10 Reasons Why Money Cannot Buy Happiness

Happiness can be defined as the emotional state of being joyful and excited. Happiness has no value. It is an inherent feeling that comes from achieving success in any aspect of life.

One can also derive happiness from the fact that their loved ones and close friends are healthy and alive. You can find happiness through contentment and humility. Simply put, happiness can be achieved in a lot of ways.

Nevertheless, people — especially those not financially prosperous — always assume that money can buy happiness. This, to a large extent, is untrue and misleading. Money cannot buy happiness. Happiness is not purchased; it is derived.

This article will highlight why money can’t buy happiness and provide examples or share stories revolving around this topic. That said, below are ten reasons why money can’t buy happiness

1. You Will Never Be Satisfied

Contrary to popular opinion, money does not guarantee satisfaction. Of course, getting rich can solve many problems in your life but does not guarantee happiness.

Human beings have an insatiable desire to own all the things they want. Since it is almost impossible to get everything you want, satisfaction will never be achieved; no matter how rich you are.

The thing is, you can have all the money but may not have all the love or care you need.

You must have heard of any wealthy businessman who had acquired so much wealth that even if he stopped working for more money, he would never get broke.

Yet, he wasn’t really satisfied. Instead, he would develop a great desire to add more things to his wealth. For example, it could be a local football club, and he’s a lifelong supporter of the club.

His biggest dream would suddenly be owning the club and changing its fortunes for good.

2. Money Cannot Stop You From Having Horrible Experiences

The wealthiest people can also experience sad moments like everyone else. Sometimes, when they have such experiences, they can spend money to make everything return to normal.

But, other times, money cannot simply do anything to change their situation. For example, imagine a wealthy family getting involved in a car accident. Unfortunately, two members of the family did not survive the accident.

Even though they were taken to the best hospital in the country, they could not be brought back to life.

Of course, the family had the money to pay for their bills but could not do anything to avert the horrible accident that cut the lives of their loved ones short.

Another classic example was the case of the last Tsar of Russia’s son — Alexei Romanov — who had hemophilia. The European royal families often married one another, leading to chromosomal issues, including hemophilia.

Alexei was the heir apparent to the Russian throne. Although the Russian emperor was wealthy and in control of one of the biggest empires in Europe, his wealth could not prevent his son from suffering from the disease.

Until their death in 1918, they fought so hard to keep Alexei alive, and of course, his condition caused a lot of heartbreaking moments in their lives.

3. Money Can’t Make You Live A Healthy Lifestyle

Fit and healthy people are not living a healthy lifestyle because they are rich. They live well because they stick to the necessary diets and exercise routines.

In understanding why money can’t buy happiness, one can argue that you cannot afford to get the best training equipment or eat the right food without money. While this is true to a great extent, it is not entirely correct.

You can live a healthy lifestyle without having vast amounts of money in your bank account. All you need is the patience to work hard and be consistent in your dealings.

Soccer legend, Cristiano Ronaldo, is considered one of the fittest athletes alive. He is 36. Ideally, a soccer player who has passed his thirties is said to be at the twilight of his career.

However, this is not the case for Ronaldo. At 36, he is still breaking numerous records and setting standards in the sport. Interestingly, most of Ronaldo’s contemporaries have retired from soccer or playing in lower-ranked leagues.

Cristiano himself has admitted that what keeps him going is his decision to live a healthy lifestyle and exercise routinely. However, he has never said anything about living healthy because he was rich.

That is, Ronaldo’s wealth does not play a significant role in his fitness levels, but his dedication and desire to keep fit do.

4. Happiness Comes From Within

One of the main reasons money can’t buy happiness is that happiness comes from within; it is not sold in the market or mall. To find happiness, you must engage in what gives you joy.

When you feel great about yourself and the lives of your loved ones, you will derive happiness.

When challenges are not pushing you backward, and you are achieving your dreams, you will find happiness when everything is working well.

If happiness were valuable and could be bought with money, only poor people would commit suicide. The main reason why people commit suicide is that they are unhappy.

If they could buy happiness, do you think they would want to take their lives?

Ernest Hemingway was one of the greatest authors of his generation. He had won a Nobel prize in literature before taking his own life.

Even though he was achieving great successes at the height of his career, unfortunately, he couldn’t find happiness.

However, financially speaking, Ernest Hemingway was not incapable. He could have been able to afford a pack of happiness or two if they were sold in the market.

