Everyone Has Problems

“Well he is rich; he should have nothing to complain about.”

That is one of my least favorite things to hear. Most of us aren’t rich so a large portion of our problems stem from a lack of funds. Your car is dying, your clothes are getting holes, or you don’t have all of the best equipment for your hobby.  These problems are easily fixed by being rich.  The rich don’t worry about a broken car or crappy clothes.  If they want to participate in a sport, you know they’ll buy the best equipment if they feel inclined.  So why wouldn’t they be happy?  They have access to everything that is keeping you from enjoying life to the fullest.  Right?

Rich People Have Problems Too

Haven’t you ever heard, “money doesn’t buy happiness”?  My reply when I was younger always was, “well you give me a million dollars and we’ll see if I get happier or not!”  Unfortunately I missed the whole point.  Money can fix the problems that make you unhappy today, but there will be all new sorts of unhappiness too.

I’m certainly not rich today and I won’t be tomorrow, but I’ll still use myself as a case study as to not offend anyone else.  Today I’m more “wealthy” than I ever have been.  I own 2 houses, have an amazing job, a beautiful fiancee, can pay all of my bills, and I drive a great looking car.  So what is there for me to complain about?  Right now the thing that bothers me most is a lack of a partner.  I have a tremendous amount of energy and ambition but I don’t really have someone to run along side me.  If I’m in a slump, there is no one to take the baton while I rejuvenate.  There is no one who will share my pain if I fail and no one to feel my pride of success.  I’m certain there are plenty of people around me who will empathize or celebrate with me, but no one has an equitable amount of skin in the game.  The funny thing is, now that I have achieved what little I have, I’d give it all up for a best buddy.

Money isn’t the Only Problem

It is common for us to single out money problems as our major problems.  If we had more money then all of our major problems would be solved and we can be happy.  Why is “money” always singled out?  As I’m typing this, I’m thinking about how terrible my hair looks;  I’m 2 weeks past-due for a haircut.  That’s caused by a lack of time, not money.  All sorts of people get extremely ill.  I have a buddy with mono, my mom recently beat cancer, and my grandmother has Wegner’s.  I can assure you that they consider these a problem and have no relationship with affluence.

Problems are Hidden

The thing we have to remember is that we don’t know all the problems of those around us.  I’m certain there are people who don’t know about all the problems in your life.  Since we can’t see inside to know what is pulling others down, it’s easy for us to look at them and say, “well he doesn’t seem as unhappy as I feel, so he must be happy.”

I certainly don’t want to promote getting joy out of someone else’s misery, but I think I will.  You’re sad or have things in your life that take away from your joy.  You look around and see all sorts of people who don’t have your problem and they seem to be very happy.  Now you get more sad because everyone else is having fun but you can’t.  Take a step back and think about these people.  They have all sorts of things pulling them down and you just don’t know it.  You can really feel much better when you can realize that there are all sorts of people with all sorts of problems that you don’t have.  Being able to focus on the positive and be happy that you don’t have your current problems along with the problems of your friends will bring you one step closer to infinite happiness.