I have written about this before- this subject I hear a lot about: Money makes everyone happier. It doesn’t.

When Warren Buffett announced last week that he will be giving away more than $30 billion to improve health, nutrition and education, people all over America reflected on his remarkable generosity, pondered all the noble things the gift would achieve and asked themselves what they would do if someone were to give them that kind of dough.

If I had 30 billion I would give it away too. Why? Why not is the question. No one needs THAT much money.

Buffett may have been thinking of his soul — “There is more than one way to get to heaven, but this is a great way,” he said as he announced the largest gift in the history of the planet — but he may also have been keeping up with the latest psychological research.

I don’t know about all this research but I do know about what’s over the top.

A wealth of data in recent decades has shown that once personal wealth exceeds about $12,000 a year, more money produces virtually no increase in life satisfaction. From 1958 to 1987, for example, income in Japan grew fivefold, but researchers could find no corresponding increase in happiness.

I think as long as we have enough money to get by on most people can be happy. Or at least content. Paying the bills can be an ordeal for sure- but so is MAKING bills we don’t need. Spend wisely and staying within our means is smart.

In part, said Richard Layard of the London School of Economics, who has studied the phenomenon closely, people feel wealthy by comparing themselves with others. When incomes rise across a nation, people’s relative status does not change.

It’s that envy thing. Wanting what everyone else has and wanting what no one else has. I’m not sure why this happens, but it’s pretty damn stupid. Too many people are like lemmings- they follow what everyone else is doing and buying. And base their own self worth on these dumb ass standards.

But surely a Buffett-size gift — he wants to give away $4 million a day — would make most people euphoric, right?

Temporarily, that is true, Layard said in an interview. However, social comparisons are not the only factor at play. Another big psychological factor is habituation: Dramatically changing one’s wealth does create happiness, but it will last only until people get used to their newfound status, which can be a matter of months or a couple of years at most.

That’s because we’re spolied. We want instant everything. And anything older than a few months is OLD and BORING.

The journal Science reported last week yet more evidence and another theory about why wealth does not make people happy: “The belief that high income is associated with good mood is widespread but mostly illusory,” one of its studies concluded. “People with above-average income . . . are barely happier than others in moment-to-moment experience, tend to be more tense, and do not spend more time in particularly enjoyable activities.”

One doesn’t need expensive activities to be happy. Not at all. I have the best times just doing the simple and cheap things such as going to the beach at night; hiking the mountains in the winter or having a spur-of-the-moment get together with friends. Much more enjoyable, low cost and a life time of good memories. No big bucks required.

“The effect of income on life satisfaction seems to be transient,” the researchers added. “We argue that people exaggerate the contribution of income to happiness because they focus, in part, on conventional achievements when evaluating their lives and the lives of others.”

Stop comparing yourself to others. You’ll never be content as long as you do this. Because everyone has something you don’t…

The problem is that once people get past the level of poverty, money does not play a significant role in day-to-day happiness, Krueger said. It certainly can buy things, but things do not usually address most of the troubles people experience in daily life — concerns about their children, problems in intimate relationships and stressful aspects of their jobs.

Very true. Money doesn’t raise kids, it doesn’t help with marriage problems (and it can really hurt in divorces) and it certainly wins one little brownie points at work. I have found the most happy people are those who do live pay check to pay check…they know what their limits are and live their lives accordingly. I respect people who can do this. Some of my friends who have a lot of money are very unhappy, lonely and lost souls (Tammy).

“If you want to know why I think poor people are not that miserable, it is because they are able to enjoy things that Bill Gates has not been able to enjoy, given his schedule at Microsoft,” Krueger surmised.

Working 20 hours a day is admirable and respectable some times…but…not at the expense of being miserable and lonely and… unhappy. Some people say they don’t value happiness. Good for them. It’s because they’ve never been that way.

Some news media have done stories on how today is NOT a day off for many people who would no doubt have liked to stretch the weekend into a four-day early summer break. But I think it is almost better to be working today because it makes the 4th that much more of the special day that it is.

I’m working.

When you work in nursing, holidays often mean little. For some, this is a battle between the staff and management. For others- this is a “sacrifice” we made when we entered this work. Patients need care, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Some of us choose work an unGAWDLY amount of hours at times too…like me. Last week I clocked in over 100 hours. Some of that work involved traveling to a rehab facility for the Military and some of those hours were at my work…This week, it’s only Monday and I’ve already worked almost 32 hours. (16 hours yesterday and then again today) Heh.

In a few minutes me and some co-workers will be going outside to watch all the local fireworks. We work on a mountain and the view covers over 30 communities. Many of them are having their displays tonight. We’ve done this for years and it’s awesome.
Grab the lawn chairs, a cooler full of Sam Adams and a sprinkler set to attach to the water sprigs and we’re all set. The weather is perfect for this and it’s HOT as heck. After the fireworks end we’re all going swimming at a lake down the road. Then it’s off to crash so we can be back at work for 6am tomorrow. So the cycle of life goes.

Have a great day tomorrow!