My Definition Of Happiness, By Shawn Anchor

Happiness Advantage Reflection 2
This section of the book really resonated with me, within the first pages of the second section, Shawn Achor makes it clear that “happiness is relative to the person experiencing it” (Achor 39). Happiness is truly subjective, and I am so glad that Achor touched on the subject. I find in my own life, I often find the objects and experiences that bring me happiness aren't always identical to what brings my friends happiness. I find an immense satisfaction sitting with people I know and talking about thoughts, opinions, and ideas. I found that, especially in high school, the friends around me would much prefer to drink shitty wine coolers and trash talk other people from school. While I from time to time found myself enjoying these interactions, I often found that I didn’t have
Instead I was left with a shallow and vapid relationship that didn’t necessarily supply me with the happiness I wanted.
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