Endless Bliss | Happy Lifestyle Blog: I Learned the Hard Way That Money Doesn't Buy Happiness.

I Learned the Hard Way That Money Doesn't Buy Happiness.

I think we've all been told that we should do what makes us happy and not what brings us more money. Like an idiot, I didn't follow this advice after college. My senior year at Louisiana Tech, I was lost. While all of my friends already had jobs lined up or were re-enrolling into different schools, I was sifting through my pathetic list of options:

1) Move back in with my parents and find a job close to home.
2) Find a summer internship and cross my fingers it turns into a job. If not, I'll find something else.
3) Go the career fair, apply for jobs, and hope I get one.

I went with option three. I had plans to go to the career fair anyway, regardless of the fact that most of the companies attending were geared more toward engineering students, and the companies that were there for business students weren't ones I was particularly interested in. 

I ended up setting up two interviews with two companies that I won't name here. They both  actually went really well. With one company, I got offered to do a second interview. I blew the second interview though. It was a pretty tough one, and I didn't have an answer to one of the questions. I walked out feeling confident that I didn't get it, and I was proven right. With the second company, I was hired on the spot. I was excited to have a back-up plan in case something better didn't come along. The pay was very decent. I would be paid salary for the first time in my life. Benefits were awesome. Plus, I would still get to work in my college town, so I was pretty excited about that.

Totally unrelated: That same day, I was offered a job to work as a camp counselor in Pennsylvania, and I hesitantly asked the person who hired me at the aforementioned unnamed company above if I would be able to start in August rather than June, and they allowed me to. I figured any company with that amount of leniency had to be worth working for because it just made them seem understanding. 
Irrelevant camp picture to go with that irrelevant tidbit.
Anyway, fast forward to August. I had my first day. It was just me and two other people working - the boss and the cashier. I had no idea that the staff was going to be so small. Just the three of us. After my first day of work, I went home crying and had Jon come over to comfort me. Little did I know I would be crying every day after work for the next three months. Yes, I was making lots of money, but I realized that my happiness was much more precious to me than the amount of money in my bank account. 

You're probably wondering why I didn't just quit. Well, I had no other options, so I had to just stick it out until I had one. 

In November, I was texting one of my friends from Tech, and I was telling her about how much I disliked my job. She told me that they were hiring at the hotel she was working at back in my hometown. Even though it meant that I would have to move back in with my parents and be paid hourly at a job that I didn't even need a degree for, I still jumped at the opportunity. The prospect of working in hospitality just tugged at my heart, and I knew that I was making the right decision.
By mid-month, I was all moved back in with my parents in my high school room training to be a front desk agent at a hotel. And you know what? I was the happiest I had been since I left summer camp. I felt like I was finally doing something that would actually lead to greater things for me, and I was so right. I was the first promotion at the hotel, and now I have an office, my own desk, an official email and even a business card all because I chose happiness over money. 

While I'm still making less than what I was at that awful job I worked at for three months, I still make enough to live comfortably, obviously because I'm going to Europe, and I paid for that all on my own. 

So while you may think it's best to chase the money, I assure you that money doesn't buy happiness. Unfortunately, I had to learn the hard way. 

*****************************************************************************
Meet my sweet friend, Mary!
I'm Mary, the girl behind, Eat Drink & Be Mary.  I'm a girl in her twenties who recently graduated college, and am now learning to love long distance.  A coffee loving, DIY crafting, recipe trying, legging wearing, Instagram obsessed, aspiring teacher and Christian.  Just trying to find my place in this "big girl" world, one blog post at a time.  You can often find me raving about a recipe I recently tried, an outfit I got a great deal on, or just a hodge podge of what's on my mind lately.  Pour a cup of coffee, pull up a chair & stick around for what I'm super excited to share with you today...

What are you looking forward to this summer?
This summer I'm looking forward to beach trips (even though I've already taken several) and my family is road tripping to Colorado & Wyoming.  Basically relaxation & a good dose of Vitamin D.

What is your favorite place that you've visited? 
My favorite place I've ever visited is England, my clogging team went the past summer and it was a blast!



Where would you go on your dream vacation?
My dream vacation would be Spain or somewhere tropical.

For more from Mary, click the links below!

18 comments :

  1. This is so true! I took a job after college and was living along in a huge city. It was awful. I called my parents everyday crying. I finally left and ending up going to graduate school where I started nannying (and after a few more jobs like the one I took out of college I'm back doing this full time). I'm not using either of my degrees (or making as much as I did before) but I love the work that I do! Happiness is so important and as long as you are making enough to feed, house, and cloth you then it's so worth it to be happy rather than rich.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've always told my children, "Do what you love and it won't seem like a job at all." Sometimes we just have to go through some things to realize what's most important. Lesson well learned!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love this!!! Definitely true- it took me until the beginning of my junior year of college to realize teaching would really make me happy and fulfilled, even though the pay isn't great. Happiness is worth SO much more!

    ReplyDelete
  4. This is so so true! I think that this applies to things outside of money too, like prestige over happiness! I'd say that definitely affects the say I make decisions now!


    xo, Hima
    Hima Hearts

    ReplyDelete
  5. It sure doesn't. And when it does, it's only temporary.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love this! I know so many friends who gave up jobs that they really wanted or over because they didn't pay great! I always remind them that it's NOT about money!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love this! I've passed up quite a few good opportunities for happiness, and I don't look back and regret a single decision. I'm so glad you are happy now and still living well!

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is a great story! Good on you for following the tug of your heart :)


    Lindsey // MoreAwesomerBlog.com

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'm so glad you understand exactly what I mean. Picking jobs should definitely not be based on the amount of money you could make; it should be based on how fulfilling you think the job will be for you and your future. I'm glad you were able to find that!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love that quote. I think if I hadn't gone through this, I wouldn't appreciate the job I have now as much as I do, so I'm grateful that I had those months of slump before I learned my lesson.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Happiness is definitely worth so much more than a paycheck. As long as you have a job where you make enough to live comfortably, then you should definitely do what makes you happy. I'm glad that you were able to find that happiness in teaching!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I agree that it can apply to other things as well! I feel like happiness should just trump everything (besides love, wine, and Zac Efron haha).

    ReplyDelete
  13. Exactly! I'm definitely looking for happiness for the long run.

    ReplyDelete
  14. It's definitely not about the money! I know that I would have been miserable for a long time if I had kept that job. I feel like you should work where you think will bring you the most happiness.

    ReplyDelete
  15. That's good that you look back with no regrets! Happiness should always trump money. That's awesome that you realized that and were able to avoid being in a job that made you miserable.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Thank you! It was a hard thing to live through, but looking back, I'm grateful that I went through it. It makes me appreciate what I have now so much more.

    ReplyDelete
  17. LOVE this post! I went through the same thing after college. The pay wasn't that great, though haha. I stuck it out for like 8 months and then finally just had to go out on my own. Now I'm making more money than I was at my salaried job and I am SO MUCH HAPPIER. I love doing my work every day and I'd do it for free if I had to. I do work longer hours, but since it's what I love, it doesn't feel like work at all. The days fly by instead of slowly creeping by as I stare at the clock. I'm glad you learned such an important life lesson so early!

    xo Megan, Lush to Blush

    ReplyDelete
  18. That's amazing that you get to do what you love and make money for it. I think the longer hours are definitely worth it if you're doing something that you're passionate about. I love my job so much, but I'm not sure if it's a field I want to be working in for the rest of my life. I'm still trying to figure it out.

    ReplyDelete

09 10