Life is what you make of it. Life can be wonderful and life can be horrible. What contributes the most to feelings of joy? Your perception. If you value something, if you are grateful for something and perceive it as something that is great, awesome and amazing then you are happy to have it right? People tend to forget that the value is in us rather than in the things or objects that we desire. One man's dream is another man's nightmare. What makes me happy doesn't necessarily make you happy. Why? Because we give value to different things. You might be very happy with owning a Ferrari, but some people might even see owning a Ferrari as a burden. Probably because they don't have passion for cars and driving and because a Ferrari tends to get stolen more easily because of it's high value. It can also draw a lot of attention and this is not exactly fantastic for a person who prefers to be left alone. So you might see it as something great and another person might see it as something awful. It all depends on how we choose to perceive it. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. There are also people who seem to think that only having a lot of money can make them happy and that having a lot of money equals freedom. They seem to forgot that there are people who are poor and very happy and that there are rich people who are very miserable and far from free. Freedom lies within. It starts with your thinking and how you perceive things. Would you call a rich man who has a guilty conscience and a corrupted mind free? How is he free if he can't even feel gratitude for what he has or if he's not able to feel able happy because he has a mind burdened with fear, worry and doubt? Money doesn't guarantee that you won't get run over by car tomorrow or that you won't get cancer. If you want to find the source of happiness & freedom then look within yourself. Rich people who are happy with their money are happy because they give value to success & wealth. They love wealth, money and success and that's why they are happy being rich. It's not money or success itself that will make you happy and you should never lower yourself, do things you hate, corrupt your soul (hurt people, do bad things) just so that you can become rich. It's not worth it. Sometimes I wish more people would understand that. To make it clear.. It's your passion and your love that gives value to things and that makes it so that you are happy, excited and grateful. Nothing else. The value is in you. Heaven is within. I truly hope that more and more people will begin to realize this. Only you can save yourself. It starts with you. Not with how much money you have. I remember reading an article about a man who won $70 million dollars in the lottery. He ended up being killed (about three months after he won the lottery) and having almost all his possessions stolen by a woman who manipulated him. You think that $70 million dollars gave these people a lot of joy? He attracted the wrong people because of his wealth and he didn't know how to defend himself against these kind of people. He ended up being killed and the woman who stole most of his wealth ended up in jail. So does money guarantee a happy ending? No. It does not. So stop being a slave to it.