Ailantha
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact

Variations on the theme of happiness

7/24/2014

2 Comments

 
    I met with the Panera Posse yesterday. 
    One of the girls who used to teach at a school school in a poor section of the city was telling the rest of us about a student she once had, a 13-year-old boy, who told her that he didn't expect to live past 16.  He told her that he often heard gun shots from his house and that one night while he was out in his neighborhood there was a shoot-out going on around him. He jumped into a trash can for cover.
   After she told us that story our conversation moved around to a few different topics until it landed on another story the same lady once heard,  an Oprah interview  with Lionel Richie  in which he talked about how being rich and famous can be lethal because  you can then have whatever you want, and you don't have to settle for just some of it, you can have all of it.  All the drugs.  All the alcohol.  All the time. He said that having it all can kill you - several of his friends were dead from overdoses of drugs or alcohol because they couldn't handle their success -  and he felt very fortunate that he survived.
    I then wondered if the moral to be  derived from both those stories was  that  a life of extreme wealth and success is as perilous as a life of extreme dead-end poverty? 
    One of the other ladies recalled a magazine article she'd read which claimed that in the United States having an income of $75,000 put people at a comfort level at which they could have enough of what they wanted and needed to be materially happy,  and earning above that amount didn't increase people's level of emotional happiness.  On the other hand, being financially insecure could lead to hardship and  stress and therefore diminnish happiness.
    I frankly found the $75,000 number to be a little sketchy, especially since the article didn't take into account geographic location and how many people were living off the $75,000.
    But though the dollar figure might be debatable, I understand the concept: having enough money for the essentials and a little left over for some fun now and then is all you need.
    And, of course, love.

   
   
Picture
2 Comments
Romaine
7/24/2014 01:10:12 am

I would agree about having enough money and a little left over makes for a good life. However I think you also have to take into consideration what you have to do to get enough money to begin with - having an occupation you enjoy would be the icing on the cake!

Reply
Patti
7/24/2014 03:55:57 am

Yes, getting paid for what you like doing - how great would that be? But I always say, even if you don't enjoy your job, think of how much you enjoy that paycheck. I guess the worse is being paid squat for a job you can't stand. (Been there!)

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    "Hail Mary"
    by Patti Liszkay
    Buy it on Amazon:

    https://www.amzn.com/1684334888

    Picture
    "Equal And Opposite Reactions"
     by Patti Liszkay
    Buy it on Amazon:

    http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa
    or from
    The Book Loft
    of German Village,
    Columbus, Ohio
    Picture
    Or check it out at the Columbus Metropolitan Library
    Picture

    Archives

    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013

    RSS Feed

    I am a traveler just visiting this planet and reporting various and sundry observations,
    hopefully of interest to my fellow travelers.

    Categories

    All


























































































Proudly powered by Weebly