But Will It Make You Happy?

Jason Minnix, a friend and Quaker pastor, emailed this article to the NWYM pastor’s email list. I think it’s a good article worth discussion around the coffee table this week.

She had so much.Two cars. Enough wedding china to serve two dozen people.Yet Tammy Strobel wasnt happy. Working as a project manager with an investment management firm in Davis, Calif., and making about $40,000 a year, she was, as she put it, caught in the “work-spend treadmill.” So one day she stepped off. Inspired by books and blog entries about living simply, Ms. Strobel and her husband, Logan Smith, both 31, began donating some of their belongings to charity. As the months passed, out went stacks of sweaters, shoes, books, pots and pans, even the television after a trial separation during which it was relegated to a closet. Eventually, they got rid of their cars, too. Emboldened by a Web site that challenges consumers to live with just 100 personal items, Ms. Strobel winnowed down her wardrobe and toiletries to precisely that number.

via but-will-it-make-you-happy?.

When discussing happiness and wealth, what is it that makes us truly happy? Where does the testimony of plainness come into play in our lives? Do we know when we have enough?