Too Much Thankfulness

War causes a loss of innocence and brings a soldier further away from their home life that they once loved as a child. In the book “All Quiet on the Western Front” the author Erich Remarque uses symbols to prove that this is how soldiers lives change after they return from war. Remarque uses the symbols of potato pancakes, horses and the earth to exhibit that war takes away the feeling of comfort that was once associated with home, while bringing on new responsibilities and a loss of innocence.

“Facing it” by Yusef Komunyakaa and “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen, are two powerful poems with the graphical life like images on the reality of war. It is apparent that the authors was a soldier who experienced some of the most gruesome images of World War I. In “Ducle et Decorum Est” Owen tells us about a personal experience in which he survived a chemical warfare attack. Although he survives, some of his fellow troops do not. As in “Facing It” Komunyakaa is also a soldier who has survived a war. Komunyakaa response to his war experience is deeply shaped by his visit to Lin’s memorial. Inspired by the monument, Komunyakaa confronts his conflicted feelings about Vietnam, its legacy, and even more broadly, the part race plays in

how beautiful ideals were painted for our boys who were sent out to die. In War is a Racket, the

“Happiness as a byproduct of living your life is a great thing….but happiness as a goal is a recipe for disaster.” One of the greatest things in life is to experience the feeling of happiness. Whether it’s because you’re surrounded by loved ones or you’re doing something you loved or something random happened that put a smile on your face it’s a great thing to feel happiness. What that quote is saying however is that by striving to get that amazing feeling we could cause more problems for ourselves. Although we all enjoy that feeling of happiness and don’t like when it goes away we have to realize that most of the time it’s not hard work that brings it back. What brings us the feeling of happiness is letting the unexpected happen, it’s sharing

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.

When someone is put in a situation of horror and destruction, it is only natural for beauty to deteriorate from one’s life. All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Remarque perfectly illustrates the destruction war has on the beauty of the ordinary world. Paul’s alienation from home eventually causes him to lose sight of what life should be like, who he is and the importance of relationships.

In the novel All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque the reader sees World War One from a German’s perspective. The main character Paul Bäumer joins German forces after with his friend. The main character Paul Baumer goes through many difficulties and struggles in time of War. The author suggests that symbols give a better understanding of the brutality of war through butterflies, boots, and women.

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.

Reading a fictitious account of a seemingly depressed soldier and learning of all the hardships that come along with the first World War are truly captivating subjects that readers do not have personal experience with. The soldiers who did not even know what they were fighting for, and had no drive to continue fighting. The soldiers who dealt with the battle against Death on a daily basis, living in fear. The soldiers who had to watch as their friends and comrades died in amazingly gruesome deaths and having no way of saving them. The soldiers who had to fight on low resources of food and water.

“It’s so hard to forget pain, but it’s even harder to remember sweetness. We have no scar to show for happiness. We learn so little from peace. (- Chuck Palahniuk) There are times in which people feel ecstatic or overjoyed for some reason. We may ask them why but their answer would probably be “because I’m happy”. People might not think about it but we might ask ourselves, what does it mean to be happy. In Macbeth his happiness was to have the throne of his cousin while in Federigo’s Falcon it was to have the woman he loved by his side. In the video, The Science of Happiness, gratitude is what makes us as humans truly happy.

Poets frequently utilize vivid images to further depict the overall meaning of their works. The imagery in “& the War Was in Its Infancy Then,” by Maurice Emerson Decaul, conveys mental images in the reader’s mind that shows the physical damage of war with the addition of the emotional effect it has on a person. The reader can conclude the speaker is a soldier because the poem is written from a soldier’s point of view, someone who had to have been a first hand witness. The poem is about a man who is emotionally damaged due to war and has had to learn to cope with his surroundings. By use of imagery the reader gets a deeper sense of how the man felt during the war. Through the use of imagery, tone, and deeper meaning, Decaul shows us the

So I thought it would be a good time to share a handful of my favorite tips for making thankfulness a daily part of life.

Thanksgiving now is mostly known for feasts, family reunions, and weekdays off but does anyone still give thanks in this holiday. Thanksgiving started at a gathering and giving thanks of what they had and received in there life’s. The bad thing is now people are mostly thinking about the food there going to eat and make for thanksgiving .But the real question is why doesn’t everybody celebrate this holiday for it’s true meaning which is giving thanks. Regardless of how people celebrate this holiday, I’m thankful for three blessings.

Similarly, the individual on the YouTube video named “An Experiment in Gratitude, The Science of Happiness” stated that psychologists have scientifically verified that one of the greatest contributing factor to overall happiness in one’s life is how much gratitude one

The essence of gratitude is acknowledging and appreciating the good in your life and doing so surfaces endless benefits that contribute to well-being. While this hypothesis seems rather indisputable there is evidence and research to further convince the sceptics. Emmons and McCullough garnered their conclusions through an experiment in which different groups documented their lives in different manners. Through daily and weekly journals the participants were asked to record negative occurrences, neutral events, or things they were grateful for respectively. The findings were conclusive; the group that kept tabs on things they were grateful for consistently reported a greater sense of well-being (Sansone and Sansone, 18-22). The methods Emmons and McCullough used to conduct this experiment were very professional and free of any bias. By tailoring the experiment to allow for as much participant control as possible there is little room for influence on their part. Additional research from Froh and Sefick in partnership with Emmons echoes these sentiments. The trio conducted a study in which 221 adolescents were tracked and those who routinely counted their blessings experienced enhanced life satisfaction and overall well-being. (Froh, J., Sefick, W. J., & Emmons, R. A. 2008). In a very in depth study conducted at the University of California, Riverside by psychologists Sonja Lyubomirsky, Rene