For many of us, the goal of life isn't ultimate wealth, a massive amount of stuff, or the perfect car. Though we strive to gain materialistic possessions and a social status, often times we find that the achievement of gaining such objects has little effect on our lives. There is always something which is better that needs to be obtained. Why is this? What is it that drives people's ambitions and motivation in life? What are we all striving for but many can never fully gain? It's happiness, plain and simple.

The reason why the materialistic does not hold is that it is temporal. I once knew a man that won five million dollars in the lottery. Most people would say that this would be the achievement of a lifetime, right? Well, it turns out that this guy was miserable, depressed, and wrenched. His happiness could not be sustained as he could not determine who his friends were. Everyone wanted a dollar. The taxes on everything he bought stressed him out. Family member's debts were always being placed at his doorstep. Guilt, stress, frustrations, and paranoia is all that the lottery gave the man. Consequently, he ensured that all the money was liquidated within 10 years. 10 years and he was back to square one. But you know what? He was happy. I am not saying that happiness can only be gained by selling your possessions or getting rid of your hard-earned wealth, but that our motivations for happiness should be based upon something other than worldly dependent factors.