It is a common thought that happiness is key to a successful life, and many try to find out how to achieve the highest levels of happiness. According to Claudia Wallis’ article, “A New Science of Happiness,” “Our overall happiness is not merely the sum of our happy moments minus the sum of our angry or sad ones” (3). Happiness may just be how satisfied someone is with their life, but it is impossible to be satisfied every second of every day. No one enjoys being in gloomy mood, but being sorrowful has its benefits. Although many people believe they need to be happy 100% of the time, experiencing negative emotions can have a positive outcome because they provide inspiration for innovative thinking, and are healthy even though they can sometimes …show more content…
An article by Sharon Begley states “They like being dour and don’t appreciate being told they should be happier” (qtd. in Begley 454). Her article includes information on how pharmaceutical companies are constantly trying to come up with new drugs in order to make people happier, but she argues on why it is okay for someone to be blue. Grief should not have a timeline. There is no way to measure the hurt that people go through, or know how long their hurt may last. Grief cannot be controlled. The feeling of loss may demand to be felt forever. Begley states, “Although some 85 percent of Americans say they’re pretty happy, the happiness industry sends the insistent message that moderate levels of wellbeing aren’t enough: not only can we all be happier, but we practically have a duty to be so. What was once considered normal sadness is something to be smothered, even shunned” (455). In other words, it is almost no longer okay to grieve, and the people that surround those in sorrow are becoming more judgmental and pressuring them to get over their grief as quickly as possible. Begley’s article includes, “once a moderate level of happiness is achieved, further increases can sometimes be detrimental” (qtd. In Begley 455). Begley is insisting that one can only become so happy, and those that claim to be the most content no longer challenge themselves because they feel that they have no more room to grow or improve their life
People push being happy on society as a total must in life; sadness is not an option. However, the research that has conducted to the study of happiness speaks otherwise. In this essay Sharon Begley's article "Happiness: Enough Already" critiques and analyzes societies need to be happy and the motivational affects it has on life. Begley believes that individuals do not always have to be happy, and being sad is okay and even good for us. She brings in the research of other professionals to build her claim that extreme constant happiness is not good for people. I strongly agree that we need to experience sadness to build motivation in life and character all around.
A powerful influence over happiness is how people perceive situations and how they choose to engage with others. Life may change within an instant and have a spiraling spin of high and low points, but the positive state of mind and the value of social relationships determine the
sadness and happiness. The feeling that everyone probably wants to experience 100 percent of the time is happiness, never sadness. But, being 100 percent happy all the time is not good for one's health. Happiness is the key to a healthy, long life but is not required all of the time. Bad feelings, such as anger and sadness, play a beneficial role in human development, and positive psychology assumes sadness and anger can cause harm.
However, happiness also takes into account a wide range of other aspects of our lives, including our thoughts and actions, and even genetics. Therefore, happiness should be defined as the amalgamation of how we think and act, and how we interpret our experiences as positive or negative. What this means is that in order to become happier, we must simply force ourselves to become more optimistic. This is easier said than done, however. In order to have a noticeable increase in happiness, people must be willing to make lifestyle changes in addition to changing their mindset. However, the difference between optimism and delusion is a fine line, so people must be cautious to not exaggerate the positive parts of an experience or become overly optimistic. If we practice seeking out the positive views of our circumstances, with time we will find ourselves happier than
Is happiness or subjective well-being just an occurrence, or does this observable circumstance have accountabilities beyond what is experienced by the person who perceives feeling happy? We all desire to be happy, but how is this achieved and sustained? Are there predetermining factors that play a role, such as our genetic make-up? The following essay will explore subjective well-being in general, as this is considered to be synonymous with happiness. An explanation will be given of both the model of architecture of sustainable happiness, and a clear definition of the biopsychosocial model. Throughout the essay, examples from the SKD228 module will be given as evidence of support with possible links to biological factors. The essay will conclude on whether or not the architecture of sustainable happiness is compatible with the biopsychosocial model or not. (133)
Barbara Fredickson’s, “Positivity,” and Ed Diener’s work, “Positivity and the construction of Life Satisfaction Judgments: Global Happiness is not the sum of its Parts,” both provide us with very useful information in determining how our positive feelings and levels of happiness differ from others, based on what we want to get out of life. As Fredickson writes, “Among our birthrights as humans is the experience of the subtle and fleeting pleasant feelings of positivity. It comes in many forms and flavors…Positivity reigns whenever positive emotions-like love, joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, and inspiration-touch and open your heart,” (Fredrickson 16). However, what we must determine is what we want or need out of life in order to achieve our “birthright” of positive feelings. Diener’s article provides us with an interesting loo...