Kurt Cobain was a famous rock-and-roll musician in the nineties. He took his own life by shooting himself in the head. He was reported to constantly feel sad in the late stages of his life.

Perhaps, he had to cut his life short because he was depressed. These two figures are great examples of why money can’t buy happiness.

5. Time Has No Price Tag

Time is a priceless entity. Unfortunately, it, too, cannot be bought. Many wealthy people wish they could live longer and enjoy life forever. However, this is impossible because, as humans, we are designed to live and die.

If money could buy time, many people would live longer or perhaps forever. For such people, living a life of immortality is probably their source of happiness.

So, since money cannot buy time — which is an extension of their happiness — they cannot have the luxury of living longer than when they are supposed to die.

6. Money Provides Only Temporary Satisfaction

Having money to spend on most things you wish to have is great. Who wouldn’t want to cruise on a private boat bought with their cash? Who wouldn’t love to own a private jet or buy the latest cars?

Of course, everyone would. Although getting to own those things is satisfying, the satisfaction is always temporal. You may want to own something bigger or something more expensive one day.

When those things go out of fashion, you may not want them anymore and would love to buy the latest ones. Money cannot offer you the kind of satisfaction that would last a lifetime.

It would only be a means to getting something that would soon become outdated.

7. Peace Of Mind Is Not Bought; It Is Achieved

Regardless of your financial status, you can achieve peace of mind. Peace of mind is not sold anywhere; it lies deep within you. You can achieve it by simply doing the right thing and making yourself feel good.

Practicing Yoga and other meditative activities are known to help people achieve peace of mind. On the other hand, you may have all the money in the world and still be troubled by many things.

Last week, I read about the story of a CEO in a top multinational organization who had to resign. He did because he could no longer bear the heavy burden of being the CEO.

Interestingly, he was one of the highest-paid people in the business, and one would have thought he was happy.

Yet, he wasn’t. He admitted that he needed peace of mind and protect his mental health. Hence his decision to resign.

There are many people out there who are like the CEO. They have probably achieved all they always wanted but remain unhappy because they don’t have peace of mind.

Some of these people would seek therapy, while others would start practicing meditative exercises to make them feel better.

8. More Money, More Issues

While growing up, my father was always fond of saying was, “the more you earn, the more problems you have to solve.” Sometimes, I would think about it and conclude that it didn’t just make sense.

I thought it wasn’t possible to have more problems when you earn more. As an adult, I can relate better to what my father used to say.

While in college, I didn’t have much money to spend, and there was no reason to spend more. I had free accommodation and got financial support from my parents.

So I mostly spent money on food and academic materials. After I left college, I had to work in an organization hundreds of kilometers away from my parent’s house, so it was expedient that I got my apartment.

Of course, then, I had the full responsibility of paying rent, taking care of myself, and sending a couple of bucks back home. Then, I got promoted at work and was transferred to another region.

It meant I had to get another apartment. I also felt the need to own a car because it became stressful waiting at the bus station every day.

When I got my first paycheck at my new place, I had to spend almost everything at once to see that I got what I wanted!

Yes, getting promoted at work meant more money, but I wasn’t told that I would spend so much more!

9. Money Can Cause Unnecessary Obsession

Many people believe that excessive love for money can make people vile and evil. If you look at some of the problems facing our world today, they result from the desire to make money by all means.

For example, criminal activities, kidnapping, murder, and many more usually occur because of money.

Armed robbers risk their lives to rob banks or other financial organizations because they are obsessed with money.

Government officials are sometimes indicted for corruption and crimes because they want more money in their pockets. Everywhere you go, it seems as though money is the most important thing to get in life.

This unnecessary obsession has caused people to lose their lives, institutions to fold up, countries to remain underdeveloped, and criminal activities to flourish.

10. Money Won’t Get You, True Love

When you find true love, you find happiness most of the time. Unfortunately, since money can’t buy happiness, it cannot get true love. You may have people flocking around you if you have money.

Don’t make the mistake of assuming that they all love you. Most of those people may not want to have any relationship with you if you don’t have money.

The people who genuinely love you would stick around whether you have money or not. So, in learning why money can’t buy happiness, you must realize that you cannot use it to get true love.

Your personality, character, and attitude can get you true love, not money.

What Are The Things Money Can’t Buy?

To make things more straightforward, no one will criticize you for trying to make money. Of course, we need money to do a lot of things.

We need money to achieve our goals, provide a wonderful life for our family, help others who are financially incapable, and many other things. Money makes us live a better life.

