Happiness....

Came across an article on Happiness and how to measure it... It try to link happiness with capitalism and I suddenly stuck an concept :

They say money don't bring you happiness...but I think that's not true...Money can get things that bring you happiness...just that it might not last. And they also missed out the fact that money can indirectly bring you unhappiness...How? The very happiness that money brought you will bring about your unhappiness as well...A paradox indeed.

Let's say you started off poor.. on a scale of 1 to 10 of the possessions you own, you rank 2. You don't have to lose alot to get back to the rank of 1. And assume losing that 1 point will already be enough to make one unhappy. Then as you start to work and improve your life, your rank upgrade to 5 cause you are gathering more possessions to make you happy...each point upgrade you make, made you happier cause you achieved something but that happiness don't last so you look to make more points. NOW think.. from rank 5, you fell to rank 3 , its a difference of 2 pts. That 2 pts lost certainly caused much more misery than if you were to drop from rank 2 to rank 1 ( minus 1 pt). But will that person still think at least I'm rank 3, which is better than rank 2 , 3 years ago? NO...he will think he is 2 pts backward from rank 5. It's like an person appetite is stretched as he eats more and more and needs more and more to feel satisfied. And with his appetite bigger, a little lack of food will means more anxiety to him.

Hence, as one aim to get more & more out of life...in terms of wealth and possessions, one is being made more vulnerable to unhappiness. Maybe that's why there are more unhappy people around as the society get more afluence. They have learned to tie happiness with possessions and the only way they can be made more happy is to have more possessions. But according with the law of dimishing return, they need more and more possessions to give them a similar degree of happiness compared to the past.

Conclusion? The rituals of possessions gathering is futile, as the ultimate end is more unhappiness. So how to maintain happiness? To me, I feel maybe is to live simply.. in this way, one do not need alot to feel happy. A simple movie and dinner outing will bring much happiness if done occassionally. Imagine if you do this every weekend, it will be such a joykill.
As such, human being themselves need to control their urge to repeat rituals that make them happy too often.... in order to prolong that happiness that ritual brings. Another paradox.

Just imagine having sex everyday... who can take it.. haha.. I guess it boils down to moderation to everything in life , doesn't it?