Happiness is a mental or emotional state of well-being defined by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. A variety of biological, psychological, religious and philosophical approaches have striven to define happiness and identify its sources. (Wikipedia). Happiness can be accomplished from doing the things you love to do, not only for yourself but for others. Money gives people a sense of security. Security in the fact that if you need something to be fixed or replaced you wont have to stress about get the money to get it fixed. Money gives people the freedom to go out and do what makes them happy. So therefore, money can lead to your ability to buy things that make you happy. Happiness is achieved by being able to provide for others; going after success and more money makes happiness attainable because money give us the opportunity to deliver happiness to those around us. Money gives people the sense of pride to be able to provide for others.

People feel better when they get more money, which also leads to higher happiness in richer countries. In richer countries people who live in an area where its clean and the people have running water. People in wealthier countries live a better life generally because they have extra benefits that other countries don't have. For example, America is a richer country than many others-paved roads and other types of benefits for the citizens means higher general happiness. People in wealthier countries do not have to struggle as much as a person in a not so wealthy country. People in wealthier countries do not have to worry about not having electricity or not having clean water. People living in more fortunate countries would be more satisfied with their lives because of those benefits. "People in richer countries are, on average, more satisfied with their lives than those in poorer ones, says Wolfers" (Poppick). People in wealthier have more to hope for and more to strive for to get out of poverty unlike in low income countries where they cannot just spend money to get something their country does not have. People in wealthier countries can strive for something and can keep going for something better in their lives to live for. "And within individual countries, feelings of well-being grow as earnings grow, says Wolfers" (Poppick)" Poppick argues that people feel better about themselves as their earnings grow. When people feel better about themselves as they start to gain more and more money. The financial gain of a person's wealth makes them happy and gives them a sense of happiness. 

People who live in poverty are more depressed and unhappy with their lives then people who have money. The movie the Pursuit of Happiness shows the struggles of a family who are living paycheck to paycheck and living an unhappy life. The main character Chris is trying to gain more success and and get his son in out of that unhappy life they are living. His constant need for success and his drive for getting a better job to get more money in the end makes him happy. The movie follows Chris and his sons journey to happiness. The movie follows the father and son from their sadness and unhappiness to happiness. At first the movie shows Chris being left by his wife because they were going to be kicked out of their apartment. Him and his son were forced to be homeless and only to add to their sadness Chris was not making any money at his job so he could not feed his children or himself. Chris never stopped fighting for his happiness he went from place to place trying to find a better job to get money to make his son happy. Chris was out trying to get a job and looked around and saw all these people with fancy clothes going into their jobs building and he states, "they all looked so damn happy. Why couldn't I look like that?" (Pursuit of Happiness). He specifically states he is unhappy with his life and hoped he had the money to be that happy. He works extremely hard to make more money and when it seems like all hope is gone and his chance at happiness is over he gets the job of a lifetime. He finally gets his happy ever after. He gets to earn more money and get his happiness because now he can afford things to pay for his son and get him and his son out of poverty. Chris went to get happiness by gaining money and with that money he achieved his goal for a happier self.

People but so much on their financial status to deem how successful they are in the world. When people see someone else living a lavish life and how happy they are they see themselves as unsuccessful and thus makes them feel unhappy. The link between a persons well-being and a person bank account are inevitably linked. "There is a wealth of previous research on the link between individuals' well-being and the relative importance they attach to achieving financial success as a personal goal compared to other life goals." (Dittmar). People generally feel as though they are not happy if they do not make certain milestones or points in their life that others. Most people go and gain more money to get to their happiness. "The quest for a happier self and the desire for tangible markers of success." (Dittmar). People set goals to have a happier life and with that quest for a happier self is being able to buy tangible markers of success. Those markers of success would be a house of a car or a full house of groceries every week. Those tangible markers are signs of fortunate and not a sign of success. "By definition, money provides relief from poverty, and therefore money influences well-being indirectly by helping to produce resources and consequently relief from the ill-being associated with poverty." (Dittmar). Since money brings people out of poverty they are going to feel happy because they have more to show for their happiness. With money a person feels more empowered and better about themselves because they feel like hey I can afford this and I have this and I have that so I am a success. "Several studies showed that the pursuit of a more ideal self, as well as improved mood, were buying motivations that predicted tendencies toward compulsive buying, which can become a fully-blown psychiatric disorder, thus indicating ill-being {e.g., Benson, 2000; Dittmar,2004). Majority of people who are sad would go out and buy "happy foods" or a new car to get rid of that shocking sadness that just came over them. Without money they could not go out and get out of that funk they were in so that in turns puts that person in even more of a funk. That funk would not exist if they had the money to pay for that item to get them out of that funk and on to the happy train.

Spending money leads to higher social ties. Spending money on other people to get ahead on the job or to gain a friend can make you happy. Spending your wealth on others to make them happy because with you delivering that person happy they will in turn deliver you with happiness as well. That choice they made to make that social tie with a person who needed happiness that person has gained a friend. A friend that will remember how happy they were to revieve that gift that they have now formed a bond that would last forever. That bond would of never happened if it wasn't for the money you invested on that person. Giving to others satisfies some kind of basic human need. Being able to come pay for a sibling's gift when it comes to be Christmas time or mother's day or any holiday. Having the money to give to others and not just to spend on your own gain can make you happy. "specifically, it has been shown that spending money on others contributes more to an individual's happiness than spending money on oneself." (Geenen). By spending on other people you spread a sense of joy around the world not only on the person that received the gift or what have you but also the people that person you made happy spreads a sense of happiness across the world now too. "The benefits of such prosocial spending emerge among adults around the world, and the warm glow of giving can be detected even in toddlers. These benefits are most likely to emerge when giving satisfies one or more core human needs (relatedness, competence, and autonomy)." (Dunn). This all around giving could not be able to happen without money. "The most satisfying way of using money is to invest it in others" (Flynn).  Giving to others and being able to afford to give other people the things that they may want but cannot afford sheds happiness into the world. You hear rappers rapping about how they can give their mothers and other family and friends thing they never had but always wanted and that makes them happy. Those rappers came form poverty stricken homes and they were living a very unhappy life and they used their talent to get out of that unhappiness. Their main motivation to keep pursing their talent was their family. Getting their families out of that sadness and that funk was their goal and main reason to keep chasing the money. With that financial gain they made themselves and their family and friends happy with all their money.

The take a way from this issue is that happiness can be attained and built on. Happiness will continue to grow with the gain of your income. The gain of money will not only help you gain happiness but it will also give others happiness as well. So do not harp to much on the fact that your life is bad and do not focus on that unhappiness. People can get out of that funk by going out an getting more money. Not only to get more money but to spend your fortune on people in need and on doing the things that will make you happy inside and out. A lot of people live a depressed and unhappy life because people assume happiness is an unattainable emotion and these sources have proved them wrong. To get happiness go get more money and if you already have money invest it into others. money can lead to your ability to buy things that make you happy. If you spend your money correctly, you'll live in a world of pleasure. Making money all starts from hard work. It's impossible to just wake up and be filthy rich, unless you win the lottery. Success leads to money, and money leads to happiness. Money brings a balance to life, and leads to less stress. When you have money, you won't have to work as much so you can do things that make you happy more often. 

