Money and Happiness

The flight to the capital city ,Kuala Lumpur is about 2 hours 20 mins from Labuan island.Usually , I find myself skimming through newspaper page by page looking for newsworthy article. I want to share with you about an interesting article in regards to the subject that we all have in our mind right now. Money...... Yes, money is a much talk about subject especially during this difficult period. We all have this worry that the money may run dry and caused us to downgrade our lifestyle. The following is extracted from part of the article.

According to Ryan Howell, an assistant professor of psychology as San Francisco State University, found that buying experiences such as vacations, going to the theater or renting a sailboat- gave people more happiness than buying material things. The study, of 154 people ages 19 to 50, showed that experience increase happiness because there are often social in nature., in addition experience tend to make people more alive." people report a sense of feeling invigorated or inspired.' Howell said, Experiences may also yield more happiness because people are left with positive memories, a sort of return on their investment. Howell also mentioned that 'For whatever you can afford, you'll will maximise your happiness, and the happiness of others around you, if you spend in on a life experience."

I believe there is some truth to his studies, as I have experience buying things that I thought would make me happy or solve my problems only to store away the item in a corner somewhere. I remember a few years ago, when everyone was into PDA's and so I got myself one with the excuse that it would help me to be more organise and get things done. However the interest in the PDA only lasted two weeks as I was not able to fully appreciate the use of the technology. However the vacations I have gone with my wife to Hong Kong, Phillipines, Singapore has so much wonderful memories despite not spending lavishly.

It does not take a lot of money to have a wonderful life experience, of course having it more is always better. To conclude , what the studies shows is that money doesn't make us happy; it's experiences that give us joy.