New year’s reflections Part 3

A person who experiences well-being can stay in control even when the day is filled with woes. I remember reading Bertrand Russel as a young man at University. He once said, “most people are unhappy”. Soren Kierkegaard talked about the hyper activism in western society as being a futile attempt to escape our awareness of death. 
          
I once thought we are all like smooth flat pebbles thrown over the surface of a pond. We would dance & dance & dance along the surface until we run out of momentum, & then each of us sinks into the deep of nothingness. In the end, happiness is a state of mind that depends less on our objective circumstances & more on how we respond to them. Neither poverty nor wealth brings happiness! Affluence has steadily increased over the last 50 years while our sense of well-being has declined. When surveyed and asked “what would make you happier,” most people say “more money” but research has proved that this is not so. The rush of euphoria that comes from a pay rise, a lottery win, or other windfalls is transitory. 
 
Materialism does seem to be a way of keeping score in the game of life, but materialism only has a moderate effect on our wellbeing. Survey’s done by country, record a moderate percentage increase in well-being in affluent countries over poor but the richest are not the happiest. Those at the bottom end of the scale live with hopelessness, those at the top end live their lives with emptiness. 
 
The conclusion then of research on wealth is that once a person is comfortable, more money provides diminishing returns and the correlation between income & happiness is modest. That means happiness does not rise with affluence. When we have basic human rights, secure food & shelter as well as meaningful activity & enriching relationships, happiness is unaffected by whether we drive a BMW or ride on a bus. Realizing this should liberate us from envying the lifestyles of the rich. Part 2 tonight (I had trouble editing this to 350 words.)