In life, people tend to face the question of what makes them happy. Happiness can be defined as “a state of well-being and contentment” (Merriam-Webster). Everyone has their own opinion and definition of what happiness is in their own lives. When I am asked this question, I tend to say that being with my friends and family who I can fully be myself around is what makes me happy. But, a lot of people can find this question difficult to answer due to the fact that there are quite a few things that factor into one’s level of happiness. In Jonathan Haidt’s, The Happiness Hypothesis, Haidt introduces the “happiness formula”, H=S+C+V, that psychologists Sonja Lyubomirsky, Ken Sheldon, and David Schkade created that contains the three main factors in one’s happiness. This formula determines the level of happiness I actually experience in my life through my biological set …show more content…
As a commuter here on campus, I related to Haidt’s statement that commuters arrive at work with higher stress levels. “Those whose commutes are traffic-filled still arrive at work with higher levels of stress hormones. Driving under ideal conditions is, however, often enjoyable and relaxing” (Haidt 92). The fact that I live 40 minutes away and have to commute every single day really impacts the amount of time I have to study, do school work and spend time with friends and family, which causes a large amount of stress. But, driving for me is ideal because because I get to listen to my own music and have my alone time. Being an introvert, I always need to have time in my day where I’m by myself. Driving and commuting as a whole gives me that alone time I need and it makes me happy. Although I absolutely love driving, I found that having to commute had an impact on my happiness due to all of the stress it caused when in the very beginning of the school year. A lot of this stress is caused from things I have no control
From the perspective of positive psychology, there is a well-being formula invested by Martin Seligman to achieve a higher well-being. Martin Seligman (2010) defined as happiness: H (to maintain the length of happiness) = S (happy range breadth) + V (you can control the factors) + C (your living environment). Happy length: the distinction between "temporary" happy and "persistent" happy. Temporary happiness can be achieved by food, comedy, bunch of flowers. While the persistence of happiness is mainly affected by genetic, and this genetic trait can be changed. The breadth of happiness: psychologists think that we are born with a happy constant point, like a thermometer. If there is a happier thing, even if we are upset, it will be dedicated
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.
In “Happiness 101,” Harvard professor Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar presents his ideas pertaining to the achievability of happiness. He begins by discussing how individuals must give themselves permission to be human, so that they can feel the negative feelings before they reach the positive feelings. If negative feelings are held back without release, then they only intensify eventually blocking out the positive feelings. Ben-Shahar continues his presentation to the topic of managing stress on the micro, mezza, and macro levels. These levels include the ideas of meditation, sleep, taking time off, vacations, and the “three deep breaths.” Simplifying agendas and practicing quality over quantity has a positive effect on stress levels as well. At the conclusion of his presentation, Ben-Shahar discusses the positive effect of practicing gratitude on health, happiness, and well-being. After listening to Tal Ben-Shahar’s presentation, I completely agree with every point that Ben-Shahar uses over the topics of giving permission to be human, stress management, and practicing gratitude covered throughout his presentation over happiness.
“The Happiness Hypothesis” by Jonathan Haidt is the first book I've read of its kind, mostly because I've been trying to feel my way through life so far one step at a time, and I will likely never forget it. There are things to be learned within this combination of ancient wisdom, research, and Haidt's connection of it all, valuable lessons for approaching and understanding the human experience. Reading something like this young, and taking it with me throughout my life and comparing it to my own experience will indeed make it a very valuable tool.
