Raising Happiness

The American Dream by James Truslow Adams in 1931, "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement" regardless of social class or circumstances of birth.The Declaration of Independence protects your opportunity to improve your life, no matter who you are.It boldly proclaims: "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.ur Founding Fathers introduced the revolutionary idea that each person's desire to pursue their idea of happiness was not self-indulgence, but a necessary driver of a prosperous society. They created a government to defend that right for everyone. The pursuit of happiness became the driver of the entrepreneurial spirit that defines the American free market economy.After the 1920s, many Presidents supported the idea of the Dream as a pursuit of material benefits. President Roosevelt outlined an Economic Bill of Rights in his 1944 State of the Union address. He defined the pursuit of happiness as decent housing, a good

As humans we tend to see the success of a person’s accomplishments rather than how it all began, the struggles that person had to experience to get to where they are in the end. What this quote means is that happiness may appear like happiness to a person on the outside looking in, but in reality you do not have a general idea of what that person had to go through for their happiness. The quote is saying we want happiness, stability, passion, and contentment, but no one wants to struggle and live through misery to get there. The success in the end is dull, but the suffrage and challenges are far more

Happiness is one of the great themes that makes our lives better. It’s a motivation to commit toward something to keep the feeling active. Whether it’s getting high on substances, making money, or even having enough to get by, Americans desire happiness in one form or another. Walter Mosley, author of, “Be Happy”, expresses his opinion in his article, towards who is responsible for one’s happiness. His confidence lies on believing that it’s an individual's complete obligation to be content with themselves and not anyone else’s. He suggests that the following statement, "the pursuit of happiness is an ‘unalienable right’.”, in the Declaration of Independence, claims that the government is responsible for ensuring most to all Americans’ path to happiness. I believe that the happiness of the American people, should be partly dependant upon by the individuals themselves, and by the government. It builds upon the approach a person has towards everything, but also Uncle Sam initially, pledged to attempt to satisfy the people of America.

Young men and women choose to further their education with aspirations of achieving the American Dream. However, the American Dream is a vague outline of what everyone wants to be. It is someone who attains this who is an individual established in a thriving career, and has a loving and caring family. It is someone who is socially fit, who does not have to worry about financial troubles. A person who is a friend of many and disliked by few has come across this dream. Finally, the most significant factor to meeting this goal is that a person is pleased with the way life is.

“Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” is every person’s god given right, but what exactly is happiness? Americans have fallen in love with the idea of success, we fantasize about cars, clothes and caviar. We want to be living the high life, but the only way to access the high life is to work for it. To climb the ladder of success till you get to the summit. It’s the American Dream, but that’s just it, it’s nothing but a dream, a fantasy. The reality of life is a boring and stressful existence where many of us are just struggling to make a few dollars. It would suffice to say that the American Dream is in all actuality the American Nightmare. The American Nightmare is a pitiful existence inside a self-made

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 Americans, many of us believe in this principle of the American Dream. The American Dream, in its simplicity, is the notion that anything, especially career wise, is achievable. We usually associate this concept with obtaining material things, such as cars or a fancy house. But, even if you achieve your American Dream, complete with a car and fancy house, does that really mean you achieved happiness? The poem “Richard Cory” by Edwin Arlington Robinson is a testament to this idea that although someone may have everything there is to want, that does not really mean they have true happiness.

I believe that everyone is in control of their own happiness because in the end it’s your life and no one else’s. There can be someone who may impact our happiness but we have the power to do it on our own. It is evident that we control our own happiness because it is our lives and not anyone else’s. As well as making your own decisions. Lastly we can surround ourselves with friends and family that bring us happiness too.

Henry David Thoreau conveys in his quote that we often think what makes us happy will always work out for us, and we often look into the wrong places. Thoreau’s aphorism simply expresses that true happiness is reached by not what we like, but what will benefit us the most. This can be applied into modern society, my personal experience, observation, and the reading of Innocent voices will express the use of this aphorism. Falling in love and relationships are cases where Thoreau’s aphorism is played in society. People often listen to others instead of themselves.

Our parents always told us that we should have goals and dreams in our life, and through them we will gain happiness. There are some things in life that get in the way of our dreams and goals. In the Declaration of Independence, It states that we have the right to pursue happiness. For example having everybody in the world be equal, and not be shamed upon or looked at differently due to the color of their skin. The poem ¨The Negro Mother,¨ the play A Raisin in the Sun, and the article Innocence Is Irrelevant, all show how our society and they way people can get in the way of our happiness.

The United States of America is the most powerful and wealthy country in the world. The varieties of class, individuality, religion, and race are a few of the enrichments within the "melting pot" of our society. The blend of these numerous diversities is the crucial ingredient to our modern nation. Even though America has been formed upon these diversities, its inhabitants- the "average American"- have a single thing in common; a single idea; a single goal; the American Dream. The Dream consists of a seemingly simple concept; success. Americans dream of a successful marriage, family, successful job, and own a Victorian-style home with a white picket fence and an oak tree with a swing tire in the front yard. The

     America has been labeled "The land of opportunity," a place where it is possible to accomplish anything and everything. This state of mind is known as "The American Dream." The American Dream provides a sense of hope and faith that looks forward to the fulfillment of human wishes and desires. This dream, however, originates from a desire for spiritual and material improvement. Unfortunately, the acquisition of material has been tied together with happiness in America. Although "The American Dream" can be thought of as a positive motivation, it often causes people to strive for material perfection, rather than a spiritual one. This has

The passage gives the analogy of carrying a spoon of oil around a castle. If we are tasked with not allowing any oil to drop from the spoon, we may become too focused and find ourselves ignoring the beauty and wonders surrounding the castle. However, when we become to focused on he wonders around the castle, we drop the oil from the spoon, defeating the purpose of carrying the spoon. We can apply this teaching to the world when we focus on our life goals. If we try to fulfill our desires while we appreciate what the world has too offer, we will feel joy and happiness. When we become infatuated with our goals and desires we tend to push aside wonders and reasons to be happy that the world has already given us, and vice versa. When we push aside the world’s wonder we may become discouraged when achieving our goals, because it may take too long to find happiness. Little reasons to be happy may encourage us to persist our pursuit to achieve goals and discover true happiness

The person’s genetics and childhood or the person’s family and culture are things that influence a person’s happiness. Happiness is a mindset that is created by a person’s surroundings and their origins.

When someone asks Google “how many people are there in the world?”a straight answer of 7.125 billion appears on the screen. However when asked “how many happy people in the world?” Google wasn't quiet sure of the answer. Is that because happiness as a human emotion cannot fully be defined? In Elizabeth Landau’s article states why happiness is so important in our daily life. Although we don't always have complete control over our emotions our surroundings, the environment and people we involve ourselves with has a lot to due with humans “happiness’”in general she explains. The human brain is the most powerful part of our whole body and if one can learn how to control your mind you can be happy, but defining