American Dream? Essy

                                                   It’s All Relative

When you hear the phrase “money can’t buy you happiness”, do you smirk, while rolling your

eyes and think”BS” like myself? If you do, some might call you a bitter pessimist, but I would

just call you a realist. I have been knee-deep in bills, overwhelmed with the worry of how I’m

going to be fed that night, with the impending doom that if I don’t get paid soon, I might lose

the house over my head. That’s just real-life, you know? Let’s face it, not too many people can

live happily on a low income in this day in age. Everything has a price tag; you don’t get

something for nothing. On the contrary, what defines one’s happiness? Like, what makes YOU

happy? For some people, money plays no part of their happiness at all. These people I do not

understand because in my life and others like me, it plays a significant role in my ‘happiness’.

What Makes Me Happy?:

You probably have the belief that I am a miserable, salty person who isn’t happy about

anything. This is so far from the truth and completely wrong. I’m an extremely passionate

 person and these passions I have are what makes me happy. Family, friends, pets, a rainy day,

MY JOB, laughter, health, security, iced coffee; this list can go on and on, but what ruins these

passion(s) of mine and what makes me frown, is when you taint any of them with money.

Let’s take a look at my job. It is a perfect example of this situation. I realized around my mid-

twenties, my goal in life was to be a licensed massage therapist. It was something I was born to

do…to help people with their pain. I am a huge advocate for massage therapy and I thoroughly

believe in the benefits of massage and wellness. Early in my career, I was completely satisfied

with my decision in becoming a LMT. I got paid well, I enjoyed my colleagues and I had the time

to enjoy other passions in life. According to the occupational outlook handbook, I was making

around $34,900 per year(Handbook)₁, which is scrap change for some but to me, it was just

enough. I thought I really didn’t need money to make me happy. It wasn’t until the past year or

 two when financial frustrations arose. It seems money did, in fact, play a key role in my

happiness.

I moved back home to Jacksonville, Florida three years ago to be closer to one of my other

passions in life, my family. I thought I could still be a successful therapist. The economy changed

as well as my surroundings and I was starting to become spent. I was getting paid way less and

working tons more. You see, in order to be happy as a massage therapist, you need to have a

perfect equilibrium of massages you do and money. I am on the path to burning out which is a

death sentence to any LMT”S career.  It’s almost to the point to where I don’t want to massage

anymore. And that is just a scary thought. I am no longer a happy camper.  When I heard guest

speaker, Mo Garcia (Speaker) ₂, say, “When your career is your passion, the money will follow”,

I thought to myself in disbelief. My job IS my passion and I’m not seeing any money, ok honey.

What Makes Others Happy?:

In contrast, there seems to be quite a few people who do not need money to be happy. They

have achieved happiness through appreciating the smaller things in life. The phrase ‘more

money, more problems” comes to mind. For example, “What they found was that those with

higher incomes had more chores and less fun. They devoted more time to working, commuting,

childcare, and shopping and were under more stress and tension than those in lower income

brackets.”(Livescience)₃. You cannot deny that more stress would come from having more

money.  The people that do not need money in order to be happy are ones who appreciate

what they do have.  Happiness comes from their inner being. They seemed to have a better

filter on how their mind works. Maybe one day I can make this achievable.  

In Conclusion:

It appears that everything in life is all relative and this includes happiness. From your job and

your passions to appreciating the smaller things in life, it’s all up to you and how happy you

want to be. But, in my opinion and from my own experience, don’t ruin your passion [i.e. Job]

with money.  It will just taint it and make it meaningless. Save it for bringing enjoyment and

love into your life; not for bringing in stress and burden. Money doesn't always buy you

happiness, but it will buy you iced coffee and that makes me happy! 

                                                    WORKS CITED PAGE:

1)      http://www.bls.gov/ooh/Healthcare/Massage-therapists.htm;  Occupational Handbook, (web)

2)       Mo Garcia; motivational speaker

3)      http://www.livescience.com/874-study-money-buy-happiness.html; Livescience;(web)