The wealth-happiness mirage

The apocryphal narrative that success is measured by income-based productivity pulls in nearly everyone. The distorted image of “perfect life” is reinforced by social media where people share their best moments, which, maybe unintentionally, hides the truth that life is not perfect for anyone, no matter how large their wallet is.

To earn a lot and spend a lot is stressful because of the possibility of losing our job due to the events that we cannot control. As history shows, recessions and shifting economy are always brewing, which can lead to series of obligations that we wouldn’t be able to fulfill.

Earning just enough to live in a relative comfort is easier than to shoot for the stars. It’s easier than to give up our sleep, relationships and leisure for a chance to become extremely rich. It’s easier to know that if something happens to our income, we wouldn’t need much to recover.

Earning less also creates conditions for passive income to cover our lifestyle in full. There’s no better position to be in than to have enough financial security so we can focus on the things that we want to do in life.

People have an incredible ability to adapt. As we can adapt to extravagant living, we can adapt to living with enough.