be Bought
CAN HAPPINESS BE BOUGHT?
ACCORDING TO ARTHUR C. BROOKS, AUTHOR OF THE ARTICLE “CAN MONEY BUY HAPPINESS,” “AMERICANS HAVE ON AVERAGE GOTTEN MUCH RICHER OVER THE PAST SEVERAL DECADES THAN THEY WERE IN PREVIOUS GENERATIONS. THE INCONVENIENT TRUTH, HOWEVER, IS THAT THERE HAS BEEN NO MEANINGFUL RISE IN THE AVERAGE LEVEL OF HAPPINESS.” HAPPINESS IS NOT SOMETHING THAT CAN BE BOUGHT; IT IS SOMETHING THAT IS ACHIEVED. ALTHOUGH MONEY CAN BUY PEOPLE MANY THINGS AND GIVES THEM AN EMOTIONAL BOOST, TRUE HAPPINESS IS NOT SOMETHING THAT CAN BE PURCHASED. HAPPINESS IS AN ACHIEVED FEELING THAT CAN COME FROM THINGS SUCH AS, SPENDING MONEY ON OTHER PEOPLE OR EVEN JUST TAKING SOME EXTRA TIME TO TALK WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY.  
ALTHOUGH SPENDING MONEY ON OURSELVES CAN GIVE US A HIGH, IT IS ONLY TEMPORARY. IT’S EASY TO OVERESTIMATE JUST HOW MUCH PLEASURE WILL COME FROM HAVING MORE MONEY AVAILABLE FOR OUR USE (FUTRELLE). ALTHOUGH PURCHASING EXTRAVAGANT ITEMS FOR ONESELF, SUCH AS A BRAND NEW HUMMER OR A $400 BUSINESS SUIT, IT HAS BEEN FOUND THAT WE ADJUST TO THIS NEW LIFESTYLE QUICKLY AND IT EVENTUALLY TURNS INTO “A STATE OF RUNNING IN PLACE THAT ECONOMISTS CALL THE “HEDONIC TREADMILL””(FUTRELLE). ARTHUR C. BROOKS, AUTHOR OF “CAN MONEY BUY HAPPINESS?”, EXAMINES THE HAPPINESS LEVELS OF LOTTERY WINNERS. IN 1978, TWO PSYCHOLOGISTS INTERVIEWED 22 WINNERS OF THE LOTTERY. THEIR FINDINGS WERE THAT AFTER ONLY A FEW MONTHS, THE LOTTERY WINNER’S EXCITEMENT AND JOY OF THEIR NEW FORTUNE HAD BEGUN TO WEAR OFF. NOT ONLY THAT, BUT THE WINNERS ALSO HAD A HARD TIME ENJOYING LIFE’S SIMPLE PLEASURES SUCH AS HAVING A CONVERSATION WITH A FAMILY MEMBER OR CLOSE FRIEND OR EVEN WATCHING THEIR FAVORITE TELEVISION SHOW. OVER ALL, MONEY DOES BRING A SENSE OF HAPPINESS AND JOY TO YOUR LIFE, BUT AS HAVING MORE MONEY BECOMES YOUR “NORMAL” WAY OF LIFE, THIS HAPPY FEELING DISAPPEARS.
SPENDING MONEY ON OTHER PEOPLE HAS BEEN PROVEN TO BE MORE EFFECTIVE IN ACHIEVING GREATER HAPPINESS IN ONES...