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Humans are genetically predisposed with the desire to matter. Throughout history, great advances have been made with this character attribute alone. A desire to matter, the ability to define self-worth and the longing for wealth are all intuitive to humans, but how these relate to happiness, is a broad spectrum of inherent individuality.

To sit in a classroom of fourth graders is both enlightening and humorous. The observer gets to witness Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs unfold before them. Maslow's third human need is defined as 'esteem'. It is known by the need for confidence, achievement, respect from others and self-esteem. In a classroom setting of young individuals who have not yet accomplished anything great, their desire to matter can materialize by way of excelling in education, or by way of disruptive behavior all in the pursuit of being recognized, and mattering. Honor roll, or detention is affirmation that the individual matters, therefore making the recipient happy.

An interesting experiment was performed in the United States in the 1970's, by a young psychologist by the name of Vera Whiting, who had studied at Cambridge, England. She had individually taken a poor rancher, a convicted murderer, and a parishioner and asked them to recount their lives. She then placed a blank check before each of them and asked them to write the amount on the check that they felt they were worth. The convicted murderer, as expected, placed an exorbitant 10 figure number in the amount key. The parishioner jotted down priceless in the amount key, and the poor rancher left his blank and instructed the psychologist to inquire with his friends and family. He was confident that they would know better than he. The convicted murderer proved a distorted self-image and when asked if he was happy with his life, he said he would have liked to do it differently. The parishioner dutifully proclaimed that his life's work was through serving God, and the poor rancher was content in feeding his family, keeping them sheltered, and having the ability to help those needier than himself.

The pursuit of monetary wealth has caused men to murder, countries to go to war and families to be destroyed. However, monetary wealth at the end of one's life cannot travel through the pearly gates. It is accurate to say that a single mother who has a roof over her children's heads, a warm house in the winter, a refrigerator full of food, and lights in which to help her children do homework could possibly make her feel like the wealthiest woman in the world, compared to a greedy, self-loathing industrialist with no heir to his bank account, or a single friend on whom he could rely.

In the end, happiness is up to interpretation and is an expression of joy and content. Humans were not designed to be unhappy. The ability to accept what an individual has, for what it is, would be a manifestation of happiness and acceptance. Helen Keller once said "Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow." No truer words were spoken.

Learn more about this author, Cynthia Tavares.
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