What is happiness? This question has no single answer. There have been numerous articles and books published that researched what happiness is and how to achieve it, all with different findings and variations. I have condensed my findings from multiple articles in this paper.
There are many facets contributing to one's happiness. I believe that some of the most important values are hard work and dedication, relationships and family, gratitude and finally, acceptance of others.
Hard work and Dedication. Hard work and dedication can get you to where you want to go in life. If one takes things for granted, they will not go anywhere in life. But if you work hard and dedicate oneself to a cause, you can succeed. In the article “Brainology”
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Before you can be grateful, you have to accept life the way it is with all its imperfections.
Acceptance of others. If people were able to accept one another as they were, everyone would be happier. They would not have to put energy into putting each other down. In “Religion for Everyone” by Alain De Botton, she emphasizes that everyone can stand to have a small amount of religion in their life. Even if it is just upholding some of the values of a religion. “Even if we believe very little of what they tell us . . . we can nevertheless admire their understanding of what separates us from strangers” (2). Despite someone's differences, one can still admire, or at the least not put down, another's beliefs. The world would be a happier place. We could put that energy from hate into something more useful. When we love someone we accept their flaws and faults. If we were able to do that for perfectly good strangers, we would be able to connect and have better relationships.
Relationships and Family. An important factor in happiness is having healthy relationships. Claudia Wallis wrote an article called, “The New Science of Happiness.” In this article she examines happiness, what it is and how to obtain it. One thing that she mentions is how relationships can affect your mood. “Almost every person feels happier when they’re with other people” (7). A person can have one or two close friends or have a whole platoon of them, but it has
Have you ever truly sat and considered what makes you truly happy? Often times, people answer directly with the response of money. We say this without deeply considering all that we have to be grateful for. Happiness is not achieved through wealth instead through experiences, the family we love, and the nature that surrounds us, literature has created a great impact upon the ideals we consider to create our happiness.
The third route to increasing happiness comes through meaning which is comprised mainly of the four basic values of faith, family, community, and work. (The NY Times) This avenue boosts happiness through a sense of being part of a higher thing that ourselves.
While no one can give a concrete definition of what happiness is there are certain realistic understandings of happiness that can offer us insight into the word and actual application of happiness. Happiness
Many individuals go through life looking to achieve a state of well-being called happiness. This state of well-being exceeds just an optimistic mood, it encompasses living a great life with deep satisfaction and meaning. In order to achieve happiness the main ingredient is a healthy relationship. A relationship is the state of two people being connected. Out of the many emotions that humans develop, love is the most profound. People seek love in relationships which leads to a cake full of happiness. When relationships fail so does happiness, whereas where relationships grow so does the positive happiness. Humans can be quite selfish, for they rely on others to feel happy. There is much evidence to suggest that relationships create happiness. Some of the evidence includes social connections, the quality of the close relationships, and lastly, good relationships protect the brain.
Three Grand Essentials of Hapipiness for the Returning Citizens and Their families written by: odivick
Throughout time, people have constantly attempted to seek out what happiness truly is, and, if possible, how to achieve this happiness. The idea of what happiness is has changed often, and is dependent on the environment that the people live in. The era and the ideologies of that time period, the community, and who the people interact with all affect the idea of what happiness truly is. Because of this, what happiness is, and how to achieve it, will be continually changing.
When you are not grateful, you take everything you have for granted. Suddenly, your life is not as exciting or special anymore. To keep yourself up and in a state of positivity, be thankful for what you have now and stop thinking about what you don 't have.
Happiness, something that everyone wants but seems that few ever truly achieve. What’s the easiest way to attain such a simple-seeming goal? Positivity. When we become truly happy and assured in ourselves it’s not because everyone else told us to and it suddenly became possible. Happiness isn’t just a goal you can suddenly achieve either because it takes consistent effort, but the more you practice this the easier it is to maintain. When someone is truly happy they always have one thing in common: a positive attitude. If you are constantly bringing yourself or others down it is not possible for you to become happy too. Thus changing your perspective to that of a constructive assessment will make your life simpler and bring you more happiness. A positive outlook on life is the best way to find personal happiness and in turn spread it to others.
