Live Your Best Life

I’ve always been preoccupied with the saying “Live your Best Life” made popular by Oprah Winfrey and as I flew home from a mini trip with my husband, I looked out the window of the plane. It occurred to me, I was looking at things from a different perspective.

On the ground, I could see the bottom of the fluffy white cumulus cloud, but now over ten thousand feet in the air, I was looking down at the beautiful, cotton balls of glory made of water & dust!

Yes, it is true… If you open your eyes you can see many things from a different perspective, personal finances being one of them. I, once a “stuffoholic,” used to desire many things and thought buying more “stuff” would make me happier.

However, I’ve thus learned the problem with this type of thinking is no matter how much you have, you always want more! Yet, the more you have, the more clutter you deal with and life begins to feel out of control. It can be a never-ending cycle.

We all marry our spouses for different reasons. My husband is a kind, caring person with a good heart. He has taught me many things in our life together, but perhaps the most important is how he prefers experiences over stuff.

My husband would much rather take a trip or take our kids to a new museum than buy a bunch of clothes at the mall. His perspective got me thinking about what we could do to make our lives richer and more fulfilling. Could we all have a goal to live our best life with contentment and happiness? And what’s more, how can we achieve this “best life”?

According to a study done by Nobel Peace Prize winner Angus Deaton happiness peaks at an average income of $75,000 (source Forbes.com). After that, our happiness levels off. Research shows money does not necessarily equal happiness.


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