Can we stop saying that money doesn't buy happiness?
It buys opportunities to do the things you want, the ability to get the things you need, and options for dealing with obstacles.
Happiness emerges from circumstances. More money = more control over circumstances.
It buys opportunities to do the things you want, the ability to get the things you need, and options for dealing with obstacles.
Happiness emerges from circumstances. More money = more control over circumstances.
As you read older books in modern English, you might notice that the words "happiness" and "unhappiness" are used in ways that are almost 100% synonymous with good/bad luck or fortune/misfortune.
E.g., "Unhappily" used where modern writers would say "Unfortunately". ("Sadly" is still used in this context, though "happily" less and less so.)
Both my laptop and desktop computer are dying. "Happily" I already have a replacement for my laptop coming through something I Kickstarted last year (a NexDock 2, which will let me use both my wearable PC and my phone as a laptop).
"Happily" I have a wearable PC that can be used for 90% of what I'd use a laptop for. "Happily" I have some money set aside so that I don't have to scramble if my desktop dies the final death, and I have alternatives so I can take my time looking for good deals on a replacement.
Other times when my computer has died, it has been a crisis that imperiled my livelihood and caused a desperate scramble for a replacement, getting whatever I could afford and hoping it lasted.
Money when your computer needs replacing can be the difference between "Ooh, goody, an excuse to upgrade! Time for a treat!" to "I don't know how I'm going to do this when I can't afford a new computer without a computer to work with."
One of the first conventions I went to... I couldn't afford to travel round-trip when I booked. I had to count on the fact that the convention fell near the end of the month (my payday) and that I was travelling alone and could snipe good same-day travel deals to get home.
Now, with just a little more money, I'm apt to treat conventions as vacations. I don't have "but how will I get home?" hanging over me the whole time I'm there. I can have fun.
If that's not happiness, what is?
If that's not happiness, what is?
Last few years have been my highest paid ever in my life. The instability I've been going through since last summer (RIP, Mom) has torpedoed a lot of that and I'm still finding my footing again and rebuilding my career. But even having *had* money for that time left me better off
And money kept my mother alive and allowed her to enjoy her life for a lot longer than the alternative.
In conclusion: money doesn't just buy happiness, it also buys my newsletter.
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