Ah yes, there are the words of the ever annoying Kanye West from his song “The Good Life.” It sure makes sense doesn’t it? As any happy person can tell you, money doesn’t buy happiness, but at the same time, the lack of it isn’t wonderful either.
Each of us has in some way been affected by the state of our economy. This is the time when we reflect and understand the concept “need vs. want.” The huge different between want vs. need is based solely on emotion. At the same time, there is nothing wrong with wanting, but you shouldn’t allow “wanting” to turn into “needing.” Does money give us fulfillment, purpose, meaning or happiness? I know that it would be nice to have more of it, but I am not sure that feels the necessary void for fulfillment, purpose, meaning or happiness.
My husband and I work very hard to keep our home, pay our bills, put our children in good childcare, and at the end of the month, we have nothing to show for it. Well, I take that back, we have a nice home in a nice suburb, heat, hot water, food, and happy children. That is what we have to show for our hard work. Ten years ago, I would have told you that it wasn’t enough, but these days, I am content with that.
I work at a job I hate and the economy isn’t getting better so that I can get a job I love, but I have a mortgage that needs to be paid, bills, and a family needs me to work so like every other American, I learn perseverance and that is admirable and necessary if you have commitments and responsibilities. This weekend I thought about a time when life was simple and people lived modestly, but I woke up to the reality that was long before technology. There was time when people did not worry about mortgages, car payments, and credit cards and mothers stayed at home and raised their children. I am sure that people had other worries, but these are the worries I would like to do without.
There used to be a time when I wondered what people did without money; now, I don’t wonder. I have learned money isn’t everything and that the only thing you need money for is necessities. The rest will figure itself out. I generally don’t make New Years resolutions, but this year, I will make one – I will promise myself to stop worrying about money, because money really isn’t everything. Money can be easily replaced with love.
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Check out my latest Examiner article: New Year’s Resolutions for Working Moms.
So true. Money isn't everything, but we need it to survive in the world. Frankly, many of us spend too much time worrying about it.
I know that money isn't everything but sometimes it's a hard thing to remember.
Here's to a better 2010!
It is unbelievable that the cost of living is so far out of touch with wages. We live a comfortable life, like you, have a decent house, 1 vehicle is 10 years old while the other is 6 years old (both paid for in other words), putting our daughter through college and we are just almost living paycheck to paycheck. My wife and I both make good money for the area that we live in, but we just can't get ahead. I hope you can find a better place to work in 2010. I am in a slightly different situation, I love my job, just not crazy about who I do it for. Big companies are not happy with making money anymore, it's about how much more can we make this year. The company I work for boasted about a 7 million dollar profit last year, in the midst of this bad economy, and we are in contract negotiation currently for a new contract. The company is wanting to take money away from us while raising our insurance and taking away seniority rights. The company says that we just make too much money and are hurting them.