For centuries, society has shaped these abstract ideas of what happiness means and how one could achieve happiness in their lives. However, in order to even understand what actions could lead to one’s happiness, one must be able to understand the definition of happiness itself. Having read Charles Dicken’s book Great Expectations, happiness persists as a pleasure or sense of a meaningful and rich psychosocial integration in a person’s understanding of himself or herself.…
Sharon Begley in “Happiness: Enough Already” argues that being extremely happy may be a goal of anybody but it also can be “the end of the drive for ever-greater heights of happiness” (455). Begley claims that “being happier is not always better” (455) and an excessive happiness may affect badly to people’s life. She points out that people who reach the highest level of happiness don’t feel motivated to move forward since they are already satisfied. The author goes on insists that happiness does not last long because “negative emotion evolved for a reason” (456). She presents many cases of famous people who experienced negative emotions to create their well-known works showing the need of sadness in every lifetime. Furthermore, people desire to gain more and more happiness causing them the fear to experience sadness. Therefore, what they once considered normal sadness is regarded as a psychiatric illness now. The author then concludes that everything would be much better if “the single-minded pursuit of happiness as an end in itself” (458).…
Achor defines happiness as, “the experience of positive emotions - pleasure combined with deeper feelings of meaning and purpose” (Achor 39). When the definition is put into those terms, I can really understand that I’ve settles for less as my definition of “happiness”. My definition of happiness is almost more accurately a definition of “content”. I am merely satisfied with my life. I, like so many others, have fallen into the trap of believing true happiness will come with success. Based on Achor’s research, this idealism is completely false. His research suggests that happiness causes success. In this section of the book, Achor goes on to say that, “happiness makes us more thoughtful, creative, and…
Something every single person in the world wants is continual happiness. Everyone searches for this positive feeling in different ways such as: adrenaline, drugs, addictions, and splurging. Although, a not so common way people may find happiness is by being thankful. “If you analyze people’s actions, you will come to the conclusion that they all seek happiness. Every act, in fact, is a search for happiness, even if on the surface it doesn't look so” (Sasson). The human race searches for something that will complete us, or make us feel better about the things we do, and all signs have pointed us to happiness. In this essay, I will be comparing two articles, one written by David Murray and the other by Thomas Corley, hoping to answer the question “Does being thankful correlate with improved levels of happiness more than money does?” Both of these authors have written wonderfully about how being thankful makes you happier and how financially wealthy people are happier. It's a very intriguing question because it matters to us all, and once this question is answered it is possible that humans may be able to find the happiness that we so longingly search for.…
J.D. Salinger’s world-renowned book The Catcher in the Rye and director Sean Penn’s dramatic feature film Into the Wild both give us a unique perspective of society through a collection of descriptive imagery and riveting plot development. Both materials present us with protagonists Holden Caulfield and Chris McCandless, whom are deeply encompassed by self-introspection and who seem to be on a quest to find true happiness and meaning to their bland, corrupt lives. A recurring theme in both works is the process of discovering one’s true identity, which can only be achieved through a journey of spiritual self-discovery. In doing so, J.D. Salinger and Sean Penn effectively use their protagonists, their journeys and the relationships they build to express one simple statement; happiness is the most important and essential thing in our lives.…
Happiness cannot be explained in a simple definition; however Janie in Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, explains how to achieve happiness. “Two things everybody’s got tuh do fuh theyselves. They got tuh go tuh God, and they got tuh find out about livin’ fuh theyselves” (192). The only way Janie was going to find happiness was to go out and find it on her own. One would think that finding happiness is a simple thing to do. However, Janie shows us otherwise. After looking in several wrong places for happiness, Janie finally finds it through Tea Cake. Tea Cake’s differing views on money and freedom make Janie very happy. His ability to care and love her would make any woman of this time ecstatic, but many would say that Janie was the most deserving. Tea Cake’s genuine, care free, and hopeful attitude made her happiness possible.…
In the “History of Rasselas: Prince of Abissinia” by Samuel Johnson, we join the characters in their search of happiness. Each one takes a look into the lives of those that they perceive as being happy, only to find out that no one seems to actually behold happiness in their lives. At the end of the tale we come across an ambiguous ending, that can be interpreted a lesson from Johnson that happiness cannot be constant in the mortal world, and we can only hope that this constancy can be found in eternal life.…
