If money could buy happiness, the richest people on earth would be happy, but if we look around us, we will find that many of them are unhappy. They worry, fear and suffer. They are stressed. Some are sad. Some people end their lives. Why? Because happiness is not a product that can be bought. We can have everything and still be unhappy or we can have nothing and still be happy. Happiness does not depend on what we have but on how we feel.Money belongs to the outside world. Happiness belongs to the inner world. You may have read this a thousand times but it’s nothing but the truth: Money can buy a bed but not sleep. He can buy a ring but not love. Medicine can be bought with this but not health. With this you can buy a house but not a house. With this you can buy a watch but not time. Therefore, money can buy things, but not happiness. We have been conditioned to believe, ‘If I get more, I will be happy.’ More money, more success, more wealth, more recognition. But as soon as we get what we want, the mind asks for more. We move from one desire to another. We are on what is called the hedonic treadmill: we keep chasing pleasures but getting nowhere. Desires can never quench our thirst. They can only tear us apart. It’s like trying to fill a vessel that has a hole in the bottom. No matter how much we pour into it, it will never be filled. The problem is that we mistake happiness for happiness. Money creates pleasure, comfort and convenience – but not happiness. Happiness is temporary. Happiness is permanent. Joy excites. Completes happiness. Happiness comes from sense gratification, wealth, achievement, success. It is fleeting. We need something else. We should go beyond happiness towards peace, which is the basis of happiness. And finally, to purpose, which is to realize the ultimate goal of life – Who am I? That’s why I write happiness with the 3 P’s – reflecting the 3 keys to happiness: Joy, Peace, and Purpose. True happiness begins when we go beyond the mind and into awareness or consciousness. In this state of awareness we experience peace. The intellect replaces the mind – which is the source of our suffering. When we stop chasing material things and start appreciating what we have; When gratitude replaces greed; When we live a full life, when we live with satisfaction, we are peaceful and happy. A poor man who is satisfied can sleep peacefully. A rich man suffering from anxiety may toss and turn all night. Between these two – who do you think will be happier? This does not mean that money is useless. We all need it to survive. To earn livelihood. It can also create opportunities to serve and share; It can be used for the betterment of humanity. The problem is greed, our lust for money, our love for money. And the mistake we make is that we expect money to do the job it was never meant to do – to make us happy. Happiness is not a pursuit, it is a race to become an ace. This is an option. Instead of saying, ‘I want to be happy,’ we should say, ‘I choose to be happy.’ Happiness is not about money, but about moments and minutes. It’s about the joy of being in the now, the present moment. It’s about making others happy. And when we awaken to our true self – the ultimate truth that we are not body, mind and ego but soul, a part of God, we experience a happiness that no market can sell and no currency can measure. A happiness that comes from deep within, unaffected by events, circumstances, a state of eternal peace and bliss.