Happiness And Happiness: The Power Of Happiness

Materialistic things are a big misunderstanding of happiness. Society believes having a lot of money can buy happiness because they can purchase whatever they so desire. For a few people materialistic things bring a misguided feeling of happiness

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

Although there are a number of different nuances and qualifications for this particular term, happiness actually can be defined. In fact, it usually helps to best define happiness in terms of what it is and what it is not. Happiness is certainly a state of fluctuation there is no consistent, prolonged state of felicity. If so, it then becomes normal, the normal becomes boring, and the result a sort of benign content becomes a bland, meaningless state devoid of any significant stimulus. Instead, what is needed for happiness is the vicissitudes of life. Were there no unhappiness, there could not be happiness. Happiness, therefore, is a function of rebounding from and considering the unhappiness that is a potential for virtually almost everyone, although the unhappiness for a particular individual is most relevant to him or her. With that in mind one of the most essential qualities regarding happiness is the fact that it is extremely relative, much like motion, and is best defined as the feeling of satisfaction (ideally punctuated by elation) one gets after achievement or averting the negative vicissitudes on might have encountered.

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.

“… we always desire happiness for its own sake and never as a means to something else, whereas we desire honor, pleasure, intellect and every virtue, partly for their own sakes (for we should desire them independently of what might result from them)but

In an unofficial poll of students at State University, I found that of the fifty-eight students and one professor, males and females of several ethnic backgrounds and age groups, that I asked the question "What is happiness to you?", all of them had very different physical, intellectual, or emotional motivator for their happiness. Only the

“Only those who seek within, get to discover their true unconditional happiness.” -Edmond Mbiaka. Within any life, true happiness can only be attained through one’s journey in finding their own value. One may be happy, but true happiness can be felt only after hard work and privation.

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.

better job, a bigger house, or a nicer car. But happiness is not defined by materialistic objects.

In Siddhartha’s case, he was living this lifestyle just to please Kamala, and it took him twenty years to realize that lifestyle was not for him. There is not a way to get time back, so we have to always keep six questions-- who, what, when, where, how, and why-- in the back of our mind to make sure that what we are doing things that are going to benefit our well-being, and not just our self-gratification in the long run. There have been many instances in the readings where pleasure was out-played by happiness. For Siddhartha, his pleasurable moments were all accredited to external sources such as pleasing Kamala, whereas his happiness came from reflections on the way life was going. Siddhartha received enlightenment after he looked over his whole life and realized that he must avoid taking extreme measures to make himself feel happy.

instead we should be able to find our own happiness through our own actions. Among all

He recommended gaining a rational control over one’s desires, these desires being those that can be harmful to life such as: lust, greed, pride, and power. He argued that the key to human happiness is to turn away from the body and towards the soul. He said that harmonizing the different parts of the soul would produce a divine-like state of inner tranquility that the external world could not alter. A moral life is to be preferred to an immoral life. This view of happiness is linked to other concepts such as justice, virtue, and the ultimate meaning of human existence. Living a moral and just life would lead to a happier life.

Now happiness, more than anything else, seems complete without qualification. For we always choose it because of itself, never because of something else. Honor, pleasure, understanding, and every virtue

The world seems to be a dark and unforgiving place, but happiness is hidden within. It is found in a beautiful view, an uplifting song, or a compliment from a friend. According to the Ted Talk video, The Habits of Happiness, Matthieu Ricard claims that everyone “has a deep, profound desire for well-being or happiness”(Ricard 2:39). Ricard uses the three techniques of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos to captivate and move his audience. With the use of metaphors, personal experiences, and even graphs Matthieu explained to his audience the full force and perception of the bendable word that is happiness. This Ted Talk dove into philosophical meaning on just how to achieve well-being, without having everything in the world.

“Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude.” -- Denis Waitley