'The Happiness Project' By Gretchen Rubin

In the article, “Does Trying To Be Happy Make Us Unhappy?” Adam Grant argues that putting too much effort into life changes will actually me people unhappy. Grant point out two countries and how they give the right to be happy to their citizens. The U.S.A grants life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and in the kingdom of Bhutan they have a national index to measure their happiness. Grant then goes on presenting a psychologist study done about happiness, this study reveals that the more pressure people puts on trying to be happy the less happy they are.

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.

People usually hear the word goal and they immediately consider their pursuit of happiness. Often, this goal has been in pursuit of a relationship, wealth, or great notoriety that they want; then they will be content. Although many may argue that pursuing happiness as a goal does not have detrimental effects, psychologists, previous wars, along with immigration all illustrate that pursuing happiness has more inimical consequences than advantageous.

In the fifth chapter of Gretchen Rubin’s “The Happiness Project”, her main focus revolves around having more fun on a daily basis and adding some entertainment to common activities. Rubin talks about how various studies have modeled the idea that happy people tend to be the ones who have the most fun. Although there are some individuals, such as Jean Stafford, who have contradicting beliefs and feel that there is no direct correlation between having fun and being a genuinely happy individual, Rubin is a firm believer in this concept. Other main points that Rubin touched on in this chapter include taking her leisure seriously and accepting that she likes to have fun in a variety of different ways. Gretchen Rubin emphasizes the point that

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.

As Aristotle once said “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence”. This statement has to do with a question that is commonly asked at some point in your life, as for many people they never figure out the answer to this question. “ Is happiness the goal?” Throughout the year focusing on this theme, I believe that people should be pursuing to find happiness in what the do but that doesn't mean you have to happy at all times.

Lyubomirsky defines happiness as the “experience of joy, contentment, or positive well-being, combined with a sense that one’s life is good, meaningful, and worthwhile” (184). She challenges the myths that people can find happiness by changing their circumstances and that people either are “born happy or unhappy” (186). Happiness is not something that can be found or something that not everyone can have. People make their own happiness, despite the difficulties they may face. Happiness comes by “choosing to change and manage your state of mind” (185). Lyubomirsky gives cases of people who are happy even though they suffer from losses and setbacks. These are the people whose circumstances should make them unhappy, but their intentional actions bring them joy. She also gives cases of people who have not suffered any major losses but are still unhappy because they may see events negatively and feel helpless before them. Lyubomirsky asserts that “changes in our circumstances, no matter how positive and stunning, actually have little bearing on our well-being” (186). Even though a person’s circumstances may be positive, those circumstances do not make them happy. Lyubomirsky uses a Subjective Happiness Scale to measure happiness, which takes the average of numerical answers to four questions. She argues that in order to become happier, “you need to determine your present personal happiness level, which will provide your first estimate of your happiness

“Synthetic Happiness” By Marie Fouche ENC1102 Exploratory Essay Final Copy Period 3 Professor Weinberg 10/06/2014   The reason I chose this topic is a by-product of watching a TedTalk by a Harvard professor. He was talking about how he was studying happiness and found out the secret to being happy.

If a person is asked what their goal in life is, they will probably answer, to have a big house, a good family, a high paying job, a nice car, but what about happiness? What is happiness? Happiness can be defined as a combination of life satisfaction through social relationships and life experiences, achieved through the choice of wanting to be happy in life. A person can choose to be happy by improving their social life, learning to depend less on money, and understanding that there are things within their control and things that are not. Statistics show that having a good social life greatly improves one’s 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.

She said,“Don’t focus attention on something negative, such as the long line at a bar or a bad experience on the subway” (158). What Gretchen is saying in this quote, is that people have to stop paying attention, in particularly, the negative occurrences that had happened to them. Once we do this then we would be able to focus and embrace the positive events in our lives and will lead to being positive. Being positive then results in increasing happiness level. Rick Hansen wrote in “Growing Good,” “By positive and good, I mean what leads to happiness and benefit for oneself and others” (127).

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

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.

In order for one to achieve happiness, good results must happen, meaning positive consequences must take place. If bad results happen instead, then negative consequences will take place and happiness will not be achieved. It is vital that people produce positive consequences so that they can achieve happiness, for once happiness is achieved then satisfaction with one’s life will also occur. The combination of reaching happiness and satisfaction with one’s life will create the desired outcome of the good

Essentially, seeking happiness is necessary in life. We often hope to find happiness from other people, other things around us and forget that we can create it by ourselves. The novel “The happiness project” by Gretchen Rubin is sufficient evidence. The author states, “I am happy – but I’m not as happy as I should be.”(13) Then she started a project within a year to change her life and seek for a happier life. By making a list of things she has to do in the next twelve months, the author have done many things which affects her “Vitality” (1), her “Marriage” (38), her “Leisure” (112), her “Friendship” (141),etc. positively so that she can achieve her goal, which is a life full filed of happiness as she dreamed before. We can also do that. We know that if everyone of us set a goal and live purposely, we are all happy. However, we can be happier if we know how to change ourselves on the right way. We can make ourselves happy by doing simple things in our everyday life.