Short Story Of A Happy-Social Norm

September 2003 is a date that has impacted my life in various ways. Every person is a book in process, we have a beginning, make critical choices, have a climax, but with no wonder how it will completely end. When I was six years old, I didn’t realize I was going to start my American Dream. I was not aware that I was leaving my love ones, my best friend, and my house to live in a country where I knew and had nothing. Crossing the scorching deserts in the middle of the night, I had no idea my life was actually going to change for the better. Being brought from Mexico, I was directly enrolled in Pactolus Elementary School in North Carolina without any basic knowledge of the English language. As a new student, I was afraid to speak because I did not know

August 15, 2013, is the date that I will remember forever. Whenever I see that date, I always have flashbacks of my childhood memories, such as whining to the teachers about having too much homework, or have to take the classes that I did not get to pick during my middle school years. August 15,2013 made me realized that one day I will have to go through the the face of an adult sooner or later. I will have to face the hardships that my parents went through for our family. I have stepped into the world of the reality.

July 21st, 2016, a date that will be with me forever. This is the day that I met my sponsored child in Quiche’ Guatemala, her name is Lidia Cauanos Chingo.

In the Eating Chapter of The Happiness Myth by Jennifer Hecht, she quotes the Ms. Lincoln’s Boston Cook Book of 1883. She introduces the site by describing the happiness that comes from a mother’s home cooked bread and uses the topic of baking in order to ease into the quote. Hecht quotes the phrase,“Nothing in the whole range of domestic life more affects the health and happiness of the family than the quality of its daily bread.” In response, she says, “what an extraordinary and bizarre claim.” (Hecht 186). Also, how she believes that households today do not depend their happiness and health on how good their bread is, contradicting the quote.

Based on Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi “Happiness Revisited” People have many different points of view about how to achieve happiness, it can be based on the type of life one is having, an experience, a way of living, culture, and religion. Happiness can be defined in many ways but happiness is not something we find or get just by magic. In “Happiness Revisited” by Csikszentmihalyi, the author emphasizes that “It is by being fully involved with every detail of our lives, whether good or bad, that we find happiness, not by trying to look for it directly.” And just as he stays that happiness is when someone is involved in everything that happens in live either good or bad, one example that I think Csikszentmihalyi will describe as an optimal experience

The Merriam Webster dictionary describes happiness as a “state of well-being and contentment. Though there are multiple things that can make one happy. The Happiness Myth, by Jennifer Hecht and the article, Which One of These Food Will Stop Cancer? (Not so Fast) by Gina Kolata both discuss the category of bodies. Hecht has a whole section of the book dedicated to this, describing that when it comes to taking care of our bodies we often think of the extreme or nothing at all. Meanwhile, Kolata’s article talks about people who change their diets because they believe it can protect one from cancer and that even though there is little to no scientific proof it actually does. However, whether these measures make people happy is ideally up to the person. Therefore, if eating healthy or working out makes a person feel like they have control over themselves then who is to say that is not happiness.

Today was my sixteenth birthday, but no one seemed to notice. I spent all day slouching around school, in every class, and at home. I thought today would be different since

I answered. “Mija, where’s your grandma? Go get her now! It’s important.” that’s all I remembered from that phone call, but the moment I handed my grandmother the phone I saw her bright smile turn into the world’s most darkest frown. Out of the speck of my eyes, I saw small tears running down her face, with big worries she ran quickly to get a sweater and her purse.

Within the second chapter of The How of Happiness, Sonja Lyubomirsky dissects the constituents of happiness and offers readers a thorough exposition of what the term happiness entails; what it is and what it is not, as well as its profound effects on our daily lives. The positive outcomes of being happy are immense, and hence, it would be beneficial for us to develop an extensive understanding of the inner workings of happiness.

Breaking social norms is something I shy away from. I refrain from breaking social norms because I know what it can do to a person’s reputation, but also because I was taught not to. Those are the reasons this assignment was particularly challenging for me, so I kept it small and just chose to sit next to people. To get various reactions I sat next to my family, friends, and finally strangers. Each group reacted differently to me sitting next to them and only the strangers reacted the way I thought they would. I started by first sitting next to family members as they were the easiest to reach.

August 15th, 8:17 in the morning. Not even out of bed, and I knew this was going to be a hell of a day. A new start, new faces, and most importantly, new ways to fuck shit up.

January 20, 2017. I can still remember that slightly cold day, the winter season was almost at it's end, and soon spring was about to well, “spring”. That day wasn’t like the rest where I go to school and then I go home to do my daily chores and dose of homework, for me that day was like life just decided to punch me in the gut and bring me to the harsh reality of life and what my country had fallen to. Two months ago it was announced that Donald Trump had lost the popular vote but had won the electoral college vote which is what really matters in the race to become the president of the United States. And with his victory there came the preparations to swear him into office and thus commence his term as president of this country.

February 28th. Thats the date. The date it all changed. If someone would have told me that this girl was gunna change my life for ever I would have told them they were crazy, but you did. It wasn't smooth in-fact we both know it wasn’t. I was an ass and I acknowledge that. April 1st. Thats when I made it important. It was the best choice I ever made. April 16th. Thats the first day I knew I was in trouble.. I knew that this girl was going to make me do and feel amazing. That she was going to change my life forever. From there on out the hit the ground sprinting and we never stopped. It was the best time of our lives. We come from two completely different worlds. I haven't really worked for anything in my life I haven't faced any type of adversity. You have had a troubled and

August 2011, the most special and most meaningful year of my life started off. I got to know students from different countries during the year in the United States. Besides broadening my horizon, I also tried to show and explain to my new friends how beautiful and wonderful our culture is. I believe I have become a person who is more independent and mature. I can now face my own flaws and make amends of my mistakes. Besides facing my own flaws, I am willing to face all kinds of challenges in my life.

“APPLES GET DOWN HERE LET’S GO!” Lollipop screamed from the ground, I quickly ran down the branches of my tree to meet her. Lollipop had led me to a place, but I didn't know where because she said it was a surprise for me, and by the way today… I turned 16! It’s cool, I know. I’m sort of exhausted from helping all these people though, but hopefully today will make up for it. The worst part of my day was that my own boyfriend forgot my birthday. A few hours later we were still