All our lives we struggle to achieve the financial success that can grant us our ideal standard of living. Those of us who are lucky enough to be born in a wealthy family, well, they mostly struggle to preserve what they already have.
But what happens if you've been living for so long in an environment where all your material needs have constantly been met? What if you have no more reasons to complain about mundane issues such as the fact that you have to pay your rent or that your car is broken and you have to get it fixed. Will you feel forever grateful and live in a perpetual state of bliss or would you be even more prone to feel miserable and unsatisfied?
They say money can buy everything, including happiness and when it can't buy it, it can at least ensure it. But are there any drawbacks of having (enough) money? Can wealth actually contribute to depression or even be a major cause of this common plague?
Over the past years, the media has provided us with many examples of rich and famous people who weren't apparently so happy despite their fortune. Addiction, depression and even suicide were the highlights of the articles focused on these people. However, let us consider them exceptions and blame their lack of balance on the fact that fame brings stress, lack of privacy and other cons that might justify their unhappiness.
But what justifies the same problems in regular people who simply earn or own more than the average person. Why should they feel depressed, unfulfilled or angry of they already have what everybody else strives for? The truth is that financial prosperity doesn't always bring emotional stability, let alone happiness.
I personally know people who have a lot of money compared to most of my acquaintances and are yet unhappy. If you ask them what is wrong, they are often incapable of spotting the problem. All they know is that a constant feeling of unease accompanies them no matter where they go and what they do.
Judging by how they live, and comparing them with the rest of the world, I would say that they simply lack the drive everyone else needs to have. They already have everything and don't need to struggle for anything and this keeps them in a state of lethargy where nothing is exciting anymore. And if you see things from this perspective, money is not only a factor that contributes to depression, but it might as well be its very cause.
If you don't have everything you want, consider yourself lucky because you have plenty reasons to get out of bed every morning and simply live your life the way it is, making plans, meeting deadlines, facing challenges and enjoying the small victories that help you gradually climb the social, professional or financial ladder you chose for yourself.
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I have been on both sides of the story, and I can tell you what the "problem" is.
When you are poor, the life's challenges might be difficult, but easy to define. I need money to pay the bank at the end of the month, and once I earned them I consider myself to be a successful person. Plain clear!
On the other side, when you have multiple possibilities, is very difficult to define success. Is not that you are lazy (ok, might be also lazy guys, but it's never about them), but decisions are difficult and have implications on multiple levels. Whatever you are doing, you might be successful on several levels, but you will definitely miss one or two (you are successful in your business, but you might neglect your family, or you might do a great business decision, but you had to fire one guy, and you are an cruel asshol for not caring about his poor life). And people always expect success from you: you are the millionaire they always dreamed to be, so you have no excuse not to be successful.
And this is the source of all unhappiness...
Thanks for comment. It is indeed very difficult to find balance in your life no matter how wealthy you are.