Believe. “Because one believes in oneself, one doesn't try to convince others. Because one is content with oneself, one doesn't need others' approval. Because one accepts oneself, the whole world accepts him or her.” —Lao Tzu. Lao Tzu, the author of Tao Te Ching, tells the importance of contentment, which changes the way people look toward the world, and happiness comes upon with satisfaction. Dictionary explains that contentment means satisfaction. The verb tense of contentment, content, tells that this word means “mentally or emotionally satisfied with things as they are” (Dictionary.com). All lives go through low ebb, no one roses all the way, and all have to accept and look forward to tomorrow, but not entangling with what happened yesterday. Thinking about what you have, but not what you do not have, and take pleasure about it, means contentment. No matter what …show more content…
People generally found a new world when they put down their suffers, otherwise, dissatisfaction sometimes draw fatal disaster. In the Chinese history, the king of Yu accepted a deluxe gift from the King of Jin. As an exchange, King Yu borrowed a way for King Jin to attack the country of Guo. After King Jin occupied Guo, he went back and perished Yu, and at that time, Yu’s friendly neighboring nation Guo had ruined and not able to help Yu. Because of King Yu’s greed, he led his country to extinction. If he did not covet the treasure, then his nation will not perish. Another instance, John Bunyan, a Baptist Preacher, he wrote a book name《The Pilgrim’s Progress》 during his days in the jail. He got caught because of the difference between the religious he believe and the official religious of the Great Britain. John feels content about life even though he stays in the jail. Because of this experience, which is written in the book 《The Pilgrim’s Progress》, it affected millions of people. Often a small act of contentment changes the
John Bunyan born 28 November 1628 to 31 August 1688, is known as an English Christian writer and speaker. He is well-known for the writing of The Pilgrim's Progress. Although Bunyan was a Reformed Baptist, he is remembered in the Church of England with a Lesser Festival on August 30th. Bunyan was not well educated. He followed down the pathway of his father who pursued tinker’s trade, and also served in the Parliamentary Army from 1644 to 1647. He lived in Elstow until his wife died. Bunyan then moved to England (Bedford), where he had remarried. In the 1650’s, John became a successful deacon and began speaking or “preaching”. He continued to preach without a preaching license, and the main authorities turned their cheeks for a while, but later had to imprison him. In March of 1675 he was again imprisoned for preaching publicly without a license.
In Benjamin Hoff’s the Tao of Pooh, he carefully explains through the story of Winnie the Pooh what it means to be a Taoist. The theme of the one’s own happiness appears multiple times throughout the book. Illustrated through Winnie the Pooh and his friends, but explained by Hoff, comes the Taoist idea that happiness can be reached by any person. The idea sounds simple and appealing, but Taoism claims that whether or not a person reaches happiness rests in one’s own power. Consequently, since one has power to reach happiness and bliss, one’s Self creates obstacles that can prevent the Self from accomplishing the goal of happiness such as knowledge and limitations.
First off, happiness has always been seen as a factor that is solely dependent on ourselves. In reality however, the world around you and the people within in it are a big factor in whether or not we have an inner peace or not. Mill agrees: “Those only are happy (I thought) who have their minds fixed on some object other than their own happiness; on the happiness of others, on the improvement of mankind…” (Brink 89), focusing on objects or things other than ourselves yields more happiness for us in the long run.
Taoism is the first major philosophical and religious tradition explored by Peter Marshall, in his book Nature's Web. Marshall calls Taoism "the way of nature," emphasizing that this is the ideal religion from the perspective of ecological sensibility. Passivity is a key element of Taoist thought, and is a repeated concept in the primary Taoist text, the Tao Te Ching. The concept of passivity stresses that the wise person will not attempt to cause change in his world, but will rather be receptive to and allow natural changes to happen, as is the way of nature. Other Taoist principles concerning government, society, life, and death branch off from this concept. Marshall considers this religion to be a necessary foundation for an ecologically sound world and way of life, which is why he makes it the foundation of his book. However, Marshall's views may not be entirely realistic when we consider the practicality of the philosophy to our modern ecological crisis.
When an average person seeks happiness, most often they search in the wrong place: "If only I could have that I would be happy." For ages, man has been seeking happiness from outside, not within. People have the misconception that material things and materialistic goals will bring them ultimate happiness, but in truth those only bring transient happiness. True and lasting happiness can be reached from within when one realizes the ultimate truth. This ultimate truth, the main focus of transcendentalism, can be reached through self-reliance, nature, and oversoul, the main principals of the philosophy. By meditation, by communing with nature, through work and art, man could transcend his senses and attain an understanding of beauty, goodness, and truth.
