Life isn’t perfect; everyone at least goes through various difficulties once throughout their life. Dues to the growth of living standards and how hectic we are every day, sometimes I wonder if we are really happy. For me, happiness isn’t a permanent feeling that would come easily. “Easy comes, easy goes” is what I can describe happiness, since it is built on our experiences and emotions. Yet, there are tough times when I feel sad, stressful, or even worse, I find myself recovered quickly and able to be happy again. In most case, there are three significant factors that help me pursue happiness such as family, meaningful activities, and gratification.
Family is always a first and important factor contributes to my happiness. My parents divorced when I was little, and I’d lived my whole childhood with my mother and sister in my country. At that age, I sometimes felt sad and envious while I watched other kids spending time with both of their parents together. As I grew older, I moved to America with my father when I was in my first year in high school. I went through a hard time trying to adapt with a new living condition without my mother and sisters by my side. Those were times I felt totally wretched, but my family members have always been encouraging and supporting me despite the distance. More than that, I’ve learned to think positively and happily by hanging out with friends and interacting with other people. According to the movie Happy, psychologists have proved that that social interactions and physical activities help releasing dopamine, which is necessary of feeling pleasure and happiness. Besides, interacting with others is a great help in emotional healing, and “a key in happiness is to recover from adversity quickly”...
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...are a lot of things that I should be thankful for.
Nothing is completely perfect, so is life. It can be positive or negative depends on the situations. Anyhow, in order to make it as positive as possible, we should learn to face with difficulties with our open mindedness and optimism. It’s a good way to make things easier and simpler, which we can do while moving forward and finding happiness. Everyone finds their happiness in different unique ways. I’ve found mine in every simple way like spending time family and friends, doing meaningful things, appreciating what I have. These are things that make me happy, and especially when they are free.
Works Cited
Happy. Dir. Roko Belic. Wadi Rum Film, Inc. 2011. Film.
Martin E.P. Seligman, Acacia C. Parks, and Tracy Steen. "A Balanced Psychology and a Full Life." Laurence Behrens, Leonard J. Rosen. Pearson, n.d. Print.
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Prager, D. (1997). Happiness is a serious problem: A human nature repair manual. NY: HarperCollins Publishers
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