money making: a pursuit to happiness?

It’s been ages since I blogged, there have been occasions when I had the time and means to express what was in my mind in words , but I never took the initiative to do so. But today after almost a year I felt like connecting back to the world of blogging. And yes there is a reason behind it....for the past few months I have constantly involved myself with the urge to understand the relation between money making and happiness. At present most of my day is in pursuit to find answers to this area of interest. So I thought of sharing this with you too, let me bring in this idea which I have been pondering over, let your thoughts pour in...

 ‘What will the future bring? From time immemorial this question has occupied men’s minds, though not always to the same degree. Historically it is chiefly in times of physical, political, economic and spiritual distress that men’s eyes turn with anxious hope to the future and when anticipation, utopias and apocalyptic vision multiply.’ – C.G Jung

Man is always anxious about what his future beholds for him. He is in constant quest to answer it. And he wants to answer it in the best possible way. And so he tries every means to maximise his materialistic world. But is it that he wants to acquire in his life time. Or does materialism help him be happy. In fact, it’s often seen that people with ample resources in hand are somehow not satisfied with life. While those with only mere means to live, are content and ready to lead a happy life with whatever little they have. It’s such an irony that the destitute are somehow happy while the solvent carve for more. The rich wants to get richer by every passing day. It’s not that the poor don’t want to get rich, but somehow in our economy it’s difficult for the poor to flourish, the problem of a lopsided development. This brings us to a question, “Does being wealthy make one happy?” For an individual to survive in this fast moving world, it is necessary to have money in hand. For a sustained growth and development it is inevitable to have a high paying job too. But despite having all these we find the majority of wealthy people somehow unhappy and dissatisfied with their life.

 Money is needed to survive in this society and one needs to have sufficient amount of it. The sufficiency level differs from person to person. But the fact is after a limit money becomes just a piece of paper, completely inert. May be that’s the reason why some say, money can buy you everything but not peace and happiness. Being wealthy and rich need not make a person happy similarly being poor need not make a man unhappy too.

 This brings us to a question, “What is it that most human beings want in life?” The answer is Happiness. Peace of mind. However, when asked, most are likely to name intermediate steps to the ultimate goal of happiness, steps to the summit, mistaking the steps for the summit. Money, a new car, getting children admitted to prestigious school, health, a new dress or suit, a fancy home.... but if pushed if asked, “what next?, what after that, they will sooner or later come to realise that our attempts to maximise things is to ultimately maximise happiness.

 But are we trying to maximise happiness, and even if we are doing so...are we getting in the desired results. Doing the things we like or make us happy may give us happiness to some extent. But can we keep on doing that our entire life. Don’t we have other responsibilities to look at? Is it possible to strike a happy balance between responsibility and happiness? Can financial success and happiness go hand in hand? May be making what we enjoy our pursuit of living can lead us to happiness, but what if our selected means fails to give in the promised earnings? All these and many more questions need to be answered...

 Note: For all those who are at present thinking this girl is going nuts, then yes you are right am going nuts, as this is somewhat my area where I am trying to research and the fact is I find myself getting confused by every passing day.... k now let me hear what you have to share!:)