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Happiness definition paper
Definition of happiness
Definition of happiness
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Everyone is looking for happiness and joy. Some people spend their whole life searching for it. So what is this happiness? The dictionary definition of happiness is the state of being happy. When one thinks of happiness, they think of having a good feeling inside of them. Happiness comes in many forms and is shown in many ways. Many things that happen in our lives can change our happiness. When looking at the science of happiness, it comes from dopamine absorbing chemicals surrounding the brain and these chemicals control the nervous system. They make the person happy and sad (Gehrke). Everyone defines happiness differently, and in his or her own way. It is an emotion. The simplest things can make one person happy while for others it is a lot more complicated to reach. Some individuals are happy all the time and others very rarely. What contributes to making one happy? A person’s location, wealth, and social status can contribute to their happiness. Wealth is the biggest factor in determining someone’s happiness.
Does the more money one has to make an individual happier? There is a link between how much money a
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The happiest places were El Salvador, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Trinidad and Tobago. What makes these people happier than people in rich countries? There was a study conducted by Gallup, they asked individuals whether they “felt joy, whether they felt rested, and how often they laughed and smiled” (Vasilenkov). The standards of living are different in developed and developing countries, making what someone needs to be happy vary. In developing countries, they are happy when they have enough food to provide for their family. In developed countries people want more and more, never being satisfied. The way people view what they have determines how happy they are. People in poor countries are thankful for what they have, not wanting more like people in rich countries, makes them
Happiness is scientifically proven to infact be a real and natural feeling produced by the body, but it is up to your brain to make you feel. When you are in a pleasing situation, your brain responds to the pleasing stimuli and releases endorphins that spread through your body making you feel good. We just call this feeling happiness. In America today we associate happiness with the bigger picture such as how successful you are or how many friends you have. In reality happiness is nothing
Before we look into specifics, we’ll examine the history and development of “happiness” as a philosophy. Of course, the emotion of happiness has always existed, but it began to be seriously contemplated around 2,500 years ago by philosophers like Confucius, Buddha, Socrates and Aristotle. Shortly after Buddha taught his followers his Noble Eight Fold Path (which we will talk about later), Aristotle was teaching that happiness is “dependent on the individual” (Aristotle).
According to Dictionary.com, happiness is contentment, joy, good fortune, and the state of being happy.
Recognizing that most people are reasonably happy, but that some people are happier than others, researchers are offering a fresh perspective on an old puzzle: Who are the happy people? Does happiness favor those of a particular age, sex, or race? Does wealth enhance well-being? Does happiness come with having certain traits? A particular job? Close friends? And active faith? Are those people who go to work in suits happier and more fulfilled than those who go in overalls? Do people higher on the socioeconomic ladder enjoy life more than those lower down? Can money buy happiness? As a consequence of racism and relative poverty, are black Americans less contented on average than white Americans? Because men still hold the reins of power, are men happier than women? Myers and Diener 1995, indicated that the answers to these questions is surprisingly no. These authors pointed out that people have remarkable ability to adapt, both to bad fortune and to good, so that one's life circumstances, unless they are very bad indeed, do not seem to have lasting effects on one's mood.
One reason described to be a cause of happiness is income. Don Peck and Ross Douthat indicate how, “National income appears to be one of the best single predictors of overall well-being, explaining perhaps 40 percent of the difference in contentment among nations” (352). With this statement, comes the explanation of how income can influence happiness in adults who strive to earn a living. Research illustrates how, “For individual countries, with few exceptions, self-reported happiness has increased as incomes have risen” (Douthat 352). While these two statements provide sufficient evidence for the reason of income bringing happiness, income itself is not relevant.
How people live in certain areas plays a deep role in their satisfaction with life. In a Russian, Academic Johan Norberg wrote “The most happy and satisfied places on earth are the ones that are the most dynamic, individualist, and wealthy: North America, Northern Europe, Australia.” (Maclean’s). This quote demonstrates how the relaxing lifestyle of the affluent brings happiness, especially in North America. Wendy Mack reports, “Americans enjoy the highest standard of living in the world” (Affluenza).
Is life really about the 'money', the 'cash', who has the biggest gold chain or who drives the shiniest or fastest car, who sells the most albums or who has the most respect? Today happiness is viewed in many different ways. Everyone defines happiness according to their personal perpectives. Each individual describes their inner feelings in a way that you can't compare with another. Happiness originally and logically means the inner state of well being or a pleasurable or satisfying experience. It enables you to profit from your highest: thoughts, wisdom, intelligence, common sense, emotions, health, and spiritual values in your life. What makes you happy and what makes me happy are different things. Whatever it is that gives you warm fuzzes is determined by you, and only you. This difference is what makes the world interesting.
