A Pursuit to Compromise Happiness

The purpose of this text is to demonstrate that if one tries to find happiness, they will be unable to do so. Also, to demonstrate that happiness can only be found with one’s mind set on an object other than happiness. I reached this conclusion by looking at the examples given in the final paragraph as shown.

The film The Pursuit of Happyness is a biography based on the life of Chris Gardner, who is played by the actor Will Smith. Will Smith portrays a hardworking father who is struggling to sale bone-density scanners to the local hospitals, while trying to make ends meet for his family. After his wife leaves, he is left to raise his 5-year-old son Christopher alone. Making it clear to those around him, it is obvious that he is among the working poor class and cannot meet the basic human needs (absolute), he can barely pay bills to keep his home, can hardly provide food, and has a rough time being able to keep his son in daycare. Being a part of the working poor class means that you have little power, income and prestige. There were many sociological

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that ALL men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” As you know these words come from the preamble of the Declaration of Independence, perhaps one of the greatest documents ever written. However, I do have a little problem with the last four words sentence, “the pursuit of Happiness” because I believe it actually sends an easily misinterpreted message.

The U.S Constitution, famously known for establishing America’s national government and providing fundamental laws assuring citizens certain basic fundamental rights was a milestone in our countries beginning. In today’s society, especially with all the turmoil happening between people and governing bodies the rights which the Constitution provides is saving many Americans from being treated poorly or as most would say “unconstitutionally.” The Constitution is simply one of the most distinct and brilliant documents to ever see the light of day. Although some may have little to no knowledge of the Constitution, it

Some of the most common themes in contemporary biographical films revolve around social life as well as the accompanying problems that living in today's society entails. By making connections to individual personal lives, these films help most people make sense of the world in which they live. In this regard, this paper focuses on the film, The Pursuit of Happyness outlining various cultural issues as well as problems faced by the starring; Will Smith playing Chris Gardner in the movie. Moreover, the paper discusses how such factual films reflect and create popular ideas about social problems.

When people are faced with opportunities to pursue happiness, individuals will change their morals and beliefs to fed their greed usually resulting in regretful actions. Individuals experience greed and envy in the world , evidently resulting in a demanding personality. We need to ern everything we want. In order to pursue personal happiness people will compromise the conditions of others.We tend to demand what we want without being concerned about other people. When we demand everything without the concern of others, our morals begin to change and we experience a shift in how we see the world. People are constantly changing their morals and beliefs in a negative way to get what they want. People always want to pursue happiness regardless of the effects they will have on the

The Flawed Pursuit of Happiness In the pursuit of happiness, society ultimately deprives itself of important aspects of life. Often they stand to sacrifice and compromise with the reality of things and succumb to surrounding pressures. In Aldous Huxley’s novel, Brave New World, the World State prioritizes happiness above all, however it contains many flaws as it lacks in individualism and truth. To begin with, the World State sacrifices their citizens’ individuality for happiness by abolishing creativity, freedom and solitude.

For our Economics subject, we watched The Pursuit of Happyness, a movie based on Chris Gardner, a salesman who was not making that much money and eventually experiences homelessness with his five-year old son. He faces problems when his wife is unwilling to accept his goal to become a stockbroker and leaves him. However, he perseveres even under all this stress.

I don’t really hide stuff from my parents anymore but I did when I was younger. One example is when I was in 5th grade. I got a detention for stepping on a kids jacket. I was really scared and didn’t want to tell them, so I faked their signature on the slip. In return it didn’t end up working because in the end, they found out and they weren't that mad about what I did they were just mad I didn’t tell them.

When it comes to predicting how something will make you feel in the future, you will most likely be wrong. In the book Discovering Pop Culture, edited by Anna Romasino, is the article “The Futile Pursuit of Happiness”. In the article, author Jon Gertner talks about how people think certain things bring them happiness but aren’t as fulfilling as they may think. Gertner gives examples by writing about four men that have been questioning how people predict what will make them happy and how they feel after it happens. Among these men are a psychology professor Daniel Gilbert, psychologist Tim Wilson, economist George Loewenstein, and psychologist Daniel Kahneman. Gertner uses facts from scores of

On January 23, 2016, Iowa, passed and sent a bill to the state Senate that makes it legal for children younger than the age of 14 to handle a pistol and ammunition as long as they are being supervised by a parent or another person. Most of the advocates for this new bill want this law not to ensure their child’s safety from potential harm, but merely the right for their child to legally use a pistol for recreational purposes. The problem with this new law is that now countless citizens’ sense of security relies on whether a parent teaches their 1-14-year-old how to correctly use a pistol. In 2015, statistics have shown that a 3-year old was twice as likely to injure or kill a person than a 5-17 year-old child. In this situation, a child’s pursuit of happiness should not infringe on another person’s right to security.

Wholesomeness, in the sense of self-completion, is the largest part of life to me. More often than not, people are left feeling unfulfilled in their lives. It is generally apparent through how people act whether they are content with the person they are and the lives they lead. If one is not pleased with who they are as a person, they may never attain a true feeling of happiness.

There are many theories surrounding happiness, and the pursuit of happiness. Some believe that an external force must be present to bring about happiness, while others argue that happiness is individualized, and is completely up to a person's internal mindset of whether he or she is able to achieve and maintain happiness. Aristotle, a significant ancient Greek philosopher, believes that happiness requires an action. He affirms that there are many factors that play into someone's happiness; including materialistic things, which help support this state of being. His claim is that happiness is a holistic approach to life and must be achieved by living virtuously with moral character. Aristotle also indicates that happiness is not a moment in time, but rather a journey of exploration by way of living harmoniously, through a pursuit of achieving life’s goals and desires. He adds that a life of happiness is driven by virtue and emotions, which all play a role in achieving optimum happiness.

Younger generations have stumbled upon and whole-heartedly accepted the concept of impatience. The magnitude of people hooked on the unique satisfaction that comes from instant gratification is frightening. As society evolves to fit current-day wants and needs, we have modified ourselves to focus more on materialist goods.

Happiness is something that everyone, regardless of their background and experiences, search for in life. This search for happiness is manifested in countless novels, theatrical plays, and films, and involves at least one character who struggles to find purpose and joy in their life. A common theme in these stories is the character’s impression that there is something missing or inadequate with aspects of their current identity. Thus, they believe that they must complete the missing piece of themselves to achieve happiness. This is best demonstrated by Amedeo/Ahmed in A Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio and Xavier in L’Auberge Espagnole. I believe that one’s conceptualization of their identity is actually an obstacle to happiness and that one can only be truly happy once they embrace their true identity, which is often much different from the one they imagine.