Material Possesions ! Will It Give Happiness ?

[longtimeago 0]

Man over the years has built up a wrong notion that material possessions makes for his importance and contribute to his happiness. He must, instead, look into himself and understand what he really needs in order to live happily. The pressure of adverse circumstances moulds his character as gold is purified within fire. This may cause pain and may hurt him. But it helps him to realize that many things that he thought essential are inessential. A man should live from within himself, doing what he wants to do and not what others want him to do. He must have an aim in life and must be focused. Temptations and distractions may arise. But this shouldn?t take him away from the track. Truth is one can?t prevent a crow from flying over the head but surely can prevent it from building a nest on head. Temptations may come. But the Lord God Almighty has given him the power to say ?NO?. Instead of whining and complaining set the focus straight define priorities and continue with the race. Remember it is better to light a Candle than curse the darkness. Once this is done he will be happy, and ready to help others in need.

[HDuffRules 0]

I saw the topic of this thread and saw a question. I came here to answer it, but it appears that you already have an answer. Unfortunately, I happen to disagree with you. I draw a distinction between happiness and spiritual fulfillment. This is because there have been cases where I feel good about myself but I am not necessarily happy, and vice versa.

[networker 0]

I guess the ultimate is to not want any material possessions, therefore not relying on them whatsoever.If we ever had to do without them, then we wouldn't miss them. It's wishful thinking to think that we could so easily live without them though.

[anwiii 17]

oh my! someone willing to compare god to material possessions. what a joke!why is it a wrong notion that material possesions cannot contribute to a person's happiness. sometimes material possessions are symbols of the hard work and dedication and achievment in ones own life. i mean....come on now.....when you work hard and save and able to puchase a new home....there is some fullfillment in that. material possessions have commonly been passed down from generation to generation where material possessions take on a sentimental meaning...not to forget about a traditional and cultural one.material possessions alow us to travel more readily to expereince things we would not of the ability otherwise.so yea....i would say material possession DEFINATELY contribute to a person's happiness....BUT they aren't the only thing that contribute to happiness.

[sheepdog 10]

I have to agree with anwiii. Material possesion do contribute to one's happiness. And without those people who work and gain in material possesions, who would be there to help those in need when situations arose, for example the earthquakes in Hattie, or Katrina in New Orleans. If no one had possesions to share with the victims of these natural disasters, things would be very bad for them. We can't all be rainbow people.

[kobra500 1]

As many will know I'm not religious, nor am I spiritual but I fancy myself a philosopher. To summarise the title "do material possessions bring happiness". Well the answer is a resounding yes of course they do, If I buy a game I have fun with that video game I am happy and therefore, the possession has brought me happiness. But I'm being unfair, taking a literal interpretation to a question which isn't asking "do material possessions bring happiness" but is more asking "do material possessions lie at the root of happiness" or at least that's how I choose to interpret it. Well they say the best things in life are free and I'd have to agree, love, hate emotion in general, social interaction, family, sex (unless you pay for it in which case it isn't free), and friendship etc. these things are more important and bring more jubilation than sheer wealth of possessions. Me and my friend walked to the pub and back today in a lovely village 4 hour round trip today and I had more fun talking than any of my possessions could provide for example.So in conclusion, no possessions do not lie at the root of happiness and while they do bring happiness they are far lesser than many of the more social and free experiences you can have in life. I will also add you don't need God or to believe in some other spirit or supernatural agent to come to this conclusion, you can get what people take from God, namely encouragement, strength, willpower from those around you and give it back also, and you will be a happier individual for it!

