by Brooke Hart

Created on: April 21, 2008

In our culture, there is a rating of what morals are, as well as what words and concepts should mean to us. For centuries, the concept of happiness and love was used with an equation that had to be seen, heard or felt. This was directly related to the amount of green or gold that was held in one's hands.

Before there was money, there were people. These individuals didn't trade by a piece of paper, but through value of economic worth of what was being traded. In the most sophisticated cultures, the trade was based on chocolate, not money. In fact, most of these individuals equated money as a simple trade for survival. It could not show a true value of who the person was or what they felt, as this was a separate emotion.

Today, the concept of economic worth and trade has reached a disturbing change in who one is and what makes them happy. Instead of looking inward at the values and ideals that one has, the monetary value of how much one has is at stake.

Unfortunately, this superficial value is one that is only seen on the surface and is rapidly disappearing.

At this time in our culture, money is no longer one that holds significance, not only as a matter of status, but also as a matter of how one feels about another or about themselves. One can say that happiness and love are found from the root of money; however, this is quickly changing, as money does towards a new pair of shoes or towards the IRS.

When one is truly happy, it is something that is found deep within. This is not just being rich or having money; it is true wealth. It can be felt as a tingling in the gut and in the mind, and it doesn't need words or significant value in order to be there. The emotions, whether happiness, love, freedom and even sadness are not found on an outer level. It is found deep within and with how one makes peace with themselves.

While money can buy materialism, shoes, new hair-dos or clothing and food, it is simply a materialistic necessity for survival that has become a part of our culture and world. Happiness and love can be felt no matter what state one is in or what they have in the world. It is an emotion that is separated from the worldly needs and expresses one's divinity and wealth, as well as their inner worth.

By separating the two ideals, one can see what the true value of each is and can begin to be distinguished in the correct way, bringing the true ideals and concepts of worth into our lives. Knowing your value as a human will always have more wealth involved than the trade value of money.

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