The author John Smith, a pilgrim who arrived to the Americas, wrote a description of the new land in his book “ A Description of New England ”. In this book Smith shows a wonderful world of vast food and pleasure. Also, William Bradford another pilgrim who arrived to Plymouth on the coast of Massachusetts, wrote a book called “ Of Plymouth Plantation ” in which he describes what really happened, how the pilgrims actually lived. The purpose of this essay is to compare and contrast both authors and their books. John Smith wrote about the wonderful place the New World was, on the other hand, William Bradford wrote about the realities and difficulties of the New World.
In the story, Christian overcomes Difficulty, Humiliation, the Valley of the Shadow of Death, Vanity, Doubting, Despair, Error, Caution, Little-Faith, Flattery, and others. All of these metaphors used by Bunyan in Pilgrim’s Progress describe real life trials that Christians of any era are faced with. Since the Bible had not yet been translated into English in America during John Bunyan’s time period, his story served as a source for Americans to turn to when faced with these specific trials and tribulations. I imagine the reason that Pilgrim’s Progress was so popular even after the English Bibles were printed was because it served as a road map for what was maybe hard to understand in the Bible. I think Pilgrim’s Progress gave its readers the confidence to seek out Christ as well because it shows that in the end, salvation is achievable by anyone who stays true to the
...f being satisfied in life: There is no rule. Each individual has the right to look at things from his own point of view. We can all choose different paths and ways to fulfill our happiness. We can see it in wealth, in the dream-job, or in the people around us. As long as we choose that direction and take those decisions by ourselves, without being influenced by any external thought, happiness is inevitable. Here, I agree with Daniel Gilbert when he said “I don't think that's the problem. The problem is you can't always know what you want.” That is why the most important thing for happiness to be achieved is recognizing our wants and desires because just when we do, we will finally get to say “I am happy with my life!”
Happiness, what is it, and why do we strive to achieve it so persistently? Happiness in some points of view is portrayed as the state that is derived from self-awareness of a benefiting action or moment taking place. What of the moments that are not beneficial? Can a person still find moments of happiness and success in discord, a little glimmer of light shining from the deep recesses of our own consciousness? Plucking it from a mere moment, achieved from money, or is it so much more, happiness is the precipice that all strive to gain to better perceive their success. As a person lives, they are in a constant struggle to be happy. For instance, even the United States Constitution makes reference to the idea that every person has the inalienable right to pursue happiness. This was the resulting outcome of the enlightenment from France, spilling out into the rest of the world from 1650 through 1800. This revolutionized the idea that every single person has the inalienable right to happiness or in different views the right to succeed. As to how one peruses or conjures their happiness that is an entirely different concept and completely up to their preferred preference, but it is something that a person needs to find on their own for true success.
But in this debate, one question still raises its head - What is happiness? Happiness is not actually leading a luxurious life, but the luxury of living a life. Happiness is not actually about expanding your business, but it lies in expanding the horizons of life. Happiness is not having a meal in the most famous restaurant, but having it with your most beloved family. It does not lie in attending honorable parties, but to attend a party with honor.
The pursuit of happiness ultimately leads to disappointment and a lack of satisfaction because people’s cravings can never be entirely fulfilled. Dalai Lama once said “When you are discontent, you always want more, more, more. Your desire can never be satisfied. But when you practice contentment, you can say to yourself, ‘Oh yes – I already have everything that I really need.’” This quote shows that having high expectations of anything leads to disappointment when the expectation is not met. Also, having anticipations for what happiness is makes attained happiness irrelevant and inadequate relative to what one wanted to get
Depending on how devoted an individual is to their faith, happiness will vary among them. Confucianism is a philosophy in which social harmony, and importance of education and family are enforced. In Confucianism, it is emphasized by Confucius that education leads to a better individual. It is known that he “prescribed a broad liberal arts education emphasizing literature, language, history, philosophy, and ethics” (Strayer, p.120). Confucius did so because he believed humans have the ability to improve.
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.
People think that by being comfortable and living one’s life according to a predictable schedule, that they are safe - content, things are not going to get worse. That while they can't go forward anymore there is also no going backwards. But really by doing nothing new, by remaining solitary in your own way of predictable being, regardless of comfort, you are still doing the same things you did back when you decided to keep things going the same way, hence you are actually moving backwards. Many times people mistakenly compare contentment to a glass of water. 100% full would mean all your needs and desires will be met so you'll be content. The problem with this way of thinking is, if some of the water evaporates you're stuck thinking “fuck
Society has identified happiness to be a necessity that consist of wealth and pleasure and materials in order to feel satisfied. Therefore, people feel satisfied with the materials that they obtain and can become dissatisfied with their self. The good life focuses on obtaining intellectual virtues and the fundamental truths. Also, to live a good life they must obtain character virtues For example, a person must become virtuous by improving their character and obtaining reason. Also, the person must know the difference between good and bad actions. To be happy we must acquire the excellence of character and the mean between excess and