Unfortunately, however, having worked in the field of personal development for more than fourteen years, I have come to the conclusion that most people aren't really quite sure what happiness actually means. And, perhaps, happiness has been confused with self gratification or pleasure. So what does happiness actually mean?
Happiness is a mainstream topic of discussion in today’s society in which many people want to figure out what the “key” to happiness is. The common misconception is that a desirable item, vacation, job, etc will lead to happiness, but that is not the case due to hedonic adaptation. The fundamental components that tends to be forgotten when thinking about how to achieve happiness is finding meaning in life, developing a positive attitude, establishing goals that are in alignment with one’s values, and especially establishing strong social relationships with people. The most important ingredient in living a life of happiness is creating strong social relationships with people that make you a better person and who encourage you to reach your fullest potential. An action that can aid in the cultivation of strong social relationships is by looking at old photos and videos and reminiscing about how your relationship was at that point and how it is in the present.
I tell myself the encouraging words by author George Sand, “There is only one happiness in this life, to love and be loved.” I wish I could change, my pass an be able to grow up in the same household as my siblings.
When you think of happiness and a good life, what comes to mind? What plays a major role in one’s happiness? What makes a “good life”? Well, that can differentiate between one person and another. To many, “the good life is a financially prosperous life, and happiness lies in the possession of wealth. Worldly success is what counts, and anyone who is not ‘successful’ in the usual sense is counted a ‘failure.’ Others strive for a life based on honor and public recognition.” However, according to philosopher Socrates, who once said “The unexamined life is not worth living” believes happiness is not based off success, it’s based off experiences and the “ability to control your desires and harmonizing the different parts of your soul.”
Happiness will never be defined; although dispiriting, it’s important that happiness not be a central idea. Happiness does not have one definition because everyone has their own definition. The path to happiness is similar to a fingerprint, so we can’t create on definition. Everyone has distinct aspirations in life, and this creates a one-in-a-million chance that people will share the same path to happiness. Despite that, I have grouped eight generalized conclusions to happiness. These conclusions are generalized because my path to happiness will never be the same as the next person. The first conclusion I have found for happiness is wealth and fame. People tend to see these direct paths to happiness; however, they are used to get things that will bring people happiness. After this, there is also religion and philosophy. Religious people are often happier than secular people. A third conclusion is that understanding that suffering and death is inevitable. Death is bliss, and while people live suffering is the way to measure how happiness. Another conclusion is understanding our personality. The world is almost a 50-50 split of introverts and extroverts, and oftentimes introverts don’t know how to be content with themselves. Understanding how people’s personalities tie into their lives can bring happiness. The fifth conclusion is people gain happiness through contentment and meaning in life. People want to be included and have a meaning in their life. The sixth conclusion is
When you stroll into a busy city, you 'll see individuals heading to work or chatting on cell phones, utilizing their PCs, and listening to music. Individuals walk beside each other with nothing more than a passing look. How about we go to the same road in the year 1950, kids are playing, individuals making proper acquaintance and conversing with each other, conveying yet a folder case. As should be obvious, society has changed, as hours, days, months and years pass. The very ethics that humanity was based on have been lost. So, what has really changed from 1950 to 2015? The answer is our conception of society followed by the value of happiness. To unpack this disorder, we must take a closer look to the primitive societies and how they evolved, as well as the concept of ideal society and compare it with our understanding of society and happiness.
We humans need a lot to survive in this world but we also really want a lot in this world. We all want to enjoy the good times and forget the bad times and that is why we think that it’s really important to play instead of doing anything else. The phrase time goes by faster when you are doing something you love is basically explaining what this topic is about. You are drived every morning waking up to do some work but without some hobbies to cool you down, you can really just break. My goal for this paper is to provide you with evidence that happiness for us humans is a must.