poor is the new rich

So many people think more money would make them happy.
This is dillusional. Think of all the money that is spent on lottery tickets every day. I hear of so many stories of the people who win messing up their lives. Yet, people buy into this illusion that if they would just win the lottery, their lives would be so much happier. Why wait around for your life to be better, especially by something that you have no control over, like a one-in-a-million chance of winning a lottery. Start making your life better now on your own. And then there's the chase for the higher paying job. Those unfortunately come with higher stress and less time for a life. Is it really worth it?
Here are some quotes from Ernie Zelinski's book "The Joy of Not Knowing It All" (also published as "The Joy of Thinking Big"):
"People want to believe there is one big money deal that will take care of all their problems. This is believing in a form of Santa Claus; everything is going to be great once this savior brings something of great value for us. Remember how false this belief was when we were children. Our happiness was short-lived and our problems remained."
"A higher percentage of people making higher incomes are less satisfied with their income than people with lower incomes. A higher percentage of the rich have alcohol and drug problems."
"If we are unhappy and don't handle our problems well on $25,000 a year, we can expect the same of oursleves with a lot of money. We will be just as unhappy and handle our problems just as ineffectively, but with more comfort and style."
"The one-big-deal syndrome is one of those adolescent-rescue fantasies we all had in our younger years. Unfortunately I know many people who have carried these fantasies well into their fifties and sixties. eg. If I could only get a high paying job then I could start living."
"People are looking for an easy way to happiness, when none exists. Waiting for the one-big-deal avoids the effort to make life work."

Only when the last tree has died
and the last river been poisoned
and the last fish been caught
will we realise we cannot eat money.
-Cree Indian Proverb