Guildford road trip

It's dark outside. It's boiling inside. There is a constant whistle from something we haven't detected yet. There isn't much room.

I'm on the coach coming back from a trip to Guildford. I went there to watch the Newcastle Eagles play in the trophey final.

I can't write an in detail blog just yet because it is quite difficult to do this on my mobile.

But, we won. With a staggering 111-95 points.

Charles Smith was awarded MVP with a excellent 27 points. He definately deserved the title, he played brilliantly.

In true Eagles faahion they started the game trailing behind. The Jets started with a 7 point lead but it was shortlived as the Eagles came up from behind to lead for the rest of the game.

A truely fantastic game was played.

Now to the coach. Like I said the bus is boiling, small and uncomfortable. I've been travelling home for about 3 hours and I still have about 4 hours left.

I really don't know how long it will be before I crack up from heat exhaustion.

I really want to be in bed at the minute.

That's it for tonight.
Byee x

Can Money Buy Happiness?

(I know I havn't blogged in a while, so I thought i'd upload this feature I wrote)

 

Money is part of our language, our everyday life, our future. People find it hard to survive without it; some people never have enough of it. It is used to buy chocolates and crisps – a house. Some people beg for it and some people just throw it away.

It is a word that can bring many emotions to the surface, worry and sadness, anger and regret. Why is this? Money is only lumps of metal, pieces of paper and figures on a computer screen after all.

However, the love of it goes on. Everyone works all their life trying to earn as much money as they can so they can have a better tomorrow. But then, won’t they be working tomorrow?

One thing that has never been clear is; can money buy happiness?

The answer to this is nearly always no. How can it? Money can’t buy something that isn’t a solid form can it?

Professor Andrew Oswald, Warwick University, has done some intense research and revealed that money can in fact buy happiness. He said: “We found a strong link between financial windfalls and being happy and having much better psychological health.”

The study says that winning just £1000 is enough to make someone happy. It seems that even smaller amounts can work too. Fay Crowley, a first year university student, said: “I'm always buying scratch cards. I keep thinking that I'm going to win loads of money, but instead I win small amounts, so I keep on buying more.”

Small amounts of money may make you happy for a short period of time but the study has proven that it is the larger amounts that make a significant difference. Oswald said: “Overall the more you get, we find, the cheerier you'll become. Large sums are better than small sums.”

Most people think of money the same way, whether you are skint or loaded. Fay lives on a student budget and works 20 hours a week to earn enough money to get to university. She said: “I do feel much happier when I have money; I feel like I have more freedom to do things, I also feel much better when I am able to buy new things.”

Kavita Panesar, a Civil Servant, comes from a wealthy family and only moved out of her parent’s house at the age of 30. She said: “Money means choices and freedom.”

Kavita never had to pay a bill until the age of 30 when she decided to get married and live with her husband. She said: “I had to learn a lot because my parents used to take care of everything.”

 I was really content at home, because I didn’t have to worry about money and bills. I felt much happier.”

The study showed that it isn’t just money that can give you happiness. Oswald said: "There are lots of other factors in life, especially personal things like getting married and so on."

Sometimes money doesn’t instantly bring happiness to your life; in fact often the happiness you do get is short lived. Fay said: “I get really down when I don’t have money and I get stressed out because I think that my bills will mount up.”

In Dorothy Row’s book, The Real Meaning of Money, she says: “Money isn’t always fun, and the fun and the misery are intimately entwined.”

Yes, money can buy happiness but for how long? The answer always depends on whose hands the money falls into.