Happiness is often defined as a mental or emotional state of well-being characterized by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. Sadness is the opposite of this. These emotions have a plethora of biological, psychological, and religious ties to the influence, source, and need for these emotions.
Happiness and sadness have a codependent relationship, without one the other can never grow or diminish exponentially. In order to experience happiness, one has to experience sadness so that they can understand the contrast and make a personal emotion spectrum. This emotion spectrum is also always changing, things that once brought intense happiness or sadness can lose their emotional stimulation if they are experienced
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Lynda Barry describes two types of girls separated by social class in 100 Demons, there are the tomboys and the “girlish girls”. The girlish girls wear dresses, had had nice dolls, and lived in a different neighborhood where most go the girls were girlish. Meanwhile, in the author’s neighborhood, most of the girls were tomboys and didn 't have all the nice things the girlish girls had. For the girlish girls, happiness came from playing with their nice dolls while for the tomboys happiness came from playing in the mud. I believe we are conditioned, to an extent, of what is appropriate to be happy or sad about when we are young and impressionable, like how our environment, our upbringing, shapes how we react to different situations and to emotional stimuli. This reminds me of a concept in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, the conditioning the babies went through, which taught them how to behave as well as what to like and dislike. I believe that our society does a form of subtle conditioning, through how we are raised as children, what we are scolded for and praised for will be extremely influential in how we respond to emotions. Subconsciously we will almost always make connections between personal experience and childhood stories that may influence how we view or act on a situation. We will always subconsciously be influenced by what we had been conditioned to believe is right and wrong, though we may not act or think in agreement to what we were previously taught was right and
Recent studies show that women are seen as the emotional sex across cultures (Crawford and Unger). Darwin says, “[w]oman seems to differ from man in mental disposition, chiefly in her greater tenderness and less selfishness; and this holds good even with savages…” (Darwin 234). This is simply an observation of socially imposed standards which Darwin considers evolutionary traits. Darwin’s assumption on mental dispositions leading to differences in male and female attitudes can be explained by the stereotypes instilled within people. Gender stereotypes begin to form in children by age five and are typically completely ingrained by the end of adolescence (Crawford and Unger). Women are expected to be tender and caring for others, as well as submissive. Although none of this is to say that stereotyping is bad, as it is a normal process, it just explains why this is because of social factors and not biological ones.
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.
This is seemingly the case in the time period prior to the collapse of society. For example, when a character named “[Jeevan] reached Allan Gardens Park… he found himself blindsided by an unexpected joy. Arthur died… there’s nothing to be happy about. But there was… now he was certain, absolutely certain that he wanted to be a paramedic” (11). When Jeevan finally realized what he wanted to be, his true calling, he was overwhelmed with joy. Even though somebody had just died, all he could feel was happiness because he found something within himself. When Arthur was beginning to reflect upon his life, “He stared at his crown and ran through a secret list of everything that was good… Dancing with Clark when he was eighteen… Tanya sipping wine, her smile… Riding in his father’s snowplow when he was nine, the time [he] told a joke and his father and his little brother couldn’t stop laughing, the sheer joy he’d felt at that moment” (327). All of these different things brought Arthur happiness and eventually sadness at some point in his life, showing that nothing can keep you happy forever. The meaning of happiness is ever-changing. Since happiness was based off of how much you had, people had the ability to manipulate it by obtaining more
Happiness and sadness have a very interesting relationship. Many philosophers have taken this view point and gone deep into the idea to find out what is really true about it. Some say that if you have never felt sad, then you would never know whether or not you are truly happy, because of this some see that teaching and think of it in a fairly depressing light. Though it is not to say that they can’t exist separately, without sadness there would not be true happiness. This idea is a very interesting topic because there are very few people who can go through their lives and not be unhappy for at least a brief period of time. There are countless ways that somebody could become unhappy. To name a few, one could lose a family member, end
Sharon Begley, author of “Happiness: Enough Already,” proclaims that dejection is not an unacceptable state of mind and there are experts that endorses gloomy feelings. This reading explicates that even though every-one should be happy there is no need to ignore sadness, as both emotions share key parts in everyone’s life. Sharon Begley and her team of specialists provides the information on why sadness is supplemental to a person’s life.
