Happiness within

I would like to pose two fundamental questions: what is happiness and what is the role of money in our lives?

Happiness, I believe, is the state of mind when there are no agitations. Now, what gives rise to agitation? Isn’t it our own making? Tempted by the sight of something, we create a desire within, which in turn disturbs our otherwise calm mind. When the desire gets fulfilled, the mind returns to its original state of calmness. We say we have experienced happiness, as if happiness resided in the thing we desired. But this happiness lasts so long as the next desire has not arisen.

In her famous book, Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand defines money as a “tool of exchange” between those who produce certain goods and those who want the goods. “Not an ocean of tears, not all the guns in the world can transform those pieces of paper in your wallet into the bread you will need to survive tomorrow”, she says.

We part with money for the things we value more than money. Hence, so long as we want something from the world, we will need money. Money, in this context, gives a sense of future happiness. However, since we don’t have a fixed list of wants‚ we can’t decide how much money is enough. And the wild goose chase goes on, all through life.

Stephen Crane gives a handy recipe for happiness. It is to rid yourself of your notion of your rights. To get the taste of life we must approach it as a beggar at the king's court. If we are despised, what’s more natural? If we are feasted, what a marvel! Thus, we may become happy here and now, with or without money.