A New Definition of Happiness
By Alec Borenstein | Submitted On November 07, 2011
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Expert Author Alec Borenstein
THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS
Happiness. It 's a word we hear about all the time. It 's something that we work for, that we work to achieve. Yet day by day we seem no closer to attaining it. Happiness eludes us.
Yes, we 've had moments when we felt happy. Perhaps it was a wedding. Or a birth of a child. Or it was that other night, when we were hanging out with friends, or spending time with family. In those moments, we felt happy, truly, deeply happy. Transcendent almost.
And then it fades. Darkness ensues. The happiness is gone. In its place will often be a vacuum.
We ask, "What 's the point?" If we have the inalienable right to pursue happiness, then what is the point if we don 't feel like we can ever reach it, or achieve it? That which we want more than anything, to be happy, seems to be something that we can 't have.
Maybe if we had more money! That 's really all we need! Or maybe it 's that brand spankin ' new 3D-LED HD TV. A new car? Yes, that 's it!
No, no it 's not money or things we want, but we want a relationship. A
Happiness, an elusive eight letter word with a mighty punch! Many have sought to define happiness, but found it a difficult task to do. While reading an article published in the New Yorker by Will Sorr on July 07, 2017 titled “A Better Kind of Happiness”, I was informed that happiness is more than just a word, happiness is essential to the well-being of human health. Dating back nearly two and half million years ago an ancient Greek Philosopher and scientist, Aristotle, proposed the idea of eudaemonic happiness. He stated that “happiness was not merely a feeling, or a golden promise, but a
People tend to feel the most happiness in their daily lives rather than happiness over all. For instance, if someone opens the door for you, does something outrageous, tells a funny story or simply reacts kindly to you, you can experience happiness. Laughing at someones joke can cause you to feel happy even for just a moment. Another definition of happiness in our daily lives is self appreciation such as, getting that new raise, getting an A on a test or even getting into the college you want. These examples all cause happiness in different but still rather large ways. We seem to think that happiness is so difficult to come by, we focus so hard on what happiness is that we don't even realize the simple things in life that are truly making a difference. We can become significantly happy without even noticing. Although happiness seems like it’s hard to find it’s not all that difficult. What’s hard to come by is the feeling of genuine happiness ; genuine happiness is what people truly look for.
As human beings we are naturally wired to seek happiness wherever we can find it. When we don’t, we may enter a stage of anger, anxiety, or distress. That’s why it is our personal goal to look for happiness and preserve it once we acquire it. Many have explored ways to find what triggers this feeling of “happiness” and what we can do to keep it; nonetheless, the evidence found is hardly sufficient to make a public statement on how to find happiness. For this reason, most of the time we speculate what might provoke this feeling of contentment. “Happiness is a glass half empty,” an essay written by Oliver Burkeman, highlights the importance of happiness and discloses how we can find delight through unorthodox methods. The prime objective of this piece of writing is to inform the audience about the effect of happiness on their lives and how their usual attempts of becoming happier can sabotage achieving this feeling. Furthermore, he wants to promote the benefits of pessimism and describe how it can help us in the long run. The author utilizes pronouns, logos, and pathos in order to prove his point and draw the audience into his essay, in an attempt of making them reconsider the way they live their lives and adopt this new pessimistic way that would greatly boost their level of happiness.
People usually hear the word goal and they immediately consider their pursuit of happiness. Often, this goal has been in pursuit of a relationship, wealth, or great notoriety that they want; then they will be content. Although many may argue that pursuing happiness as a goal does not have detrimental effects, psychologists, previous wars, along with immigration all illustrate that pursuing happiness has more inimical consequences than advantageous.
Happiness is a reprise from the many trials and turmoil of life, and so it is natural that we should actively seek it. Ironically though, in our naïve belief that we can somehow augment the amount of happiness in our world, we are actually making our world more depressing to live in. Both John F. Schumaker, in The Happiness Conspiracy, and Ray Bradbury, in Fahrenheit 451, argue that our myopic pursuit of happiness is actually counterproductive. The two authors attempt to persuade the reader that happiness is, and should be, an almost-serendipitous byproduct of a truly fulfilling life, and therefore should not be an explicit objective.
