Wealth or Happiness?

[Young OG]

I recently chose happiness. I've been working 45 - 50 hours a week doing physical labor for 3.5 years now. I even work every holiday besides Christmas. I'm burned out and my back is going out on me.

I started being really unhappy about 2 months ago. My job changed my days off from sun/mon to thur/fri. I lied and told them I need Sunday off for my daughter (she goes to her moms on weekends). They didn't care. What this did to me is gave me no free time, no time to have any fun, and no time for dates. It really has messed up my head. I really need at least one day a week to blow off some steam. The weekends were my time to do this, since my daughter is at her moms.

Next week I start a new job. It's M - F and all major holidays off with pay. I've never had a job like this before. The only thing is for the first year, I will be making almost $2 less an hour (I will get a raise every 6 months). I will also be paying more for insurance. But, no more hurting my back, working weekends, and working holidays.

I hope I made the right chose. I chose to be happy and make a little less instead of making more, hurting my back, being unhappy, and having no life. What do you guys think?

 

[speed dawg]

Sounds like a good choice to me. Your body can only do so much. Manual labor jobs are tough, if you do that for extended hours, you really can't do anything else in your life, you're too tired.

Those type jobs aren't bad if they are set hours/shifts and you can get plenty of rest. I used to work construction and in the summer we'd go 11 hour days, 7-6:30, Monday-Friday, and 8 hours on Saturday. I mean you really can't do anything else with those hours. If you're married and/or have kids, your wife better be able to handle all of that responsibility, as well as paying bills, etc.

There is a difference in just being lazy and knowing when you've hit your limit.

 

[Young OG]

Sounds like a good choice to me. Your body can only do so much. Manual labor jobs are tough, if you do that for extended hours, you really can't do anything else in your life, you're too tired.

Those type jobs aren't bad if they are set hours/shifts and you can get plenty of rest. I used to work construction and in the summer we'd go 11 hour days, 7-6:30, Monday-Friday, and 8 hours on Saturday. I mean you really can't do anything else with those hours. If you're married and/or have kids, your wife better be able to handle all of that responsibility, as well as paying bills, etc.

There is a difference in just being lazy and knowing when you've hit your limit.

Thanks for the reply. I totally agree.

My job I'm leaving is like the one you had. I sometimes will work 12 hours in a day. There is no set end time. When I started this job 3.5 years ago, my ex/kids mom starting cheating on me within 2 months.

I forgot to mention I want to eventually go to school at night, but it would have been impossible considering I never knew what time I would get off and I was covered in sweat all day. If i get off at 5pm, there would be no time to go home to shower and make it to a night class on time. Now, I can actually do it when I'm ready.

 

[Billtx49]

Money may well come and go in your life, but it is never worth sacrificing your personal happiness over

 

[Jasmine Langer]

My hypothesis, which we’ll try to see if it’s true through scientific and sociological research, is that there will be a very strong link between wealth and happiness (or more accurately, sorrow) for people with a negative or very low net worth. This is because these people and households will be struggling to pay their bills, be mounted with crippling debt and have many other money stresses that negatively impact their happiness.

 

[Billtx49]

My hypothesis, which we’ll try to see if it’s true through scientific and sociological research, is that there will be a very strong link between wealth and happiness (or more accurately, sorrow) for people with a negative or very low net worth. This is because these people and households will be struggling to pay their bills, be mounted with crippling debt and have many other money stresses that negatively impact their happiness.

I have no doubt that people who really need more money for bills, etc. think they will be happier if they get that money. So they get more money through their efforts. As we all know, expenses tend to rise to income though, hence the need for even more money to achieve the perceived money/happiness link.
Question is, do we really want to link our personal happiness to the pursuit of wealth in the first place.
Wealth achieves a sense of well being and comfort, but not necessarily happiness.

 

[klawson770]

I think both Wealth and happiness are equally Important. People who preferred money to fulfill our requirements. I believe that they don't look happy in future.

 

[ChristopherColumbus]

My hypothesis, which we’ll try to see if it’s true through scientific and sociological research, is that there will be a very strong link between wealth and happiness (or more accurately, sorrow) for people with a negative or very low net worth. This is because these people and households will be struggling to pay their bills, be mounted with crippling debt and have many other money stresses that negatively impact their happiness.

I think the secret to wealth and happiness is not to treat them as some binary opposite, but to subordinate one to the other; that is, moderate the desire for wealth. A certain modicum of material wealth may be required for happiness, but it is only one factor among many. These various factors have to be balanced against each-other in order to truly 'flourish'.

 

[logicallefty]

Oh man do I struggle with this one. I face this question with myself often daily.

-I can stay working in I.T. Security full-time. Making some seriously good money for my part of the country, having a job that has low likelihood of getting cut, outstanding insurance and retirement.. But also a job that I dread going to most days. Not so much because of the work, mostly because I am tired of working with psychopaths and sociopaths that I can not stand. I've never been around a group of people I hate so much in my life..

-OR, I switch my law enforcement career that I work at now and love from part-time to full time. Working with great people I already know from before. Go back to a full time job I look forward to everyday, but at the cost of about 35k a year in pay or maybe more?

 

[taiyuu_otoko]

is that there will be a very strong link between wealth and happiness

I'm sure you could cherry pick any data to support both. You'll find plenty of happy poor people and miserable rich people, as well as miserable poor people and happy rich people..

If there was a way to measure the data accurately of all cases, I'd doubt you'd get an R^2 more than .5 or so. It'd be more like a shotgun blast.

way too many variables involved to make a objective case for either one.

 

[AlexKaiser]

Just remember that there are some jobs that want desperate betas who will bend over backwards just for a taste of money. To let them consume your life for a couple extra dollars is basically what my friends call being "wagecucked".

While the lazier millenials will consider accepting anything other than lazy CEO as being wagecucked, there are certain positions and jobs that do demand more than they deserve. Some management positions in lower paying jobs can consume around 12 more hours than required because you have to do extra work, more than the pay is worth. The job requirements are ambiguous, open ended so the uppers can basically say "Do everything, including other people's jobs, but don't expect more pay." Learning to say no to these jobs is important, because they want to dig into your personal time to meet their needs, while only offering some extra money as a reword for sacrificing important "you" time.

There's having a good work ethic, going above and beyond, and then there's being a drone, living to work. Drones never get to be alpha, so don't be a drone.