by David Child

Created on: March 10, 2007   Last Updated: April 30, 2007

Money cannot "buy" happiness and love. It's not as if you can go into a Happiness and Love Store and buy them. You cannot put your dollars into the hands of a Happiness and Love Vendor and then get your them. But money is a necessary part of our lives because because the world has determined (through a combination of government decree and natural supply and demand forces) that money is a medium of exchange and that it holds value relative to other things that we want. So, if we want things, we must have something to give that others want to have. Since money (coin, currency, check, debit card, electronic transfer) is much easier to carry than, say, a bunch of marbles or a herd of sheep, then money is important in a very practical sense.

Money helps us buy things that we think will give us happiness and love. Money itself is not the issue, but it is what we can buy with the money that is at the heart of the matter.

One thing we can buy with money is a home and a yard. If we have 7 children, a home is very useful and can help the family move around better and have their space. There probably would be more happiness and love living in a spacious home than living in a small trailer due to the crowding factor, but, then again, if every member of that household were philosophical gurus and spiritual giants, willing to endure all things for the sake of the others, the members of that family could have a copious amount of happiness and love.

I remember living in a very small room for several years when I was single and earning $7.00 per hour. I felt much happier then, than when I was living with a wife in a much larger place with plenty of money, but with many problems dealing with contention and smallness of character.

Happiness and love depends on so many things and cannot be linked exclusively to having money.

If you think money, and more money, is going to solve all your problems and give you total bliss, you are definitely wrong. But, if you think it will help you have fewer worries and solve some problems, you are definitely right. After all, all of us need to pay our utilities and our debts, and if we don't do these things, we are certainly going to have problems with happiness, contentment and worry.

Speaking generally, anyone with $50 might have more happiness and love than someone with $5 billion at certain times. If I have $5 million dollars but do not know how to socialize or have empathy, compassion and self acceptance, then it doesn't matter what I buy, and the money doesn't matter. If one is depressed due to a physical condition or a condition stemming from childhood problems, then having money is not important, UNLESS you can use it to find someone to help you out of your moral or mental dilemmas, and then the money is useful.

Having said this, if you have no money - zero, zilch, nada - you need to get some soon to get happiness and love.

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