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Helen, my friend, when I read this, it broke my heart. :( I can not imagine the pain of not being able to see my daughter or my son and grandchildren for 12 years. I had no idea you were carrying such a heavy burden. How far away does you daughter live from you? Are there grandchildren involved?

Regardless of how much or how little we may have, there will always be things we wish for and yearn for that will never happen. I guess it just human nature and too, I think most of us keep a lot of things to ourselves. :)

Have a blessed week and I will say a prayer for you and your daughter.

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Here's a few of my thoughts on this.

First of all, I resent someone who has it made trying to tell me to thankful. For one thing they don't know that I am not thankful.

The people who write these kinds of things are those who are doing quite well financially. They may not be rich but they have never been poor either.

I say money does buy happiness if you know what to buy ...like the product I distribute, ie., Laminine, which takes away depression and makes people happy. :)) A lot of people who need this stuff don't have the money to buy it because it is a bit pricey. Money would let them buy my happy pills and it would make us both happy :))

These people who write this often say, "Money can't buy health." Well, I say money often can buy health at least to a large degree if you know what to buy.

Money let's you help the starving ... to first get fed, then to get a means of livelihood and then to help them help others. Money helps to educate these people about God and about making a living. Surely that would bring some happiness and contentedness, if we could do some of that.

Although I am very thankful to have a roof over my head, I am not happy with my landlord. Enough money would let me move to wherever I want. And that is not all ...just when it looked like I might be able to save enough money to see my daughter, my rent went up by 22%.

I have not seen my daughter, in person, for about 12 years and it looks like I may never see her again all because I lack money and so does she. This is no one's fault except hers because she didn't need to move so far away so I am not looking for pity but I'm just saying ...about what money can do.

With the new costs of Obamacare, there are many people in the US who are in my shoes.

I agree with this article in that I have much to be thankful for and I thank God everyday long before I read the article. I've always tried to keep myself upbeat regardless of my circumstances but I have no idea if I would be more contented or not and nor have the people in the research because we never got the chance to experience more money.

Yes, I may not be much more content than I am if I had more money, but surely money would buy a lesser form of misery.

Helen

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The Life-Altering Power of Gratitude to Make You Happy

Do you sometimes dream about the things you wish you had, or things you wish would happen, because you'd be so much happier if only...? Maybe your list of wishes includes winning a lot of money...being cured of an ailment...looking better than you do.

Surprise: Even if your wish list were granted, it probably wouldn't make you as happy as you think—because only a small portion of our happiness stems from improving life circumstances, research shows.

Rather, it’s how we view those circumstances that really determines our happiness. Keys: Looking at how your life is right now and savoring every good moment...seeing the bright side of your setbacks...focusing on where there is abundance—in short, cultivating a sense of gratitude. It doesn't mean pretending that things are better than they are...it means really seeing what is good.

No matter what your circumstances, there are things to be grateful for. Learning how to focus on those aspects of your life helps your whole life become happier. Don't believe me? Give it a try...it takes as little as two minutes a day. And there's no better day than this Thanksgiving day to get started...

Click here to read more...

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Hi Evelyn

It is not all that bad. I would like to able to go see my daughter but I can talk to her on the phone whenever I want. If this had been in the 70's to 90's, it would not be affordable to get on a long distance call too often. Now it is amazingly cheaper ...almost free.

She lives near Toronto. I live in Vancouver on the west coast so it is clear across the country to where she is. She's closer to New York than to me :)) No, there are no grandchildren.

My daughter is an only child and she and I were on our own shortly after she was born. She and I were very close. One of my worries has always been that she would have a hard time without me when I passed away. As it is now, she has become very used to being without me and I think that is a good thing. It won't be so hard for her. Fortunately, I raised her to be quite independent.

The hardest thing for me is that I cannot help her financially and there are things she needs especially for her health. If I were able to go see her, it would even be harder to see her in her struggles, I think. She has a job but she hates it so her stress levels are high.

I constantly work at trying to change my financial situation and one day something has to give, God willing. We need to keep being thankful even for the bad things because out of them often good things come.

God bless you! Thank you for your concern but things will work out. It's my turn :))

Helen