>>>>My sister works making pottery in South of France. I know her income is (at the moment) very small but I often think she has a better quality of life than me. I'm on a sort of money merry go round and its making me dizzy.
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>>>I was talking with someone yesterday about how it would be to be rich. Then we got thinking about how many rich people seem unhappy, and why. The only thing we could come up with is that they have no passions. If you have enough money that all your basic needs are taken care of, then how can you not be happy? If I suddenly had enough money, I would have plenty of things to make me happy.
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>>One's happiness is entirely dependent on a single thing. It is also the one thing which is entirely under your own control - your attitude.
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>But isn't it harder to have a great, happy attitude when you have to worry about survival? That meshes right into the Hierarchy of Needs. Gotta believe that you would a better chance to have a great attitude if you weren't thinking about the rent, childcare, mortgages, utilities, repairs, food...

No, attitude is an entirely internal process. It is not dependent on external factors. It is a mental choice to have a particular state of mind. People have survived the most terrible environments because they had a particular mental outlook on life, a positive disposition, a belief in themselves, or perhaps in something beyond themselves. It is a choice.

Everything in your life, everything, is a choice. Even when we choose not to choose, or are not self-aware enough to make a choice, the choice was there. There is no exception. Your attitude to your circumstances is a choice.