Pertaining to the “day without cars” tradition the city of Bogota, Columbia : “It has seen the construction of 118 bicycle paths, the most of any Latin American city…” (Belsky, 3) A single day without cars has encouraged not only, new businesses to spring up and infrastructure to be improved but also physical activity to become more common in countries that implement such a tradition. In my own experience, a less sedentary lifestyle means lower risk of heart disease, obesity, and other weight and activity related ailments. In addition car usage reduction seems to lessen stress, a claim that mother of two, Heidrun Walter testifies to. “ ‘When I had a car I was always tense. I’m much happier this way.’...” (Rosenthal 1). This is a benefit that cannot be ignored as higher stress levels can take a toll on your mental health. Last but certainly not least, is the fact that less smog will discourage the pollution-induced respiratory illnesses permeating the developed world. Polluted air is not meant to be breathed and less of it is better for the whole of the
Everyone defines happiness differently, but everyone needs happiness. The book Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse talks about how Siddhartha finds happiness through many ways. He leaves home and his friend, Govinda, to find enlightenment. He starves himself, he learns love, he even thinks of suicide… Fortunately, he meets a ferryman, who becomes his best friend, also his “teacher”, and helps him find the ultimate way to achieve enlightenment. Siddhartha abandons his relationships, money, and education which bring him happiness, and in the twenty first century, these still bring happiness as the essential steps to take.
In The Happiness Hypothesis Jonathan Haidt talks about how our brains work and how best to find happiness with the different ways it works. Haidt describes the different ways a positive and negative person’s brain works and how each can find happiness through various and different methods. He also discusses different aspects of society that can affect our level of happiness. All of these things can be considered to find the best way to raise your level of happiness.
The most universal goal every human has in common is the pursuit of happiness or “creation or construction of happiness” (Achor, 78). To be able to fulfill this wish of becoming happy, people often think the key to achieving happiness is success. In the book, The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor, he debunks this theory of success leading to happiness by illustrating the reverse theory of success. Through dozens of studies and experiments as forms of evidence, the author argues that an individual needs to achieve happiness in order to be truly successful. Achor 's argument is valid in that happiness should come before success because there is a clear advantage to being successful in an individual’s work life, personal sphere, and liveliness if they are happy first and foremost.
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
Within The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt, he mentions that there are two ancient truths concerning how the mind works. The first truth is the foundational idea of the book: the mind is divided into parts that sometimes conflict with each other. The second truth is Shakespeare’s idea about how “thinking makes it so.” (or, as Buddha said, “Our life is the creation of our mind.”) Like a rider, on the back of an elephant, the conscious, reasoning part of the mind has only limited control of what the elephant does. Nowadays, we know the cause of these divisions, and a few ways to help the rider and the elephant work as a better team. We can improve this ancient idea today by explaining why most people’s minds have a bias toward seeing threats and engaging in useless worry. To change this bias, we can use three techniques to increase happiness, one ancient, and two very new.
This is one of the main cause environmental pollution. Canadian vehicle owners are now double what they were in 1960. (The David Suzuki Foundation, n.d.). In Canada, Moreover, about 9 million workers said that they had never used public transportation to commute. The reason why they don’t use it, because about 7.4 millions of these people thought that public transportation would be somewhat or very inconvenient (Campbell, W., 2011, October
The story of the movie The Pursuit of Happyness directed by Gabriele Muccino portrays a family who struggles with finding enough money to pay taxes and afford living expenses. The movie takes a place in San Francisco during the 80s. The two main characters are the father Chris Gardner and his son Christopher, Will Smith and Jaden Smith respectively. Gardner tries to support his family. But every time he attempts to make things better, they always end up worse. Gardner in the story wonders on "how to be happy?" He earns his money by selling the bone density
What is happiness? The essay, “Three Simple Things,” the author gave us the definition of happiness from Dictionary.com as "an active or passive state of pleasure or satisfaction." In his own special way, the author writes about how friends, families, and his belief in God are the things that make him happy the most. Sure people may feel their happiness is being healthy and alive. There are many things that could make me happy, but the three that make me happy the most is spending time with my three girls, being with families, and fishing.
Happiness is a result that we deserved, furthermore, it becomes a motivation for us to keep trying and getting success in life.
What is happiness? This can be answered differently for each person. In my mind I find happiness in many ways. Some people find happiness by playing sports, others find happiness through animals or even through themselves. I can find happiness through many things but some stand out such as good news, decisions, and being grateful.