I think I would define success as living a happy and meaningful life. It's really easy to get wrapped up in matters that are ultimately trivial - money, status, material objects, hollow relationships, etc. A lot of time can be wasted doing things that ultimately don't make us happy, but we think it will/should. I've recently realized that I want to do something that matters and I want to have relationships that are important, carry value and are meaningful. Finding love and embracing it.
In my opinion, money's only trivial to people who have enough of it that they don't worry from day to day where it's going to come from. It also depends on the situation. For example, being sad, stressed out, and depressed because you can't buy a brand new stereo (even if your old one works perfectly fine) would be trivial. Being depressed, stressed out, and sad because you can't afford your insulin, even though you have a full time job, that's not so trivial. Money isn't happiness, but it can help you buy things that remove roadblocks to happiness. Knowing your family will eat, have a place to sleep, clothes to wear, and medicine for their ailments goes a long way to securing some peace of mind.
^ Obviously when people say "money doesn't matter" they aren't saying it's awesome to be some starving kid in Africa. They mean money doesn't matter once you've achieved financial security.
People's definition of financial security can vary. I know mine is dramatically lower than a lot of people who stress over really really wanting a new bathroom or car or saying the MUST have a holiday.
It will make you happier if as J. Allen listed you couldn't afford medicine or to eat prior to getting it.
I have to go with J and teacake on this one. The only people who say money can't buy happiness are those who've never really been poor.
if you can go to sleep at night and feel happy with your life then thats success. if you find yourself not feeling happy, then when you wake up, do something about it. sort of my half-arsed philosophy and if money can't buy happiness, it can stave off misery.
I agree that money makes you happier when you need them to fill your basic needs. But if your basic needs are already met, more money than you need won't necessarily make you happier.
I get very irritated with people's lack of gratitude so to speak for having their quite generous definition of basic needs met. People seem to treat having enough money to live without fear of being hungry, homeless or ill as though it were breathing, a given to being alive.
I wish I could have put it this well. The best I had come up with was not being miserable and not being greedy/ambitious. The continual drive to get more will also mean you struggle to find peace and satisfaction.
Yes, money matters. I just said that. You're taking that phrase way too literally. Yeah, that's true. Some people truly do need more money than others to be happy. Whether that's a character flaw or not is open to debate.
Stole my damn line. Success in life...I have no idea. Used to be not dying due to my own hand or my tormentors. Managed that. Now I've held down a job for several years in a row and is decently financially stable. Now I'm managing to make enough money to save up for trips I want to make. Next step I suppose is meeting someone. Or at least meeting people in general, get a sex life and so on. I guess I'll let you know about five minutes before I die what I think success in life is.
No, what you said was that aside from financial security, money doesn't matter. That's a whole different ballgame. That's like saying "As long as I get enough to eat, lack of food doesn't bother me." Also, Zed was an idiot who was repeatedly defeated by punk teenagers.
No, it's more like saying "As long as I get enough to eat, the lack of dining out at five star restaurants doesn't bother me." I just don't understand why you went all Data on Warp Coil when he said that money doesn't matter. Zedd was awesome. He did destroy the Green Ranger powers after all and then there's the whole destroying the Machine Empire thing. Even the Rangers couldn't do that.
Life decisions change bigtime when you have kids. It's easy to drop out and go all Kerouac when you don't have children to support. The point being that relationships are a key part of what you get out of life. Relationships can both help and hinder you. Think "It's a Wonderful Life". That's why the sewing of the wild oats tends to happen when you first get out of the nest, when you're the most independent. It's also why the mid-life-crisis is so tough, because it's when life's obligations to others are the strongest. If you haven't already figured out what you're on this planet for, you're really behind the 8-ball. A few years ago I was making close to a six figure salary, but I spent over a dozen years in IT and burned out on it. Yet here I am again, forced by circumstance, to give it a shot again. Life is so much more than just the money aspect. You do what you have to do to survive, but it doesn't mean you have to like it. Everyone has a calling in life and few people ever manage to make that their career. Now you've got a recession that just doesn't want to go away making matters worse.