Author, tv show host and singer Michelle McKinney Hammond dropped a bombshell on Joselyn Dumas’s talk show ‘Keeping it Real’ with her revelation that attaining wealth does not make you happy, in fact it does the exact opposite.
The search for money is the driving principle behind most people’s hustle in this world yet according to the successful and wealthy author, attaining wealth is not going to bring the happiness most people imagine it does.
McKinney Hammond gave her shocking opinion during the last aired episode of ‘Keeping it Real with Joselyn Dumas’. The episode featured the Ghanaian actress, Hammond and Grace Boateng discussing issues relating to keeping up appearances to the outside world even when all is not well inside.
Michelle, who has authored over 40 books mostly dealing with the topic of happiness, opined that many people spend all their time and energy chasing money to the detriment of other aspects of their lives where they could get real fulfilment.
“Money doesn’t make you happy. I think that’s why successful people end up being so miserable,” McKinney Hammond said, to the surprise of her co-pannelist.
“Are you sure money doesn’t make you happy?” Boateng shockingly asked.
“I’m positive,” Hammond responded. “It creates more problems. I think that a lot of successful, very wealthy people are deeply depressed. Because there’s this concept that if I attain this [wealth] I would be happy, and then you get there and you’re not. So now what’s the excuse? That’s even more depressing.”
Hammond proceeded to narrate a story of a caterpillar struggling to get to the top of their environment, and struggling so hard only to hear someone who had made it scream ‘there’s nothing up here.” Meanwhile, a caterpillar content at the bottom had already metamorphosed into a butterfly.
This led Dumas to wonder if ambition was a bad thing, but Hammond responded that it was not, only that it should not be made into a god.
The heartening conversation touched many topics, including dealing with depression and staying strong even when things are not going on so well for you.
It’s the kind of illuminating conversation that has come to characterize ‘Keeping it Real’ since it started airing, with Joselyn Dumas often joined by two female guests to discuss pertinent issues facing the fairer sex.
The show airs every Saturday at 8:30pm on GhOne Tv.