Do Objects give happiness? | Can money buy Happiness? | Money can’t buy happiness
Objects are very useful & important of course, but do they give us happiness?… Let’s understand this, with a very simple example.
A beautiful example!
Suppose a friend gifts you a gadget (phone, tablet, iPad, etc). Now, all of us will agree that the level of happiness is much higher when a friend gifts it to us, as compared to we buying it ourselves. Hence, happiness is higher although the object is the same.
Now suppose the next day, we come to know that the friend actually gave an outdated used piece saying it’s new. Happiness will immediately vanish, although object is the same.
Hence, we saw in both the above cases that although our happiness went up & down, the object was the same. This proves that the object doesn’t give happiness. So, the question arises that what is it that gives me happiness?
What determines my happiness?
In the former case, we created very good thoughts e.x., “Wow, such a wonderful gadget”, “I finally got what I wanted“, “He’s such a good caring considerate friend”, “How thoughtful of him to gift to me“, etc…. It’s these good thoughts which create the feeling of happiness
And in the latter case, we created thoughts like “How could he do this to me?”, “I’ve always given good, look at him”, “There’s no point being good in this world”, “Can’t I purchase myself?”, “He should atleast have told”, etc… Hence, it’s these not-so-good thoughts which made happiness vanish…
Hence, happiness doesn’t depend on the object, but happiness depends on the thoughts we create in response to getting the object.
And indeed, an object always gives what its designed to give i.e., it’s designed to give comfort, convenience & features and it always gives these till the end of it’s lifetime… But since it’s physical, it can only give physical comfort, while it’s my (subtle) thoughts that lead to (subtle) feelings like happiness.
Conclusion (Money can’t buy happiness)
Hence, objects don’t give happiness but it’s the good thoughts I create in response to getting the object which gives me happiness… Hence, it’s absolutely fine even if we can’t afford the best & latest, because happiness is independent of it!… Indeed, let’s keep creating good thoughts always, to remain happy always!
Thanks for reading this article on ‘Do Objects give happiness? | Can money buy Happiness? | Money can’t buy happiness’
Previous Post: ‘What is Happiness’ definition | Benefits of Happiness
As part of our series on ‘How to be happy always’