“The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living” is a collaboration by His Holiness the Dalai Lama XIV and Howard C. Cutler, M.D., who identify many possible components that could lead to a happy and satisfying life. Their approach combines and integrates the thoughts of East and West; Buddhist principles and practices on one hand and Western science and psychology on the other. Many everyday difficulties are highlighted in this book, and Dalai Lama and Dr. Cutler attempts to help the readers find appropriate solutions in order to find a balanced and lasting happiness. Dalai Lama’s understanding of the factors that ultimately lead to happiness is based on a lifetime of methodically observing his own mind, exploring the nature of the human condition, and investigating these things within a framework first established by The
Therefore, happiness is not only about the result of one's work, but it also includes the process of how we achieve happiness. To achieve happiness, one should work hard, as Chris Gardner did. When you lose hope, turn to God, and He will strengthen you to overcome your obstacles and help you achieve your happiness.
This topic is sometimes forgotten and not thought of by most people, especially in the United States of America. Happiness is extremely important and needs to be brought to the forefront of conversation. This paper will review my knowledge and personal relationship with the topic and how it may be an ever-increasing issue in the United States. Throughout this paper I will cite many articles that provide reasons to remedy the issue of happiness, I have also conducted an interview and watched a documentary to assist me in my own search for happiness. The conclusion of the paper discusses my future with my knowledge gained and how I plan on helping with the issue in my own community.
Happy Happy Happy Happiness in today’s society seems to be measured by material wealth. Most people believe that in order to be happy, you need money. However, happiness isn't something that can be bought. But how can one really know if they are happy? If someone is unhappy, what can they do to achieve happiness?
According to Bradt (2015) it revealed from a recent survey of Harvard’s class of 1980 that happiness comes from choosing to be happy with whatever you do strengthening your closest relationships and taking care of yourself physically, emotionally and financially. However, Emiliana Simon-Thomas, Ph.D., the Science Director at the Greater Good Science Center of UC Berkeley, explains that there are some basic rules that studies have determined over the years that happiness is not about having all your personal needs met, feeling pleasure all time, always feeling satisfied with life and never feeling negative emotions
Achieving long-term personal happiness is possible with hard work and perseverance by using several methods. Understanding and following various steps to have fulfillment can change your life. By consistently following an assortment of important steps, you will develop a life pattern that is generally happy. Many people throughout history have attempted to find ways to become happier, and share the information with others. While there are occasionally things that should make a person unhappy, it is important to not allow unhappiness to become a lifelong pattern that destroys you mentally and physically. In addition, happy people tend to have more friends and success because they are fun to associate with.
Happiness is a feeling that humans naturally desire. Without it, one feels incomplete. In this generation, happiness has taken on a definition by how we are presented to one another. It is measured by how much money we have, how famous we are, or the things we possess. When in reality, none of these things guarantee a happy life. Happiness is something that cannot be bought with money, but rather, it must be found, earned, sought after. Each and every one of us has our own list of things that we consider to make us happy. However, happiness shines brightest through the relationships we create, and the goals we make for ourselves to strive after. Along with these two essential sources, we then can mix and match those things in life that we enjoy to create our own unique formula for happiness.
Humans, though not all the same, have rudimentary needs and emotions that are necessary in life in order to successfully function. A healthy life requires happiness as a basic for psychological and physical soundness. Pleasure visibly, spiritually, and somatically makes a person. Without it in a person’s life, areas such as diseases, stress, pain and even death can onset sooner and takeover, when they could have been at least somewhat prevented in the first place. Happiness is the cause for a greatly increased quality of life; the effects of happiness improve the longevity, peace, and ultimate sweetness in a person.
When we are young children, we are introduced to the concept of "living happily ever after". This is a fairy-tale emotional state of absolute happiness, where nothing really happens, and nothing even seems to matter. It is a state of feeling good all the time. In fairy tales, this feeling is usually found in fulfilling marriages, royal castles, singing birds and laughing children. In real life, an even-keeled mood is more psychologically healthy than a mood in which you frequently achieve great heights of happiness. Furthermore, when you ask people what makes their lives worth living, they rarely mention their mood. They are more likely to talk about what they find meaningful, such as their work or relationships. Research suggests that if you focus too much on trying to feel good all the time, you’ll actually undermine your ability to ever feel good because no amount of feeling good will be satisfying to you. If feeling good all the time were the only requirement for happiness, then a person who uses cocaine every day would be extremely happy. In our endless struggle for more money, more love and more security, we have forgotten the most fundamental fact: happiness is not caused by possessions or social positions, and can in fact be experienced in any daily activity. We have made happiness a utopia: expensive, complicated, and unreachable.