When Fred offered the suggestion of “Happiness Week,” my first thought was this is going to be a “cinch.” Just the evening before, my husband and I were in our kitchen when, one by one, our kids each walked in from their evening out. We wound up spending over two hours in the kitchen talking and laughing with them. It was the perfect moment in time and I remember thinking, “It doesn’t get any better than this.”

Then, last week I went out to dinner with some single friends. One of our friends had been through a painful divorce, which left her financially devastated. We were trying to cheer her up a bit when she blurted out, “I’d be a lot happier if I had money.” This, of course, led to my cliché response, “You know that money doesn’t buy happiness.” My friend acknowledged my point, cliché as it may be, but argued that when one is financially secure it is “easier to be happy.” The conversation that followed amongst my friends and I, all of whom have been or are single parents with one income, then focused on financial security and its relationship to happiness.

Is there a relationship between happiness and money? Does financial security, as my friend suggested, give a person peace of mind that allows one to readily appreciate what they have and make it easier to be happy? In a truly honest discussion about happiness and money can one deny a relationship between financial security and happiness?