Are you buying your happiness?

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Fact is — You can't buy happiness.

Some would argue, however: “that's just what poor people say”. Jordan Belfort said in the Wolf of Wall Street: I have been a rich man, and I have been a poor man, and at the end of the day I will choose rich every time. But those who argue this forget: Jordan Belfort was an unapologetic hedonist, he defrauded a lot of people, he abused drugs, he collected STD's like they were TCG's, treated women like objects, and is basically a morally bankrupt individual that no one should idolize.

So excuse me if I don't take the message of a terrible person into consideration as to how to be happy.

I'm not advocating you don't be rich. By all means, financial independence is crucial when existing in a hyper capitalistic world, which is the one we have now. I wouldn't mind being rich. If I won the lottery and the next day have a million euros in my bank account, I would not complain.

But the thesis is: You can't buy happiness. This is because of Hedonic Adaptation. You buy shit, you enjoy shit and later down the line you get sick of the shit, and you do it all over again.

It's a sad reality of consumerism that most people don't understand.

Image by Daniel Kirsch from Pixabay

The ad men try to sell you happiness, but you can never really buy it. Happiness is one of those things that you make yourself, nothing external can give you this.

Let give an example from popular media:

This is funny because most people find it absurd that anybody could equate a tie clip to a sports car in terms of value. But monks have found satisfaction in life without material goods, and they are living proof that you can be happy without nothing.

Consumerism is the enemy of happiness. The ad-men have conditioned society to feel like they need the next shiny thing. Only for them to sell you a new shiny thing later and make you feel like your current shiny thing is not as shiny.

And people fall for this. Hedonic Adaptation is common in people who try to buy happiness. That's why they are never satisfied with their current stuff, and there will always be something new to buy.

Just look in your house, count how many phones you have. I have 6 that I have collected since 2012. I know people who have one for every year since they started working, some have more. Why?

Now, I can't possibly know why people buy their way into happiness, but I know it's not possible. Because I have a list from when I first started working of the things I wanted to own by age 25.

This included a car, a powerful gaming, a collection of shades, just stuff. Almost two decades later, I have bought most of the things in that list, and yet I feel like I would be happier with a new car. Or I could use another PC, despite mine being a monster already. I could have more lenses for my camera. And the list just continues, THERE IS ALWAYS SOMETHING NEW TO BUY.

So I just stopped. And I'm better off for it.

Again, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying don't be rich, or don't buy stuff. But before you buy something, there has to be some introspection. Do you really need that new car? That new sofa? That new shoe your favorite basketball player is promoting?

For the past few years, I have tried being mindful of my life. I started being grateful of the opportunity to be able to afford nice things. But I am also grateful for having things already. Contentment allowed me to stop worrying about missing out on the next thing to buy, because I know what I have is enough.

So, are you buying your happiness? Are you still chasing the next thing to buy? Do you still believe that owning a particular product will make you happy?

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