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When/How did you first realize that material goods arent the key to happiness?

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its different for everyone i think. For some people the physical world is very important, this includes materials and possessions, for others emotional exerience is import and others spiritual.

I dont think this is a question of right or wrong.
 
Meh, your reasoning is flawed, I don't have time for a complete discussion, but here is the basic breakdown: While I concede that material goods themselves are not the key to lasting happiness, happiness is driven by goals, many of which are material. People plan for the future, they save money for certain things, its the planning that makes them happy. Look at it this way, say you want a new LCD monitor and it will take you about 2 months to save up for it. I'll bet that pretty much every day you are saving you check out a review online, or at least think about the LCD. Then what happens when you buy it? It makes you happy for a few weeks then you start thinking of something else that you want. The material good is not what makes you happy, its the planning, and the goals that you have. To put it more succinctly, life is a journey, enjoy the trip.
 
Originally posted by: DaiShan
Meh, your reasoning is flawed, I don't have time for a complete discussion, but here is the basic breakdown: While I concede that material goods themselves are not the key to lasting happiness, happiness is driven by goals, many of which are material. People plan for the future, they save money for certain things, its the planning that makes them happy. Look at it this way, say you want a new LCD monitor and it will take you about 2 months to save up for it. I'll bet that pretty much every day you are saving you check out a review online, or at least think about the LCD. Then what happens when you buy it? It makes you happy for a few weeks then you start thinking of something else that you want. The material good is not what makes you happy, its the planning, and the goals that you have. To put it more succinctly, life is a journey, enjoy the trip.
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I agree. I believe what makes life happy is having something to look forward too. Whether it's a car you're about to buy or seeing someone you haven't seen in a long time. For me personally it's usually a trip I'm going on or some vacation time. Not necessarily a material "thing" but the experience I'm about to have or the people I'm going to see.
 
Originally posted by: ShowdOWN
money and material things arent the root to happiness, but boy it sure does help alot.
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Hobbies help quite a lot with happiness, but they require money. I think as long as material goods are a means and not an end, you're okay.
 
Originally posted by: acemcmac
Originally posted by: mercanucaribe
I like material stuff, but that's not the same thing as status. I really want a 20" Samsung LCD, and it won't get me laid better than a $400 pair of jeans.
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You'd spend 400$ on a pair of jeans???
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must be Iceberg.
 
I've always known this, or atleast for about as long as I've had the concept of being happy and upset. It seems I've always known stuff that people spend their wholes lives trying to figure out plus I'm naturally extremely positive.

That being said, I still want to be extremely successful in business and make lots of money. Not because it will make me happy, as I'm quite happy now, I just enjoy the finer things.
I could still be extrmely happy living in a shack on the side of a mountain.
 
It's funny, I kinda stepped intot he opposite way of thinking around grade 9. My parents were never really rich. We had some money, my dad was a pretty successful Hardware engineer (working at US robotics then 3com at the time, interesting side note, he worked with the guys who invented v.90), but we were still living pretty tight. We could never afford to go on family vacations, or buy new things.
Then, come 9th gradde we moved to SOnoma County because my dad got a job at a startup (Cerent), and that's when we came into the money, once they were bought out by Cisco. We then moved into a 500,000k house, bought a new car, and started living at a much higher standard.

I never knew we went without until I started High School, once we could afford to live better. So yeah, I think if you are comfortable financially, the happiness will follow.
 
When you get older, other things will be more important than materials/stuffs.

<<------got new SUV, new computer, dvds, electronics stuffs, etc. but still not happy...maybe time for a wife? LOL.
 
That's hard to pinpoint for me, but looking back I can see that some of the best times I've had in life were when I was the poorest. When I was 18 first moved out of home and into the commune of hetero life partners and we had a blast, and all of us combined wouldn't have made the median income bracket.
 
Ooh I like this topic - I think I really started thinking about this when I was 22 and finishing up undergrad and heading off to law school. I knew that regardless of how much money I made, it would not be the measure of my happiness or success as those things could only be had through internal satisfaction.
 
I've never thought they were the key to happiness. It's really nice growing up in a family that isn't dysfunctional.
 
Pretty much my whole life. Now I get pissed off when people try to get a reaction out of me by bragging about this item or the next. Granted, functional stuff is very cool. Non-functional stuff boggles the mind.

The funniest thing I can think of right now is people spending thousands of dollars on rims. Thats just funny as hell to me.
 
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