A half-million dollars ($500,000) is a half-million dollars, right? Not necessarily. If you are fortunate enough to make that kind of money you think you'd be happy regardless of your situation. But this isn't necessarily the case. According to scientific research, if a person makes $500,000 and all his neighbors make $1 million he is less likely to be happy than if he makes $500,000 and all his neighbors make $100,000.
Like the optical illusion to the right in which the dot in the center appears larger in the left configuration than the right, a person's salary is often perceived in terms relative to his neighbors rather than the actually size of the salary.
My point is this: although the circles in the middle are the same size, it doesn't feel that way. The trick, of course, is not to compare the dot with its neighbors but rather measure it on its own merit. The same is true with yourself.
