[mikekchar]

The world hasn't changed that much. The wealthy are wealthy. The famous are famous. The powerful are powerful. The happy are happy. Like the OP, I'm neither wealthy nor famous nor powerful. I'm not quite in my 50's, but pretty close. I live in a tiny rented flat in the countryside. I own exactly 2 pairs of trousers (much to the dismay of my wife). And I'm happy. SO much happier than my 20's that it defies description.

Yeah, I have friends who are millionaires. I have friends who are famous. (I don't have friends who are powerful... never ran in those circles...). All of my rich friends either inherited their money or won the DotCom lottery. All of my famous friends worked their butts of in obscurity for decades and then won the Celebrity lottery.

None of them are happier than me as far as I can tell. (And, yes, I can afford another pair of trousers, but who needs 3 pairs of trousers!?).

[pm90]

I want to put this delicately: your definition of happiness might not be shared by a lot of people in society today, and neither should it be. While I am glad that you have found happiness in your simple lifestyle, a lot of people would be thoroughly depressed with it (and I'm trying to say this in the nicest way possible, no judgement intended whatsoever on your choices).

[mikekchar]

You may be surprised that I don't disagree with you one bit. Merely posting to help those people who find that fighting a losing battle against acquiring wealth is not working out for them. There are other ways.

[quesera]

His point remains valid whether you like his life choices or not:

Fame, wealth, and power are only loosely correlated with happiness. They are neither adequate, nor necessary.