Why Are The Happiest People Poor?

Why Are The Happiest People Poor?

I was listening to a podcast yesterday and a surprising statistic rose to my consciousness.

Did you know some of the happiest people in the world are actually the poorest?

The United States has an epidemic of depression, suicide and people having to medicate themselves in order to numb the pain of being alive.

I’m pretty sure this is not how God intended us to live our lives.

In this podcast they talked about one of the biggest reasons for this happiness or lack there of.

The happiest people live in community.

They have family around, live in tight knit groups and spend lots of time together.

Here in the U.S. we tend to live alone.

Oh, we have neighborhoods and PTA meetings but many people don’t even know their neighbors let alone make time to show up at school to meet their kids friends.

Maybe we have too much time on our hands and not enough deep relationships? Perhaps we trade busy for connection.

I remember years ago, traveling to Guatemala for my job as a news reporter.

We’d travel to these tiny villages where 10 people shared a tiny dirt floor hut and they were so happy.

I wanted to feel sorry for them but there was no reason to.

They had tough lives but they were happy.

I also noticed how they shared with us and yet they were dirt poor.

I see the same thing, in a different way, in our country.

The people who tend to help others the most also tend to be the poor.

As one man told me once, “What do I have to lose, I have nothing so I give away what I don’t need.”

The more I research, the more I listen to the corruption and manipulation going on in our nation, I can’t help but wonder if the foundation we have built our society on is failing.

We have anything we want. We have too many choices and it’s impacting not only the economic health of our nation but the mental health of our people.

I’m getting ready to head to the gym. Yes, I do it for my health but I also do it for the connection it gives me to people. I guess you could say the gym is my village.

What I need to add to that is more one on one, in person meetings, with other humans.

Community doesn’t just happen you have to work at it.

I wonder that the secret to happiness isn’t found in those simple, real, conversations.