Mr. Weiner’s search began in the Netherlands at Rotterdam's World Database of Happiness where he searches for, the happiest places, and even the unhappiest. “All cultures value happiness, but not to the same degree” (pg. 15). Weiner is a grump, he likes his coffee and occasional drink and doesn’t seem to be very comfortable with the word happiness. This journey took him all over the world in his own personal search for that word, Happiness. Weiner is one of the few that were able to show us where happiness is and was able to describe it with greatness. Indeed Eric Weiner did find happiness; the search can lead you on a journey to many different places. For some the search is futile, for others it is the journey and the destination that they find remarkable and the most meaningful. You should ask yourself, what is your happiness level?…
Instead, we will look to a second definition of happiness by Miriam-Webster presenting a definition that more reasonably proposes that happiness is one’s position on life rather than a transient feeling. Miriam-Webster states that happiness is “a state of well-being and contentment.” By introducing this idea of well-being to an explanation of the inspiration of happiness, Miriam-Webster’s definition suggests that different elements, such as health and comfort, are required to create happiness. Many people over the course of history have attempted to define happiness, and some definitions are quite interesting, however, who is to say that any of the definitions are correct or incorrect? To answer the original question asked, “What is happiness?” there is no definite way to define happiness, especially not a definition that will be valid for every person. Happiness is something that is achieved, and once achieved, that person knows that something is different. It is something strived towards in our society because there are so many people facing adversity that many are unable to find their happiness due to their worries. In his book, Brave New World, Aldous Huxley introduces a type of society quite different from our own in which happiness…
We all have a different definition of happiness, and it seems like it is still unclear what happiness really means. In “the sources of happiness”, by Howard Cutler, he discuss where happiness comes from and how the comparing mind works. As for the second article “happiness and its discontents” by Daniel Haybron, he talks about how being happy is being satisfied. Another observations of his that overlaps with Culter point which is how we always seem to confuse happiness with pleasure. Which makes us question if Satisfaction brings us happiness? Is pleasure considered happiness? And will comparing ourselves to other people people bring us happiness or misery?. It is important to understand that happiness is not just one element. It is something that is built over time and rewarded to those who work for it.…
Philosopher Confucius once said, “Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated” (“Confucius Quotes”). In life, obtaining happiness is one of the most uncomplicated achievements. Today’s fast-paced world coerces individuals to concentrate on the future, making it challenging to discover true happiness. Despite these complications, society continues to promote the concept of chasing happiness without regarding its detrimental effects on an evolved civilization. The pursuit of happiness inhibits the formation and perpetuation of an advanced society due to engendering individuals to feel dissatisfied and disappointed.…
In order for people to draw closer God, God has placed the desire for happiness in the human heart. True happiness can only be found in a relationship with God, the journey is a long-time purpose of our existence. Therefore,…
In order the answer the question of what happiness is and where to find it the Dalai Lama suggests an optimistic spiritual path to find it to introduce readers to the subject in his article, “New Ethic for a Small Planet”, while Andrew Guest’s “Pursuing the Science of Happiness” reviews different findings of researches in several fields as well as his own. Reading these two together, with the Dalai Lama’s article first and Guest second, readers can gain a holistic view of the topic and a tangible method for achieving both individualist happiness and a collaborative wellbeing for the global society.…
We build and develop as a human being off of our happiness. When we are not able to find a wild space with our own personal life, it can greatly affect ones future and the goals they work hard to accomplish. One who lacks wild spaces often become miserable and unhappy, due to the fact, that they lack these wild spaces which make them happy. When you’re able to build a sense of happiness through these individual wild spaces, you become capable of feeling on top of the world, within your life, which is the “ultimate feeling.”…
The concept of happiness has concerned the mind of man since ancient times. Evidence of this can be found in the numerous volumes written on the subject of true happiness and how such a state of mind can be obtained. Two such works, Boethius' The Consolation of Philosophy and St. Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologica, although written over seven hundred years apart, posit the Christian notion of God as an integral part of human happiness. Differences between the two philosophies come to light when one compares the Platonic ideals of Boethius to the Aristotelian basis of Aquinas' thoughts. However, although both works are excellent examples of theological and teleological thought, neither definitively and undoubtedly proves a link between the Christian God and human happiness.…