Edited June 3, 2010 by kobra500 (see edit history)

[anwiii 17]

As many will know I'm not religious, nor am I spiritual but I fancy myself a philosopher. To summarise the title "do material possessions bring happiness". Well the answer is a resounding yes of course they do, If I buy a game I have fun with that video game I am happy and therefore, the possession has brought me happiness. But I'm being unfair, taking a literal interpretation to a question which isn't asking "do material possessions bring happiness" but is more asking "do material possessions lie at the root of happiness" or at least that's how I choose to interpret it. Well they say the best things in life are free and I'd have to agree, love, hate emotion in general, social interaction, family, sex (unless you pay for it in which case it isn't free), and friendship etc. these things are more important and bring more jubilation than sheer wealth of possessions. Me and my friend walked to the pub and back today in a lovely village 4 hour round trip today and I had more fun talking than any of my possessions could provide for example.

if you fancy yourself a philosopher, you should choose your words more carefully because "do material things bring happiness" and "do material posessions lie at the root of happiness, are pretty much the same thing in my book. you give an example of a video game bringing happiness. that is true, but for a limited time. but who is to say it is actual happiness and not contentment? is there a difference? i do believe material things contribute to happiness but in no way shape or form do material things make people happy. if that were true. if we had material things, the happiness would never fade. also, we have to ask the question, WHAT material things contribute to happiness. is it any material things? is it material things to satisfy our own selfishness if one is actually looking for happiness? can selfishness contribute to happiness? is happiness just another word for selfishness? is there even such a thing as true happiness? or are we again talking about contentment....what i would call happiness in the momemt because nobody is really truely happy 24/7 with material possessions or not...and even if those things that are very important in life and come free.....

but then, what is "free". i believe life is give and take and we are always sacrificing. if that is true in what i believe, then nothing in life can be free. i dunno. you fancy yourself a philosopher so i thought i would give some words for thought....

[kobra500 1]

I don't know what book your authoring but mine is vastly different from yours, I'm trying to think of a suitable analogy.

 

The expression 'the best things in life are free' is an expression and should be treated as such, I think you are looking too deep into it, what it's saying is the BEST, the truly great and things people derive meaning from within life are those things that you can't buy in a supermarket, on Amazon. or bid for on ebay. My laptop for instance, using it I enjoy, maybe your right maybe it is just contentment, but happiness and contentment are not exactly add odds with each other, are you happy whilst content and content whilst happy? the definitions are ambiguous at best.

 

Anyway I do distinguish between "do material possessions bring happiness" & "do material possessions lie at the root of happiness" are different questions in my opinion. one is very shallow and to me asks: "does my bicycle bring me happiness" well sure I love riding my bicycle, I would go as far to say my bicycle makes me happy. The latter asks "yes but does it truly make you happy" it is a much deeper question and here I'd have to agree with your point to some degree, It's all very well having a bicycle but eventually I'll get bored of riding it, but you know what never gets tiring, riding my bicycle for hours with friends, I could do that forever and it would never get old, friendship it seemed you can't get bored of, that's more what I meant, and maybe I meant what you said, material possessions make you content and they bring happiness to you for the time you use them but the "free things" in life never get old, never get tiring, and sure you fall out with friends, you fall out of love and there are sad bits and angry and annoyed bits, No one is truly happy 24/7 regardless, life has to have suffering else how do you understand the truly good bits, a perfect world would be dull at least in my opinion. But yeah food for thought. I suppose I can conclude with the question stated above "are you content whilst happy and happy whilst content?"

[anwiii 17]

I don't know what book your authoring but mine is vastly different from yours, I'm trying to think of a suitable analogy.
The expression 'the best things in life are free' is an expression and should be treated as such, I think you are looking too deep into it

i thought you fancied yourself as a philosopher. if can't look underneath the surface, then how can you ever fancy yourself a philosopher? when getting to the truth, there is no such thing as "too deep". you are right. your book is vastly different than mine....

"the best things in life are free" is like saying "the grass is greener on the other side". sure it holds truth, but it's also just pretty words to cover up the fact that life isn't perfect in anyone's eyes because it's human nature not only to be selfish, but life isn't always filled with happiness no matter WHAT you do to make your life perfect. i know it's an expression. you don't have to explain it to me like a second grader