Happiness is not an Entitlement

For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness. — Ralph Waldo Emerson

I find it somewhat amusing and ironic that those of us who write about personal finance seldom get credit for why we focus on this very subject. We aren’t writing with the purpose of hoarding a large sum of cash to brag about. In fact, we write about personal finance so that financial issues won’t pose any threat to our inner purpose and to live a simple, happy life.

Perhaps, our politicians are to blame for a long list of entitlements, but they have not considered happiness as an entitlement yet.

Nonetheless, my experience at a restaurant recently made me think about importance of balance between happiness and hedonism.

I happen to visit a local restaurant that I like for lunch. I really enjoy their food and quiet setting. As usual, food was delicious this time, but quietness was lost in a vociferous conversation I was destined to listen. A couple was arguing about their personal affair so I tried my best not to tune in. But, my efforts were in vain.

Wife:  What have you given me in this six years of marriage? I asked for BMW and you gave me Honda Civic. I asked for Louis Vuitton watch and you gave me a cheap one. You’ve never given me happiness.

Husband: Honey, I have never turned you down, but I can’t afford those things. Besides, we have to think about our kids and their future. We are living on one income so that you can spend more time with kids.

Wife: I quit my job for you. Now I regret that I have nothing while you are making a decent income.

Husband: I am spending every waking moment of my life to ensure that our family lives a happy life. What I make is for all of us not just myself. But, we have to understand what is important in life.

Wife: I don’t want to hear your lectures on happiness. You can’t preach happiness as you’ve never taken time to understand what makes me happy.

Husband: I truly love you and I understand what makes you happy. Unfortunately, I don’t make enough to buy you happiness.

While this conversation continued, I requested a waiter to lend me a piece of paper and a pen.

 

I quickly scribbled: Happiness is not an entitlement. Learn to earn it.

I dropped the piece of paper on their table and quickly whisked away from the scene.

You won’t be happy if you decide not to. Those who decide to embrace happiness will not allow circumstances to sabotage their happiness; and those who decide not to become happy will do so even if happiness is starring right into their eyes. Happiness is a state of mind and happiness has no nexus to hedonism.

If this lady was born 100 years ago, she still would have found reasons not to embrace happiness that was starring in her eyes.

Think about it. Stand of living in America has gone up drastically in last 50 years yet stress has taken toll on our lives. We have everything that was considered a living standard for aristocrats just 50 years ago. Perhaps, we can learn from an old generation about the importance of  simplicity and focus on those values that are backbone of a moral and noble society.

We can chat with loved ones or talk with them no matter where we live on this planet. We can share our videos or even talk live to share happiness at no cost. Yet happiness is mere mirage for some who think that they deserve it.

I now have a new-found passion to write with the chief aim to eradicate this growing voice of entitlements.

 source: streetsmartfinance.org

Thanksgiving by the numbers

(CNN) -- 1.5 -- The number of pounds of turkey the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line recommends per guest so that you have plenty left over for sandwiches.

2 -- The ranking of Thanksgiving in the list of America's favorite holidays. Christmas is No. 1.

2 -- The total number of days the FDA suggests keeping a fresh turkey before cooking it.

2.5 -- The number in miles of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

4 -- Americans celebrate Thanksgiving every year on the 4th Thursday of November.

4-5 -- The number of months it takes for a newborn turkey to reach maturity.

4.5-5 -- The number of hours it takes to cook a stuffed 20 to 24 pound turkey in an oven set to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

10-12 -- The number of hours it takes to thaw a frozen 20 to 24 pound turkey in cold water. Compare that to the five to six days it takes to thaw in the refrigerator!

31 -- The number of years between 1981, when the Butterball Talk-Line opened, and Thanksgiving 2012.

36 -- The number of years it took Sarah Josepha Hale, editor of Ladies Magazine, to crusade for an annual Thanksgiving holiday. National and local days of thanksgiving had been celebrated over the years, but President Abraham Lincoln finally proclaimed the fourth Thursday in November Thanksgiving in 1863.

46 million -- The estimated number of turkeys eaten in the U.S. on Thanksgiving 2011.

50 million -- The approximate number of people who watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on television.

65 -- The number of years between 1947, the very first National Thanksgiving Turkey presentation at the White House, and Thanksgiving 2012.

69 -- The approximate percentage of Thanksgiving Day fires caused by cooking.

71 -- The number of years between the year Congress rules in 1941 that the fourth Thursday in November will be observed as Thanksgiving Day and a federal legal holiday, and Thanksgiving 2012.

88 -- The approximate percentage of Americans who eat Turkey on Thanksgiving Day, according to a National Turkey Federation survey.

88 -- The number of years between 1924, when the very first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade took place, and Thanksgiving 2012. It was called the Macy's Christmas Parade.

91 -- The number of years between the very first NFL Thanksgiving Day games in 1921 and Thanksgiving 2012.

149 -- The number of years between October 3, 1863, when President Lincoln proclaims a national annual Thanksgiving Day, and Thanksgiving 2012.

223 -- The number of years between 1789, when President George Washington issues a proclamation naming November 26 a day of national thanksgiving, and Thanksgiving 2012.

391 -- The number of years between 1621, the year the first Thanksgiving is observed in Plymouth, and Thanksgiving 2012. A good harvest leads Massachusetts Gov. William Bradford to plan a festival to give thanks. Around 90 Native Americans attend.

248.5 million -- The number of turkeys raised in the United States in 2011.

254 million -- The number of turkeys expected to be raised in the United States in 2012. That is up 2% from the number raised during 2011.

12,000 -- The number of calls the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line was braced for Thanksgiving morning 2011.

source:  http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/21/living/thanksgiving-by-the-numbers/index.html?hpt=us_c1