I was recently watching an episode of 20/20 where Elizabeth Vargas interviewed America’s Cheapest Family. During the course of the interview, Annette Economides, wife and mother of America’s Cheapest Family, asked, “What do you need to be happy?”
That’s a good question. What do you need to be happy? Do you need designer clothes? Cable television? A $500,000 house? A BMW?
I don’t think anyone needs any of these things to be happy. I think we use many of these things to fill holes in our lives. Wearing designer clothing makes us feel like we have status. Cable television cures our boredom. An expensive house and car elevates us in the eyes of our peers. But none of these things will truly make us happy.
I will never be truly happy until I recognize that happiness comes from being content in my circumstances, whatever they are. How can I be happy if I’m continually striving to keep up with my neighbors? I can’t, because I’m not content.
If I learn to find joy in family, friends, and my relationship with God, stuff doesn’t matter. Sure, nice things might add convenience or a momentary spender’s high to my life, but in the end they don’t really bring happiness. True happiness comes from within.
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September 6th, 2007 at 5:30 pm
A good piece on happiness. I wanted to mention that I reference it in my latest Wise Bread piece on much the same topic.
September 6th, 2007 at 5:42 pm
Thank you!