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My Take on the Pursuit of Happiness

Matt Spillar

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With today, March 20th, being the International Day of Happiness I wanted to share some thoughts about what happiness means to me, and what the pursuit of happiness looks like in my own life.

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “money doesn’t buy happiness.” Various studies have been done to show that after an income of about $75,000 your happiness begins to level off. Once your needs are being met, and the stresses of money have been removed from your life, more money ceases to make you happier.

Where money fits into the happiness equation

I’ve written before about how effective money management skills can help boost happiness, and that more money doesn’t necessarily change your life. We’ve experienced this in our own lives. Once we had built up savings and became debt free, the additional money no longer boosted our happiness in the same way. I think it still helped us feel more security and freedom, but not necessarily “happier.”

I’ve found that money can be a big source of stress, so I’ve strived to remove that stress as much as possible by building up financial security. I don’t need to be rich or have a lot of possessions to feel happy, but we are pursuing financial independence in order to have control of how we spend our time.

What does happiness mean to you?

For me, happiness is about going through life with a joyful heart, pursuing your passions, and surrounding yourself with the people you love. It’s about being grateful for what you have and about striving to be a better person each and every day. My faith is what gives me my purpose in life, and helps guide how I live.

I think deep down it’s human nature – we all want to be happy. Happiness can occur as an emotion in short bursts, but for it to be an ongoing part of your life, it’s all in the mindset you have and the people you surround yourself with. You can’t control your circumstances or the cards you’ve been dealt, but you can control your attitude, work ethic, building new skills, seeking out new relationships and strengthening existing ones, etc. Hard circumstances are going to happen in life, which are out of our control, but we get to choose how we react to them.

I consider myself happy in my life now. I try not to look ahead too much because I want to enjoy where I’m currently at in life. Of course we make plans for the future, but it can be a dangerous cycle to get into a mindset of “once I have this, then I’ll be happy.” If you aren’t happy now, you’ll likely not be happy when you get that next “thing.”

Giving time and money

Giving back, whether it’s your time or money, is extremely important. I’ve found in my own life that very often the times when I give back end up being the happiest. We give money each month and are active in our church. I write blog posts and strive to help people with their finances as much as possible to promote financial literacy. Trying to save money and build up wealth is important to me because it means I can have the ability to give even more.

Gratitude leads to happiness

Gratitude is one of the biggest keys in life. I try to practice gratitude for everything I’ve been blessed with, rather than dwelling on what I don’t have. It doesn’t take a whole lot for me to be happy. So as long as I have people I love, am making progress on my life goals, and have enough money to pay the bills, I’m in a state of contentment. I’ve found that when I’m content with what I have, I am in a much more peaceful mental state.  The more grateful you are for what you have, the happier you’ll be and the more of a positive impact you’ll have on those around you.

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