Marriage and Happiness

Humans are in search of two things: love and happiness. Whether it is from kids or significant others, people strive to reach feelings of connection in fear of being alone. In Gilbert’s, “Does Fatherhood Make You Happy?” and Crittenden’s, “About Love,” the authors question the roots of personal happiness. By comparing and contrasting Daniel Gilbert and Danielle Crittenden, it can be concluded that oneself does not solely determine happiness. The presence of children and significant others serve as major factors in emotional feelings of love and pride contributing to feelings of happiness. Gilbert’s, “Does Fatherhood Make You Happy” discusses how kids have an effect on a parent’s life along with their happiness. Starting his essay off by exchanging ideas in which children decrease the happiness of a parent by adding stress into their life, he ends with thoughts that kids make us happy nonetheless, since they are a product of two partners. For instance, Gilbert proclaims that the happiness children bring into a couple’s life may exhibit a small impact. In his words, “Children may not make us happy very often, but when they do that happiness is both transcendent and amnesic” (Gilbert 985). Children have the capabilities to make any individual happy. Gilbert’s point initially is that married couples start off blissful with each other, worrying only for themselves. Over time when the mates produce offspring, they progressively become unhappy, from when their kids are in diapers to when they hit adolescence. Research conducted by psychologists revealed that couples reach initial happiness when their kids grow up and move along with their lives. Gilbert refers to such a thought to show readers the truth of what really happens in parenthood. He states, “Our children give us many things, but an increase on our average daily happiness is probably not among them” (Gilbert 986). Parents withhold an unconditional love for their kids going beyond measures. Being patient

Cited: Crittenden, Danielle. "About Love." What Our Mothers Didn 't Tell Us: Why Happiness Eludes the Modern Woman. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999. 1008-010. Print. Gilbert, Daniel. "Does Fatherhood Make You Happy?" Stumbling On Happiness. N.p.: HarperCollins, 2006. 984-86. Print.