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
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
...t is better to categorize happiness as a state of mind because happiness has no particular way to measure it, you are either happy or you are not. It is success that makes a person happy, their contentment with what they produced themselves. We are in control of our own fate and happiness; you can only be as successful as you allow yourself to be.
Happiness according scientific studies happiness comes from dopamine taking chemicals around the brain, which is a transmitter in the brain that controls the nervous system. These chemicals in the brain make us happy and sad. Happiness means different things to different people, so say Happiness comes from peace and other happiness comes from your expectations from being fulfilled. Happiness is like being sad or angry, it?s an emotion. Some people can get happiness from the simplest things such as reading your favorite book; other people are more complicated they see happiness as some thing that doesn?t really happen to them, but that?s not true because very person is different some people are happy all the time or at least most of the time, while some people say that there not happy are really just happy for a short period of time, weather it means just laughing at a joke, your happy for that couple of seconds.
Happiness is an inner state of well-being and fulfilment, and therefore it has to come from inside. Every individual has his or her own emotions and way of thinking and as a result of this no one can really say what happiness is and what happiness is not. However, universally, happiness is a by-product of a healthy attitude and viewpoint. Happiness exists in everyone whether they choose to acknowledge and believe it or not. It is not rare nor is it something only the elite have: everyone has it but not everyone recognizes it. Contentment is finding a light at the end of every dark tunnel and in order to experience this we must ignore the pessimism surrounding us and remind ourselves that happiness is not a materialistic object but a choice and frame of mind.
Having a true friend that I can share my feelings with also makes me feel happy. Those examples indicate that happiness is a state of mind that includes emotions, pleasure, and satisfaction. Happiness is a psychological term that is hard to define since it is particular to each individual. However, we can define it as a psychological sense of life satisfaction, pleasure, and positive emotional condition. For some people, it is difficult to achieve happiness.
Happiness is a feeling that cannot be broken if strong enough, no matter how much sadness or hate is around you. Happiness can come from the smallest thing, for instance, music makes me happy and can easily change my mood, or when I am doing something I love my mood is easily changed. For others it could be whenever you do something well, or right and get recognition for it. It is the easiest feeling to be spread and given out but often neglected and forgotten about which is something we should all be more aware
What is happiness? Different people have different ideas. Some people are rich, and they think they are happy. Other people have many friends, so they feel happy. Still others are happy because their lives are meaningful. Happiness attracts everyone. For children, happiness often suggests eating good food and playing with toys. For a stamp collector, stamps bring more delight than meals. And for a scientist, a discovery or an invention rather than anything else gives him the greatest satisfaction.
Happiness is a state of mind. The dictionary definition is "feelings of joy and pleasure mingled together”. A feeling of happiness is more than just an experience of joy or pleasure. It is a state of mind where the individual feels that “life is good”. As Aristotle says, “happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.” I believe that everyone wants to be happy in life. One is abnormal if he prefers to be sad and alone.
...e way. Apart from success, good health and longevity are associated with happiness. The lightheartedness that accompanies happiness has been said to lower the chance of strokes and heart attacks. Laughter releases tension and add to persons overall sense of well-being. Happiness is not death, or sorrow. It is not gloom, depression or heavy-heartedness. Happiness does not lament nor does it worry. It is neither moody nor pensive, neither wanton nor pessimistic. Happiness does not mourn for what was it instead rejoices in what will be. Happiness comes through good fortune and through loving and being loved. Eating a good meal, being in good health and enjoying the comforts of life can also achieve it. The simple pleasures of life bring happiness, whether it be enjoying a favorite dessert, smelling a rose or running in the rain.