Peaceful Warrior Conflict

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.

The filmmakers really amplified the idea that everyone can become happier. They filmed people from many different cultures around the world, to show that there are no barriers for being happy. Rather than starting the film with an interview from an average American, Happy began with an Indian rickshaw driver sharing his daily lifestyle. Although it may have seemed like a hard, tiring, and anticlimactic lifestyle to the audience, he was happy. The narrator reports, “Research shows that he was as happy as the average American.” This may seem unrealistic for the audience at first, considering the audience is still discovering this principle that happiness is diverse for other individuals. Especially for an audience member who finds that a majority of their happiness is related with money, this moment in the film may have not been easy for them to comprehend. This part of the film really amplifies the main claim from the director that happiness is mainly influenced by our ecology. The Indian rickshaw driver found most of his happiness when he came home, and interacted with his son. The idea of ecology has a lot to with the social interaction between individuals of the same species, in this case, it was the interaction between the rickshaw driver and his son. Not only did the interaction with his son brighten his mood, but his interaction with his neighbors also brought him to be happy.

“Happiness as a byproduct of living your life is a great thing….but happiness as a goal is a recipe for disaster.” One of the greatest things in life is to experience the feeling of happiness. Whether it’s because you’re surrounded by loved ones or you’re doing something you loved or something random happened that put a smile on your face it’s a great thing to feel happiness. What that quote is saying however is that by striving to get that amazing feeling we could cause more problems for ourselves. Although we all enjoy that feeling of happiness and don’t like when it goes away we have to realize that most of the time it’s not hard work that brings it back. What brings us the feeling of happiness is letting the unexpected happen, it’s sharing

People travel through life with what seems like a single goal: to be happy. This may seem like a selfish way to live, however this lone objective is the motivation behind nearly all actions. Even seemingly selfless deeds make people feel better about themselves. That warm feeling experienced while doing charitable acts can be described as happiness. But what is authentic happiness? There is an endless possibility of answers to this question, and man seems to be always searching for the solution. Although one may reach his or her goals, there is always still something one strives for in order to be happy. In the book Stumbling on Happiness, Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert takes the reader through

Reaching the age of 50, Dan has faced many obstacles in his life. One of the hardest things that he has faced was seeing his first born daughter born with a physical disability. It was something he never thought would happen to him. He and his wife spent many days in the hospital not knowing what was going to happen to his child. Dan ended up overcoming this, he says “with help from my family, my wife, and the Lord.”

Dan Millman has gained knowledge and manhood through the loss of enjoyment of life and freedom. Millman introduced us to his mentor Socrates who’ve given him insight on why he is dealing with hardships in his life. Socrates suggests that Dan does not enjoy his life, he feels he is suffering and thinks “[his] entertainments, [his] playful affairs, and even [his] gymnastics are temporary ways to distract [him] from [his] underlying sense of fear’’(Soc,50). This proves that Dan is not free from his self-illusions and does not enjoy life because his mind tricks him into

Dan is an authoritative young man. He believes that everyone should take everything he says to be the right thing. Having grown, for the better part of his life as the only boy in their home, he developed some sense of responsibility for his sister and mother. As per the societal norms, a male child should look after the welfare of the female siblings. The perspective, coupled with the age at which his father left the house, the boy may feel that he has had enough experience for him to talk and be heard by his peers. In the absence of his father, he developed the idea that, being the only male

At the beginning of the film, I saw a young man who was sure he had everything made in life. Then, shortly after, his entire life turned upside down so to speak. From seeing him in the recovery process, it was nice to see that he was completely rediscovering himself amid all of the anguish that his family members were experiencing. When Kevin said that he wanted to go back and snowboard again, I thought that he was betraying the love and support from everyone in his family. Once he realized that he could never be the great snowboarder that he once was, he had to realize that he was a different person as a result of that accident. After this realization, he demonstrated maturity in his actions and became much more conservative as a result.

