I was talking to a friend last night. We haven’t spoken for a while and, as usual, got to talking about earning a living and he was telling me that he’s got a kiosk open at the moment and that he’s making decent money. More than he normally would be earning at this time of year.
I asked him whether, as he was getting a living now, was he going to keep it there or will he be travelling on fairgrounds when he’s allowed.
His reply was travelling on fairgrounds, even if he takes less money. “Why?” I asked.
“I can’t wait to get back on a ground, to be able to do my jobs in the morning, to walk out and have a chat with the other men on the ground, to be able to visit all the places they normally do, to be able to nip into town in and go to the pub for a bit of dinner.”
The upshot of our conversation was that no amount of money would make him feel better than being able to do the thing he loves. He loves the social side of travelling at fairs more than the money he earns.
And really, at the end of the day isn’t that more important.
I was reading recently that people are happier when they earn more money but only until they reach a certain point. But the upshot of that is that we trade our time for that money.
I’ve worked hard, long hours for most of my life and in general, I enjoy what I do, but when I had my run-in with the lodger on my kidney 4 years ago, I worried about whether I would live to see my next birthday and how many more times I’d get to see my sons. Money and the acquisition of it didn’t come into my thinking once.
In one of my blogs recently, I talked about having plenty of money not making you immune to problems and stress in your life and I stand by that.
And while we all need money, we probably don’t need to be earning as much as we think.
To be honest, all we really need is enough to look after ourselves, have a drink with our friends and a holiday every now and again.
Whilst earning plenty of money may enable us to drive high end cars, stay in swanky hotels and fly first class, do they really bring us more happiness?
Working every hour God sends doesn’t make for happiness. In Germany, if you’re still in the office after 6pm, they say it’s because you’re not productive enough during the day. In the Netherlands, over half the workers work a four day week.
It seems to me that driving a nice Mercedes may be nicer than driving a 17 year old Ford Mondeo (which is what I do), but having to work even harder to buy one wouldn’t make me happier – In the UK, only 36% of people buy their cars outright. The rest lease or buy via a loan.
To me, that just makes no sense. I’d rather have my car, which has given me trouble-free motoring since I bought it 5 years ago than 2 or 3 years worth of payments.
I’ve bought 2 cars in my 35 years of driving that had payments attached and I really begrudged paying month by month for something that was only worth half of the sum I’d spent on them 2 years earlier.
And not for one moment do I think that when I’m on my deathbed, will I be thinking that I wish I’d worked harder to have had nicer things. Stuff never has made me happy in the long term.
It’s always nice at the beginning, but that wears off really quickly. Don’t get me wrong, having nice things is nothing to be ashamed of. If I had plenty of money, I’d live in a nicer house, drive a better car and take better holidays, but they aren’t the be-all and end-all for me.
Work can, and often does bring you professional fulfilment. But as my friend proved to me last night, true happiness is doing things you enjoy and being around the people you care for. And usually, they’re not work or wealth associated.
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