Happiness

In his TedTalk "How to buy happiness," Michael Norton argues against the typical belief that money cannot buy happiness, articulating that way in which people spend their money influences their happiness. Norton produced several results from experiments he instigated worldwide that ultimately revealed the same trend: people who spend money on others rather than themselves tend to be happier, as doing something for others makes people feel that they have made a positive impact on someone else.

I thoroughly agree with Norton's statements, and have experienced this personally. When I worked at Target as a cashier, one of my coworkers, Barb, would always offer to buy the other cashiers a drink after she ended her shift. She did this every day, not limiting the number of people she bought drinks for. I felt bad saying yes to her because I didn't feel that she needed to, so I always refused her offer. One of the last days before leaving my hometown and my job for college, Barb talked me into accepting her offer, explaining to me that doing little things for others, like buying something to drink, honestly made her day. The joy that she caused others by giving them a drink in turn made her feel good about her influence in our own lives.

Between having a person in my life like Barb and listening to Norton's speech, I am encouraged to do the same. Although I cannot relate specifically because I haven't spent money on others except for birthday and holiday gifts for my family, there are some things that I do for others that make me happy. Recently, I bought an abundance of holiday cards for my friends back in my hometown, and plan to send them in the mail to wish them the best in their end-of-semester exams and a happy holiday. I enjoy doing small acts of kindness for others, and will continue to look for opportunities to do so.