Reflection On Happiness

John Stuart Mills, in chapter five of his autobiography, “A Crisis in My Mental History: One Stage Onward,” (1909-14) reasons that happiness is not to be looked upon as a goal, but as a by product of one’s involvement in other things for purposes not related to finding happiness. He supports his theory by giving examples that when you make happiness something you are conscious about you become quite unhappy, then he states when we fix our minds on other objects we will find happiness along the way, then stresses we are not to dwell on happiness as it comes through the “air you breathe” when you are not thinking about it. Mill’s purpose is to get people to set their minds upon something else in order to show us that happiness can only be found when we stop looking for it. He establishes a serious tone for people everywhere.

According to the Dictionary, “happiness is the mental or emotional state of well being which can be defined by others. A pleasurable or satisfying experience.”. Of course that’s true, the feeling of happiness is what it’s scientifically defined as, but happiness is much more than that. Happiness could be a certain sound, a smell, even feeling a certain piece of clothing or a thick warm blanket. People spend hours even years trying to work for what they think is happiness. They work for hours to get large amounts of money, but they never find the happiness their looking for. That’s because happiness isn't materialistic, happiness isn't something you can buy with expensive items. Even though some people believe you can buy happiness, that’s

John Stuart Mills, in chapter five of his autobiography “A Crisis in My Mental History: One Stage Onward”, (1909-14), suggest that mankind can never find happiness when it is their goal, they can only find it when their minds are fixed on something unrelated to the topic. He supports his claim by first stating, that happiness is only found when we have our minds fixed on something else than our happiness, then he says that when we are conscious of our feelings and when we feel happiness that is when we feel the most misery and sorrow, and finally he suggests that happiness will come naturally as long as we don’t dwell on the feeling. Mill’s purpose is to express that we are not supposed to be focused on happiness, it will come just as naturally as the air we breathe, but if we do we will just find ourselves in a state of misery. He establishes a very informative serious tone for anybody anywhere.

Happiness is not a strange term to us. We usually use that word to express our feelings in every day. Additionally, more than a word, “happiness” is what we really need and always seek in life. However, finding and understanding deeply its meaning is not easy. The online dictionary, “vocabulary.com” defines, “Happiness is a sense of well-being, joy, or contentment. When people are successful, or safe, or lucky, they feel happiness.” Thus, we always wonder if we are happy or how could we be happier in our life. Happiness, therefore, becomes a goal for everybody.

Being able to accept things as they are without the desire to change them is the next leap toward achieving happiness. In Stuart Mill’s autobiography, he argues that by inquiring on our state of happiness in a given moment, we will cease to be so (Pg.13). In other words, by focusing on how happy we are at any given moment, we end up creating a void within ourselves that wants more than what it already has. Some individuals on the other hand argue that by keeping ourselves in check, we would be able to measure our level of happiness and adjust ourselves according to the result we get back. The only downside to this method of achieving happiness is that we don’t allow ourselves to enjoy the small things that make us happy, we would be spending our times mind wandering which prevents us from doing what we need to do. “Happiness is our being’s end and aim’ is at bottom, if we will count, well, not yet two centuries old in the world (Carlyle.9).” Quoted by McMahon from Thomas Carlyle, the author attempts to provide an explanation on why we strive for happiness. This tells us that the impossibilities for an individual to truly achieve happiness was never ending, that no matter what we believe is achievable, we can only view happiness as the intangible entity that everyone longs to come face to face

In the excerpt of the autobiography “A Crisis in My Mental History: One Stage Onward” (1914) by John Stuart Mill, the author proposes that in order to find happiness, you must stop aiming for your own happiness and fix your mind on other things. He supports his interpretation of happiness by first claiming that concentrating on something else, you will find happiness by the way, then says “Ask yourself whether you are happy, and you cease to be so” (Mill 1), and finally he adds that you will obtain happiness without even thinking about it. Mill’s purpose is to inform the reader that they can focus on other things in life in order to find happiness or something close to it. He forms a deep tone for anyone who is trying to reach happiness.