In conclusion, personas could sometimes be misleading and destructive to others and especially to the individual themselves because they try to fit in with the crowd while hiding their true self. Individual must accept their true self and not just try to pretend to be someone that they are not. The biggest challenge an individual faces is that they must accept themselves first before wanting others to accept them for who they are. Individuals are not required to put on a persona that does not fit them. In both stories the protagonist battle between their true self and the role that society has given them. While Mrs. Mallard dies winning her battle, Cross accepted that his identity is being a Lieutenant since he in in the army and giving up

Crying and laughing, people experience many different emotions during different stages of their life. Sometimes they would find themselves dissatisfied almost every single moment when they assume that the world is not fulfilling their desire, in other words, their expectations on how the world supposes to be. Dan, an ordinary college student from the story Way of the Peaceful Warrior written by Dan Millman, faces the same obstacle as many others do. Although he has lived a pleased and content life, passion suddenly disappears from him. Such depression stops when he meets Socrates, an old man at the gas station, and learns inspirational lessons which connect to the Four Noble Truths from Socrates. The lessons promote great changes in Dan’s

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.

Do you believe that moving to California can change the person they are? In the movie, when Daniel moved to the California, he felt lonely. He did not have any friends; he was frustrated and started begging his mom to go back home when the bullies made his life hell. After meeting Mr. Miyagi and his new friend Ali, who became his girlfriend, he started learning the lessons of life and started liking the new place. In the beginning, Daniel believed that karate was all about fighting, but after meeting Mr.Miyagi, he learned that karate is all about balance, which is important in a person’s life. When he got injured on his left leg during the final round in the karate championship tournament, he decided to play the final point by balancing himself on one leg, knocking down his opponent, and achieving victory. Overall, good friends and teachers have significant influences over a teenager’s life.

Sometimes the longest and toughest journeys are inside one’s mind; and although others cannot notice them instantly, they change personalities profoundly. Dan, the main character, is a gymnast-student for Berkley University, California. His life seems perfect, he has everything he wants: friends, girls, good grades, his talent and passion for gymnastics and the strive to go to the Olympics. Until he meets Socrates. Socrates is a gas station attendant who leaves a mark in Dan’s memory right from the beginning. When they start to get to know each other, Dan understands that he’s nothing but a fool, and that he needs Socrates’s guidance to wake up and reach a deeper state of knowledge, a state of enlightenment.

For my book project I read the book Way of the Peaceful Warrior, by Dan Millman. Set in Berkeley California, Dan Millman a college student struggles to find the part of himself that has always been missing. One night while out walking from his dorm, Dan comes across a gas station and a strange man that is soon to turn his life upside down. This man, known as Socrates, shows Dan a side of existence that only few people had ever seen. To become a warrior like Socrates and have the mind to not allow the regular struggles of life to control a single part of you. Socrates takes Dan in and tries to create a warrior from a young star athlete with the ignorance of every other human on this earth. Through his

Dan did not realize that he had been living in the future and in the past, but when he did, he started succeeding in sports and started building more meaningful relationships. This was an impactful way of showing people how focusing on the present can positively impact one’s life. The story is packed with advice on how to live life and how to succeed in life. Dan was taught to focus on every moment. At one point in the story an old man Dan met told Dan, “You’re missing out on everything that’s going on… The only thing that matters is this moment, here,now.”(Millman,2006) After the talk, Dan started to focus on the present and began to improve in his sport, gymnastics. The story has an effect on many people’s emotions because Dan shatters the bone in his leg and is unable to practice and compete for months in his favorite sport. Countless people can connect to this because they are athletes or people who have jobs they cannot do anymore due to an injury or a medical condition they have. This story shows those people that while they are not able to do some of the things they love, they can still succeed and be happy. By focusing on their present feelings they will not dwell on what they used to love, but find a new love they can do or practice recovering so they can get back to where they used to be. The old man shows Dan how to succeed and not only focus on gymnastics. He