Rich vs. Happy: The Great Dichotomy

Our minds and the beliefs we hold in them can be our greatest allies or our most potent enemies.  It is therefore key to living a successful life that we examine our beliefs often, identify those that are limiting our results and replace them with those that empower us.

One of the most pernicious tendencies we've developed as human beings is that of thinking in dichotomies.  So often we see our choices as "I have to choose either this or that" instead of "I choose both."

For example:

• chocolate OR vanilla
• apple OR orange
• work hard OR be poor
• be rich OR be happy

This doesn't always show up in our minds as an issue of right or wrong.  It's not an issue of whether or not we should choose both.  My point is that we are so conditioned to think in dichotomies (either/or) that often we never even consider "both" as an option.  And that's both sad and silly.

The primary cause of this type of thinking is "scarcity mentality".  The fundamental belief ingrained in our psyche goes like this "Since there is not enough to go around for everybody to have both is greedy therefore I need to choose one or the other."  The fact of the matter is that there is so much abundance of everything in the universe that there is enough for everyone and to spare.

Kim Kiyosaki, author of Rich Woman has been on both sides of the fence.  She says:

"It always makes me laugh when people, say, "Well, I'd rather be happy than rich!"  My response is why not be both? Why would a person think that you have to be one or the other? I never understood that.

Along those lines I read a blurb in the December 4^th issue of TIME Magazine.

It starts out, "Money can't buy happiness but it can buy health. There was a study done at Princeton University that found that the rich are healthier than the poor. The piece went on to say, "Seniors ages 55 to 64 who live below the poverty line were 6 times as likely to have a long-term condition that severely limits their activities as wealthy Americans of the same age whose earnings were at lease 7 times as high as the poverty line."

In another study the poor had a greater percentage of risk of heart attack than those with money.

So, as Robert's Rich Dad often said, "Money may not be the most important thing in life but it affects everything that is important" and your health is very important.

So if we assume that the healthy, in general, are happier than the unhealthy (I know I"m not too pleasant when I'm sick), and the wealthy are healthier than the poor, then it seems that money certainly can affect a person's happiness."

T. Harv Eker, author of Secrets of The Millionaire Mind says that the thing to get is that the rich seldom think in dichotomies.  They always think in terms of "Why not both?".  And it's a good thing they do because the additional abundance they receive allows them to create greater value and abundance for the masses, contributing to the comfort and happiness of all.

Another way to understand the relationship between money and happiness is to understand what the relationship is not.  Bob Proctor in You Were Born Rich makes it clear that "Money is not meant to make you happy... it's meant to make you comfortable."

Where in your life are you allowing your beliefs to limit your options?  You may not want to "have it all" but perhaps you CAN have want you want if you give yourself the option.

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