Rich people can't be happy, they don't know how

Prosperity is not without many fears and distastes; and adversity is not without comforts and hopes.
- Francis Bacon, essayist, philosopher, and statesman (1561-1626)

Do you know any rich people who are happy?

Think of it this way: Is there one rich person whose life you would like to take over for your own? If there is, you likely don't know much about the life of that person.

Oh, you might like to have the disposable income these people have. But the troubles, the pressures, the enormous responsibilities, the loss of free time, the loss of freedom to do what you want when you want, broken marriages, wasted families...no.

It's not what you have, but what you do with what you have that matters. If you want to consider yourself poor and disadvantaged, go to it. You will set yourself up for a poor and disadvantaged life.

A survey was done a couple of years ago to determine which group of people were the happiest in the world. Go ahead, take your ten best guesses.

The people of Nigeria, Africa, were happiest in the world, in general. You don't need to know very much about Nigeria to realize that its a troubled country, poor (though it has oil), sometimes violent, religious disturbances. Yet its people are happiest in the world, as they evaluate themselves.

Are you happy? Are you even certain what happiness is? You have a right to find happiness, but if you don't know what it is you will not likely ever find it.

Rich people convince themselves that wealth and happiness are the same thing. They aren't, but wealth is what they substitute for happiness. They have no idea what happiness is. But they are quite prepared to tell everyone else that wealth is happiness. They use those who believe them as their support system. Money is their god.

Poverty and adversity are not pleasant ways to live. But poor people can get enough and be happy. Troubled people can find their way out of their problems, eventually.

Rich people, by their nature/attitude, a way of life they chose for themselves, can never have enough of anything. Wanting is what drives them on.

Bill Allin
'Turning It Around: Causes and Cures for Today's Epidemic Social Problems,' striving to put life in perspective.
Learn more at http://billallin.com/cgi/index.pl