The amalgam of the human experience and the pursuit of happiness is that of an instinctive and inexorable nature; perchance in happiness lays the fundamental purpose of the human experience. Happiness, throughout the lapse of time—regardless of multifarious discrepancies, such as nationality or age, has proven to be an all-inclusive search. Whether it is derived from power, wealth, success, or elsewhere, happiness is a perpetual pursuit. Illustrious philosopher Aristotle believed “happiness depends upon ourselves (Aristotle)”, speaking to a notion of happiness being an individual endeavor.
What is happiness? People have agonized over this question for centuries. Let me start this essay by answering a somewhat easier question: what isn’t happiness? Happiness is NOT feeling good all the time. Happiness is a combination of human emotions and states of mind. Exploring this state of being has consumed the philosophical minds of the ages and will continue to do so for ages to come.
The pursuit of happiness is an endless journey that we all experience during our lifetime. This search for satisfaction in life is made up of actions and choices that we make to benefit our lives for the better, even if done subconsciously. Many people try to end this lifelong journey short by reaching a practically unachievable “true happiness”, and some even get so caught up in trying to reach this ultimate fulfillment in life, that they begin to forget about the great things currently in their lives because they spend so much time and energy focusing on what they want rather than what they have. Life is about enjoying living in the moment, because it only happens once.
Examples of this would be going out with friends, enjoying a fine glass of wine, or involvement in different fun activities. According to Aristotle, happiness is the final end that consists of the totality of a person’s life, not something that can be achieved in just a couple of days. These examples are merely sensations that make us feel good. It is because of this that a person cannot really say that they’ve lived a happy life until it’s over. According to Aristotle, “It is not one swallow or one fine day that makes a spring, so it is not one day or a short time that makes a man blessed and happy.” (Nicomachean Ethics,
Happiness is not a strange term to us. We usually use that word to express our feelings in every day. Additionally, more than a word, “happiness” is what we really need and always seek in life. However, finding and understanding deeply its meaning is not easy. The online dictionary, “vocabulary.com” defines, “Happiness is a sense of well-being, joy, or contentment. When people are successful, or safe, or lucky, they feel happiness.” Thus, we always wonder if we are happy or how could we be happier in our life. Happiness, therefore, becomes a goal for everybody.
Happiness is what all human beings/rational beings desire. It is always the end (goal) of our activities, it is an unconditional good.
The everlasting question of "What is Happiness?" has been inquired since the creation of men. Unfortunately, the only agreed answer that humanity came up with is that all the creatures seek happiness, but no one has the concrete directions for achieving it. Our libraries are overwhelmed with books about happiness, but no dictionary definition explains which path men must take to be happy. No mathematician gave us the axiom which we could use to solve the problem of living in bliss. No scientist brought up the formula of fusing certain ingredients to produce the "drink of happiness". Still almost all the people consider that their ultimate purport in
Many live attempting to decipher the riddle of life. What is life? What is the purpose? What makes? Even though we only seek happiness why can’t we ever seem to achieve it? When we do reach happiness why can’t we seem to grasp it and hold it for more than the few short hours that pass like seconds? The question we must answer first is “What makes happiness, true?”
Happiness can come in a wide variety of things. Different things make different people happy. Seeing a cute dog can make me happy for a moment. Do we long to be happy one day at a time or are we longing to know we will never be sad? Assume every person on the planet has had their happy moments, there is always a deterrent. Always the next moment that can be taken in any direction and if you have experienced emotions then it is known. People may long to be happy but. I think no one can ever be one hundred percent happy for their whole life, but I think people can be content. There will always be moments that are not happy moments but there will always be another moment that can bring joy. I believe you can be happy with your life, even with those moments of other emotion. One of the main things that I want in life is happiness. What can make me happy are many different things. I long for happiness, and in that longing many things that have the
Without happiness, people might not be living their lives the way they yearn to. This is a prominent part of the