In high school, you’re learning to understand the importance of money. Sometimes money makes things easier for us, but sometimes it can be a burden. For example, some students whose parents make a lot of money can’t qualify for financial aid that they might need to go to college.

I would never disagree that in most situations being financially stable is helpful but, it can also bring a lot of sadness and hardship. Here’s my top five things that bring true happiness:

• Love. Sure, money can buy diamonds and diamonds are a girl’s best friend, but

it’s not the jewelry that makes you happy, its the person giving it to you.

• Dreams. We dream of what we want our lives to look like, we dream of where we want

to be and what we want to be. If you really think about it, money isn’t the thing that gets you there, it’s your own hard work and determination.

• True friends. Sometimes having money makes people want to be friends with you, but

that’s not usually what true friendship is built on. A true friend is someone who’s there through the ups and also through the downs. They are people you can go months without talking to and pick up right where you left off. Someone who is genuine, real, and doesn’t care about what you have or what you look like, they just love you for you.

• Time. Each minute that passes is a moment that you’ll never get back. Money can’t turn

the clocks back and we don’t need it to create memories. Memories are free. Moments are a special thing, you can’t buy those, you can only live them.

• Happiness. Bob Marley said, “Money is numbers and number never end. If it takes

money to be happy, your search for happiness will never end”. Happiness is something you create and you have to appreciate what you have in order to truly be happy. So much of our happiness is under our personal control. Becoming happy doesn’t mean bouncing from one joy to another, it means finding joy wherever you are and whatever your circumstance is.

Love, dreams, true friends, time, and happiness creates a beautiful heart. They can bring things into your life that money could never obtain.

“You’re not rich until you have something money can’t buy” -anonymous.