Money and Happiness

Tugas Softskill Bahasa Inggris

Disusun oleh :

Siti Aisyah (16215595)

Kelas : 1EA08

Fakultas Ekonomi Manajemen S-1

Universitas Gunadarma

Depok

Money and Happiness

Can money buy happiness? Before we can answer that question we need to get to the bottom of what happiness really is.

In the movie that made Will Smith a popular figure “The Pursuit of Happiness”, his character sees an opportunity to better his self through an internship in order to create a better life for his son and himself. The journey is not without pain and hardship. We see him struggling to sell medical appliances, balancing that with work and study and all the while being a single parent. Not long after he gets kicked out of his house after being unable to afford rent which results in both of them sleeping in a public bathroom. After all of his hard work he reaches top of his class which leads to him landing a secure job as a stock broker allowing him to make more than enough money for accommodations and living expenses. He steps out of the office euphoric and overwhelmed as he feels that he has reached his happiness.

It can be said that ‘The Pursuit of Happiness’ is just a movie, though similar events happen in real life every day to those who are experiencing poverty. The movie itself is based on a true story. Now, from the film we can deduce 2 major factors upon happiness.

1.Ultimately money is needed for one to achieve happiness in today’s society. We cannot ignore the fact that money can secure basic needs like food and shelter. How can one achieve happiness if such person’s life is filled with constant worry and discontent? After one achieves the needs of any human, he can sought to find more fulfilling things. However, money becomes the gateway to that. In this case, yes, money can buy happiness. Money in itself cannot make you happy but it can support your dreams and what you wish to achieve in life. Which brings us to what happiness is.

2.Happiness is one’s experience in life. Happiness is not just the endpoint or the finish line. The elated feeling after achieving something is just a placeholder to what happiness is, which is the actual journey or ‘pursuit’. Without the hardships there is no challenge and the goal holds less meaning. This is why many lottery winners experience dissatisfaction after winning a million dollars. No hardship or blood and tears were spent so naturally it becomes less of a reward emotionally. There was never a clear goal before and after the money. Without proper financial planning the cash disappears before anyone notices.

Money is not the key thing that we want in life. What we want is a happy life full of wellbeing, full of experiences and memories and to die peacefully knowing that what we did in life had an effect on the world.