In Europe, people work less and tend to be generally happier than Americans. Why then, in America, do we choose to work more and be miserable? I once heard someone say, "I've worked my entire life to have things. I spent all my years collecting things that my children or their children will sell for a quarter when I'm gone." Is this list for stuff preventing carefree living in America? Unfortunately, that seems to be the case.
Americans tend to value things— stuff, stuff, STUFF! Americans also tend to value big things; for example, the average American's home and car are MUCH larger than their Canadian or European counterparts. You'd think, then, that this "stuff" would make Americans happy. Why else would they lust for it so fervently? Statistically, though, that is not the case. America's economy booms due to the American work ethic and religious consumerism, yet the American people run like hamsters in a wheel to achieve this revered outcome. Obviously, it doesn't make them happy, so what would? Well, the European model seems to suggest that travel, relationships, and general quality of life (not quantity) could make Americans a much happier people.
For example, Americans could work MUCH less if they lived within their means. Americans must come to understand that bigger isn't always better and that you don't need a new iPhone every time new model debuts on the market. If Americans invested less time in working to have things they don't need, they could invest much more time in building relationships with their families and friends. (I know this isn't true with all Americans considering some work for poverty wages and barely scrape by, but that is an argument for another time). Another example is this: don't stay in one place for too long. If you have the itch in your feet to hit the road or sail the seas, why don't you? Ask yourself this; will a trip to Europe two years from now make me happier than this fifty-dollar shirt I'm about to buy? The answer is most likely "yes, it will", and saving the money on things you don't need right now gives you some expendable income to travel with later on.
Essentially, America, you don't have to work yourselves to death to be happy. Settle for the used car and the one bedroom apartment, if it means you won't have to sacrifice as much of your time and mental health. If you want to live a carefree life, then live for quality— not quantity. Trust me when I say this: even the most impoverished Americans live better than the impoverished in every other nation.
