In the end, if you were not happy before you were rich, it's unlikely you will be happy when you are (rich).
My two cents.
But what if you are unhappy because you aren't rich?
Short answer: Then you don't know better.
Long answer: Following in the evening.
Good day!
Elaboration:
If you are unhappy because you aren't rich, you ignore the most basic principle of happiness: It comes from the inside, not from the outside.
I know only two rich persons personally, both of which are very unhappy. Now guess why? Because they are rich.
They are stressed out by their fear of getting poor, either by other people (wife(s), scammers, good "friends", family) or by losing money or wealth because of investments. They secure their homes at the highest level, alarm systems, cameras, gps tracked cars, butlers with military/defense skills. They can never travel alone, not even take a walk outside of their security areas. They are cursed by their richness.
One of them was the best drummer i ever saw/heard. He had a room full of vinyl metal records (i miss the 90s), he grew long hair down to the lower back, he was a good drinker, great companion for drug explorations, intelligent, a funny companion, a womanizer... a bit arrogant, though.
At the age of 18 his parents, that he occasionally met, took him aside for some "serious talk". After that day i met him only once again, for a very long time. He told us that his parents let him choose either to continue his lifestyle and get disinherited or cut his hair short, give up the band, the metal lifestyle, quit the drugs, cut off the relationships to his friends and become introduced into the life of the riches, and take his place in the family business.
I saw him a couple of years ago, walking out of a banks building. He looked somewhat unhappy, with a lot of grief on his face, dressed up royal business style. He didn't recognize me, maybe because he wasn't looking directly at me. I was feeling a little scared (that's not the right term, but i was kind of "surprised" in a negative way).
He had to tweak (or kill) his inner self to match the expectations of the world of the rich, to stay inside. He fell for the plain old "selling your soul" thing.
Later i got introduced to a nephew of him, who i asked about him, and he just replied "You know my uncle? He is a fucking madman."
So i told him the story of his uncle's former teenage life. It was hard for him to imagine that he could have been anything like the rock'n roller i described to him.
That was one lesson in life that taught me a lot.
The other lesson came from a poor friend of mine. He traveled the world to do some dirty work, just to be able to have money to move on. His belongings were kept in a big backpack, which carried a digeridoo which he used to play for spare change over the world. He spent several months in various monasteries. When he was around again, a common friend asked him why he always seems so happy, without a home, without a job, living this uneasy backpack life, if he never experiences something like sorrow or existential fear. He just said: "i smile". Later on, he explained that he learned one of the most valuable lessons in his life in a british krishna monastery. He was meditating with a big grin, every day, as long as he could. He was told to smile throughout the day, and if he recognizes he isn't smiling, just smile again and keep going. He said that this taught him true, deep happiness. When he came back after over a decade, had two children with a young woman, took a job, then took two jobs, he got more serious and lost his happiness for a couple of years, until they divorced (this girl was a real bitch, imo). He backed away with a backpack again and some of his happiness came back, but he never became the easy, lucky type of guy he was before. I still meet him once in a while.
After reading these two true stories, answer
me yourself:
So what do you think you
really need to be happy?
EDIT: added some details.
EDIT2: remembering this stuff gave me some unpleasant feelings. Gotta work that out now. Good night, comrades. #hodl on!
EDIT 3: One last thing: The original wording by my poor, happy friend was "If you're always happy, you can't stop smiling. If you don't stop smiling, you're always happy". He described it as "something like a feedback-looped duality" (freely translated)
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