Happiness is an inner state of well-being and fulfilment, and therefore it has to come from inside. Every individual has his or her own emotions and way of thinking and as a result of this no one can really say what happiness is and what happiness is not. However, universally, happiness is a by-product of a healthy attitude and viewpoint. Happiness exists in everyone whether they choose to acknowledge and believe it or not. It is not rare nor is it something only the elite have: everyone has it but not everyone recognizes it. Contentment is finding a light at the end of every dark tunnel and in order to experience this we must ignore the pessimism surrounding us and remind ourselves that happiness is not a materialistic object but a choice and frame of mind.
Happiness according scientific studies happiness comes from dopamine taking chemicals around the brain, which is a transmitter in the brain that controls the nervous system. These chemicals in the brain make us happy and sad. Happiness means different things to different people, so say Happiness comes from peace and other happiness comes from your expectations from being fulfilled. Happiness is like being sad or angry, it?s an emotion. Some people can get happiness from the simplest things such as reading your favorite book; other people are more complicated they see happiness as some thing that doesn?t really happen to them, but that?s not true because very person is different some people are happy all the time or at least most of the time, while some people say that there not happy are really just happy for a short period of time, weather it means just laughing at a joke, your happy for that couple of seconds.
First observation may be in our daily lives. For instance, as we take a walk in the park, we see a woman playing with her kids. We can say that the lady is happy or not since we can see her emotion of happy in her face. As she laughs, we can see sparkle in her eyes. Those feelings are inner emotion. Therefore, we can conclude that she is happy. Another way to observe happiness comes from personal achievement. Studying hard to graduate and getting a good job can be good examples. When someone achieve success, he or she may feel happy. Besides, many people may find happiness in just the simplest things. For example, I always feel happy whenever I have dinner with my family. Having a true friend that I can share my feelings is also make me feel happy. Those examples indicate that happiness is a state of mind including emotions, pleasure, and satisfaction.
What does it mean to be happy? Happiness is a sensation that people want to have, and a lot of it. Above all else in the world, it’s what we seek and long for. Though this feeling can be found in many different places and at many different times, it isn’t easy to acquire. For some people, happiness might be found in exercise and sustaining good health. On the other hand, others can discover it when they go on vacation and relax. The idea here is that we each have our own things that make us happy.
Everybody wants to be happy. Parents want their children to have a happy childhood and a happy life, people wish newlyweds a happy married life, and when someone passes on, they say, “S/he had a happy life,” as if that is comforting to those who are already missing the person and who are very unhappy. Why is happiness so important to people? Perhaps it is because humans are competitive by nature and one person exaggerates his/her happiness so that others are envious. Maybe it is because humans like to be distracted by a story and if they can believe someone actually achieves perfect happiness, then they can hold out hope for themselves. What is happiness exactly? No one knows because everyone defines it differently. In general though, happiness is an overall feeling of pleasure and satisfaction. If that is the case, then happiness seems easy enough to achieve, but whether humans are actually capable of realizing they are in the state of happiness though is another issue.
All of us want to make money to gain some status, some comfort and some luxurious. This money has brought; is bringing; and will bring so many differences between some of you and me. These differences will be later named as differences between the rich and the poor. If I ask you ‘Do you know what is happiness? You would thrillingly and pleasingly answer me YES, OF Course Then lets share some examples of the happiest man. One would experience happiness when a leads a luxurious life. One may also experience happiness when he had expanded his business almost across the globe. One may also experience happiness when he had his meal in the most famous and expensive hotel. One may also experience happiness when he attends honorable parties.
Happiness, what is it, and why do we strive to achieve it so persistently? Happiness in some points of view is portrayed as the state that is derived from self-awareness of a benefiting action or moment taking place. What of the moments that are not beneficial? Can a person still find moments of happiness and success in discord, a little glimmer of light shining from the deep recesses of our own consciousness? Plucking it from a mere moment, achieved from money, or is it so much more, happiness is the precipice that all strive to gain to better perceive their success. As a person lives, they are in a constant struggle to be happy. For instance, even the United States Constitution makes reference to the idea that every person has the inalienable right to pursue happiness. This was the resulting outcome of the enlightenment from France, spilling out into the rest of the world from 1650 through 1800. This revolutionized the idea that every single person has the inalienable right to happiness or in different views the right to succeed. As to how one peruses or conjures their happiness that is an entirely different concept and completely up to their preferred preference, but it is something that a person needs to find on their own for true success.
Happiness is a feeling that cannot be broken if strong enough, no matter how much sadness or hate is around you. Happiness can come from the smallest thing, for instance, music makes me happy and can easily change my mood, or when I am doing something I love my mood is easily changed. For others it could be whenever you do something well, or right and get recognition for it. It is the easiest feeling to be spread and given out but often neglected and forgotten about which is something we should all be more aware