money and happiness, is there really a question here?

We've all heard it before, money doesn't guarantee love or happiness, and in fact, if you Google the phrase "money can't buy happiness," you get over 4.5 million hits. Clearly, this is a much thought about topic.

In my opinion, the person who coined that phrase was either delusional, or so crazy, stinking rich, that he couldn't see beyond his own foolishness.

Perhaps it's less accurate to state it in this manner. Maybe it's better understood if we look from the opposite perspective: general happiness is hard to maintain when you're broke. Okay, okay, don't come at me with stats from the various sociological studies in recent years that have provided much evidence to the contrary, because really, this is harder to talk about in the macro sense, and much easier to focus on the micro.

If I had more money, I think I could be happier.

If I had more money, I could afford to buy a slightly larger house, within the school district lines for the elementary school I'd like my younger two children to attend. The children would have a little more space for a play area, most definitely increasing everyone's happiness significantly.

If I had more money, I wouldn't have to worry about paying the bills, causing a marked decrease in anxiety.

If I had more money, I could pursue my passions, putting my energy into projects that could allow me to grow in that direction.

If I had more money, I could have more time. Time for my family, time to focus on my relationship with my husband, time for the care of my home, time for me.

I can't imagine that I'm alone in these thoughts, as shallow or self-serving or selfish as they may be. Unfortunately, the pursuit for more money often ends up hindering the very things we think we could do if we had more money. No beating around the bush on this one, this is obviously stemming from my recent return to work, which hopefully will bring about some wishes for our family in the long term as a result of an added paycheck, yet also comes with a day-to-day reality that I'm finding quite difficult to come to terms with, just yet.

Money, money, money. For as much trouble as it can bring, I can't say I wouldn't mind stumbling upon my own little pot of gold right about now.


Wistfully yours,