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Nov 6, 2004

"Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?" --Old Testament

That Which Satisfies

Pause a moment and think: What's the most satisfying event that you have experienced in the last month? Psychologist Kennon Sheldon and his colleagues put that question to samples of university students. Then they asked the students to rate the extent to which 10 different needs were met by the satisfying event. The three emotional needs that most strongly accompanied that satisfaction -- self-esteem, feeling connected with others, and being in control of one's life. At the bottom of the list of satisfaction-predicting factors was money and luxury.