there is little to no happiness to be found in stuff and material acquisitions.
Amen! The Millionaire Next Door is a great book to read to get a reality check on those people you see around you that have all the trappings of being rich. They're really not, they are what are referred to in the book as "hyper consumers". I knew one such guy that was a NASA engineer, he had an enormous house, boat, new Porsche, etc. etc. Everyone was amazed at how "successful" he was. Then he lost his job in downsizing. Within a year he lost it all because he had loans on EVERYTHING and as soon as he started missing payments it all got taken away. The book points out that people like that aren't millionaires, in fact they usually don't have any wealth at all, just a lot of debt. Most real millionaires drive an older car, shop at Walmart and wear regular clothes. They are millionaires specifically because they don't blow all their money on the trappings of looking rich. It's a fascinating book.
I started out on a loading dock making 3.15 an hour. My friends and I, our idea of a good time was shooting pool, drinking beer and sharing a pizza. Then I went on to college, got my degree, started in the white collar world and eventually worked up to a 6 figure salary and all the perks that come with that. But when I think back to the times of my life that I was happiest, crazily enough those times on the loading dock are pretty high on the list.
