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A Lesson For The New Year

Jan 21, 2015
by Caroline Miller
Keely Muscatell, studies on what makes a person happy, the wealth effect
4 Comments

At the turn of the New Year, an acquaintance wrote a long piece on Facebook which expressed his disillusionment with the human race, accusing us of being liars and users in whom he had no trust.   Needless to say, I thought his judgment overly harsh and wondered that a man with so much career success, good health, a loving wife, financial security and a nice place in which to live could be so bitter.  What would make him happy, I wondered.

 I suspect he doesn’t know.  He might reply that he needs more of what he already has  — greater success, more money and an even classier place to live.  Whatever his answer, his discontent would be incomprehensible to me for I remember how my mother as a young woman who worked 3 jobs to keep food on the table radiated solar pleasure if she could afford  a 10-cent lipstick. 

We humans haven’t a clue about happiness, apparently, though research is turning up some interesting discoveries. One of them is that  money and a high social position doesn’t make a person  happy.  If anything, it leaves him or her feeling less.  Keely Muscatell a UCLA neuroscientist has data which shows “wealth quiets the nerves in the brain associated with empathy.”  (“What wealth does to your soul,” excerpted from an article in The New Republic, by The Week, 12/31/14 pgs. 32-33.)  Other research bears this truth out.  Those sporting expensive cars are the least likely to honor pedestrian crossings. In hospitals, the wealthy will take candy from bowls reserved for sick children.  And in any other endeavor, the rich are more likely to cheat. (Ibid pg. 33) 

 Recently, a survey of billionaires asked participants to identify what would make them happy.  “All of them said they needed two or three times more than they had to feel happier.” (Ibid, pg. 33)  Oh, that billionaires could be so wrong. A windfall of $50 might make someone poor happy because a small account of money has a great effect upon their lives.  But a “rich person getting even richer experiences zero gain in happiness.” (Ibid pg. 33)

 One exception to the wealth effect exists, however. “Spending it on others increases happiness.” (Ibid pg. 33) 

 Aristotle said that man is a social animal.  We live best when we are considerate of those around us.  Money as an end in itself leaves us lonely.  So, here’s a lesson for the New Year.  To be happy, fill someone’s else’s need and don’t worry about being used. The giver always gains more than the receiver. 

Mother Theresa

Mother Theresa courtesy of www.helpinghands.lk

 

 

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4 Comments
  1. louis wachsmuth January 21, 2015 at 10:50 am Reply
    So, one time i found a $100 bill on the pavement right out side a plumbing store. I took in to turn it over to the staff in case the owner came back. My daughter said I was crazy. The lust for money is never satisfied, so why get greedy?
    • Caroline Miller January 21, 2015 at 10:58 am Reply
      By your actions, your daughter got a wonderful lesson. Good for you, dad.
  2. Pamela March 18, 2015 at 12:04 pm Reply
    I'm late, as always to the conversation, but for me this was a timely read today. There used to be a canned good advertisement that had a jingle, "simple pleasures are the best, all the little things that make you smile and glow ..." and as Pollyanna as that sounds, I've found it to be true. My favorite memories are of afternoons on the beach watching a school of dolphins swim past, or kisses from a puppy, of tutoring a family of children from Somalia and the way it MATTERED to them, or the first time my husband and I kissed. These are things that cost nothing, but lodge into my mind's eye in ways that no expensive dinner or coveted purchase has so far done.
    • Caroline Miller March 18, 2015 at 1:11 pm Reply
      Never too late to chime in, Pamela. Your perspective is always welcome and you offer such good examples to help us remember what the good life is.

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Contact Caroline at

carolinemiller11@yahoo.com

Portland, Oregon author Caroline Miller had distinguished careers as an educator, union president, elected official and artist/advocate.

Her play, Woman on the Scarlet Beast, was performed at the Post5 Theatre, Portland, OR, January/February 2015

Caroline published a serialized novelette, Marie Eau-Claire, on the website, The Colored Lens.  She also published the story Gustav Pavel,  a parable about ordinary lives, choice and alternate potential, on the website Fixional.co.

Caroline has published four novels

  • Ballet Noir
  • Trompe l’Oeil
  • Gothic Spring
  • Heart Land

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