However, the problem arises when we see money as the most important thing we need in life. Some people even believe that they can afford to get anything they want when they have money.

If you are among those who believe that money can buy anything, here are a few things money can’t buy:

1. Happiness

Since this article focuses on why money can’t buy happiness, it would only make sense if “Happiness” comes right on top of this list. This is because happiness has no value, and as a result, money cannot buy it.

But, of course, money can get you other pleasurable things, not abstract things like happiness. Happiness comes from within. That is, you must practice mind-uplifting exercises if you want to gain true happiness.

The importance of pursuing happiness cannot be stressed enough. To live a happier life, you have to show gratitude, focus on what matters to you the most, and show contentment.

You must have heard cases of wealthy people who live a sorrowful, uninteresting life. They may not be happy due to different reasons.

These reasons could be family, health, career, and many others. If it was possible that they could pay a certain amount to feel happy, don’t you think they would do so?

Being wealthy has no direct impact on your happiness. However, there are a lot of factors that could be responsible for your state of mind.

2. Time

Time too, is invaluable. You cannot alter how time works, no matter how wealthy you are. You cannot pay money to go back in time to correct the inevitable mistakes you have made.

While time is a gift to everyone alive, no one can possess it. Each moment that passes by is lost forever.

No amount of money can bring it back. Certain people have had horrible pasts and would do anything to erase such memories.

If they had the luxury of going back in time to erase such memories, they would do so without hesitation.

Additionally, some people wish they could extend their lives to live longer. Yet, it is not possible because time will eventually take them away from the world.

If they could purchase enough time to live longer, they would do so without minding how much it would cost. But, unfortunately, they cannot do so because time can neither be bought nor sold.

Everyone will die at the end rich people, poor people, and ordinary people. Therefore, we must be grateful to be alive and make the best use of our time right now.

3. Purpose

One of the most fundamental ways to live a fulfilled life is finding your purpose. Some people often think that the most essential thing in life is becoming wealthy and acquiring all the beautiful things in this world.

While money can be used as an instrument to achieve your purpose in life, it cannot be used to purchase purpose. Your life will become meaningful when you have a purpose.

You can have all the money in this world and not live a meaningful life. Of course, except you find your purpose.

4. Love

Money cannot buy true love. Interestingly, you may have difficulty finding true love when you have too much money.

This is because almost everyone will want to be close to you, and you may not be able to tell who is genuine or who is faking it.

People often treat wealthy people with love and respect. This is why you find many people making positive comments about rich people even though they are not sincere.

On the part of the rich person, they may not know how to find out whether the love is fake or genuine. As a result, rich people are more careful with the kind of people they let into their lives.

Yet, even though they try to be careful, it doesn’t guarantee that the people they let in truly love them. However, this does not mean that rich people cannot have a fantastic relationships with others.

Still, it is more difficult to find the right people. When love is not present, no money can make you feel happy in a relationship.

You must have heard stories of celebrity couples filing for divorce now and then. They have the money to keep them in the relationship, but there is no love to sustain it. Love is the backbone of every relationship, and once it’s lost, everything may crumble.

5. Health

Being healthy is one of the most important things you can achieve in life. If you are fit and not suffering from any disease, you have to be grateful and happy with yourself.

Whether a peasant or a billionaire, you cannot buy good health. Being healthy results from many factors, including genetics, exercising, meditative practices, avoidance of hard substances, and many more.

Of course, you can afford to pay for health care when you are sick, but that can never be fully responsible for your physical and mental well-being.

6. Friendship

Many people underestimate the value of having true friends. Having the right people in your life is something money can’t buy.

When you have money, you will most likely have a lot of “friends” because people will always want to hang out with you.

However, recognizing your true friends is something money cannot buy. Most of the people around you may not be there when you need them most. Your true friends will stick around to help you get out of any difficult situation.

Therefore, you must look out for those who are willing to pass through thick and thin with you and recognize them as your true friends. They are not there because you are rich but because they genuinely love and care about you.

Conclusion

I’m glad that you read this article. I am sure you now know why money can’t buy happiness.

So, henceforth, whenever you think about ways to be happy, think less about getting rich and more about finding happiness within.

That said, I encourage you to join our platform on Facebook and Instagram — Little Step, Big Miles. There you will meet beautiful people from all walks of life who are willing to help one another grow.

If you would like to join us, you can join the Facebook community or follow us on Instagram.

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