John Stuart Mill, in his autobiography, “A Crisis in my Mental History: One Stage Onward” (1909-04), argues that people are chasing happiness, which is making them unhappy. He supports his claim that gives examples of things that used to be enjoyable and fun, but are now being taken away. He says that people find happiness when not looking for it. Mill also says that you will find happiness through the happiness of other and if you make others happy. John’s purpose is for people to realize that they need to stop going around and always thinking that they have to be happy and just let themselves be happy naturally. Mill’s tone is serious towards all readers so that they really think about what he has to say.

Someone once said, “Happiness is like chasing a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. You will never find it if you look for it.” John Stuart Mill’s autobiography, “A Crisis in My Mental History: One Stage Onward” (1909) argues that in order to be happy, one must secure their mind on something other than their own happiness. Under the realization that one's happiness is only attained by not making it the direct end, Mill approaches this subject by first giving examples of what makes one happy and then continues to tell the reader why the route they are approaching happiness is insufficient to give contentment. His evident purpose is to inform the reader that one cannot pursue happiness through the enjoyments of life because once it is made a

The definition of happiness is “the state of being happy”. Happiness is the feeling that you find in you when you enjoy something. It's more about the little things in life like making memories, kindness, nature, friendship and sleep. Things the money can buy you DOES lead to happiness, but can’t once it

Many people have different ideas on how people can achieve happiness, and today happiness is viewed in many different ways. People may disagree with John Stuart Mill because everyone has their own ideas and thinks in their own way. Those who disagree may believe that happiness is something that you have to get yourself, and that happiness just magically doesn’t come to you and that you have to chase happiness if you want to be happy. Many people including myself try to force happiness,

John Stuart Mill’s autobiography, “A Crisis in My Mental History. One Stage Onward”, discusses his own philosophy on life and happiness. He was never undecided on the old philosophy of happiness until his philosophy’s creation. His philosophy is that happiness is obtained during the journey and not at the end of it. He believes that focusing on something other than happiness; things like “the happiness of others, on the improvement of mankind, even on some art or pursuit.” He states that if one questions there happiness, then they’ll break their immersion. To solve this, they must get rid of their “self-interrogation”, “scrutiny”, “self-consciousness”. In doing so, one can truly embrace their own happiness without a doubt in mind. He ends it

Individuals try to find happiness, but like water or air, it is hard to clench in your hands. As defined in Merriam-Webster (2014), happiness is a state of well-being and contentment. However, happiness is hard to achieve, but it can be as simple as being contented, doing what you love, and living who you really are. Furthermore, everyone asks how one would know that they have it already.

“Folks are usually about as happy as they make their minds up to be”, exclaimed Abraham Lincoln in Goodreads.com. Happiness is defined in many ways that not a single person can give a true definition of. People have been searching the true meaning of happiness, but in reality there are no actual definitions. Happiness is all around, a person just needs to find their path to what makes them truly happy.

Happiness is a very broad yet complex topic to discuss. While most people try to explain happiness with philosophy, I will be writing more about the medical and scientific aspect of happiness. There are two schools of thought on happiness, first one being social happiness and the second one being solitary happiness with me learning towards the former over the ladder. Medically, happiness comes down to a handful of chemicals (also called neurotransmitters) in the brain and if you are happy or not it comes down to the levels of these chemicals in the brain.

You can say that I have had a pretty “normal” life. A family of four, growing up in a small town, forty minutes north of San Francisco. I would describe my life satisfaction as normal, with anxiety and stress affecting my daily life. Growing up was a bit of a challenge, since both of my parents were Colombians trying to adapt to the “American” way of life. I alway question happiness as I would play with the neighborhood kids, go to the supermarket or simply my everyday life. This year has allowed me to truly value what happiness is. My mother passed away in April of 2016. She was more than a mother, she was “my person,” as Dr. Meredith Grey from Grey’s Anatomy would say. At the time when my mom was battling cancer to unexpectedly getting put in the Intensive Care Unit, was the darkest time of my life. However, looking back those times that I still had my mother were the happiest times. Though the last seven days that I had with her, she was not 100% present, I would take that over her being “gone.” On the first day of class, I remember Professor Montessor telling us to imagine a machine that will allow us to only feel happiness. Would we go in it? For me the answer is no and this course has truly allowed me to experience happiness through a different lens.