Happiness Is A Glass Half Happy Essay

Happiness is defined as many different things by many different people. There are multiple different types of happiness and people have different views about how to achieve happiness. While some people think that technology usage, like the use of cell phones and social media, and large-scale spending of money on goods contribute to happiness, in reality, spending time in the natural world and having positive and many negatively perceived experiences contribute to happiness. Spending time in a natural environment leads to a better state of mind and, therefore, an overall happier attitude. According to a study published in “Proceeding of the National Academy of Science” levels of “morbid rumination” decreased after volunteers walked ninety

According to “Happiness is a Glass Half Empty”, the relentless effort to feel happy or to achieve certain goals is what makes us unhappy. “It is our constant quest to eliminate or to ignore the negative- insecurity, uncertainty, failure, sadness that causes us to feel insecure, anxious or unhappy in the first place” (2). Being in a constantly optimistic state of mind, not embracing the negative aspects of life, will cause you to be unhappy. By embracing the traditionally negative emotions, it may actually make you happier than trying to avoid or hide them with your positive emotions. Our negative emotions are just as valuable to our happiness as our positive ones if they are fully embraced. Also in that article, it talked about Greek and Roman philosophers that pointed towards a “negative path” in order to achieve maximum levels of happiness. It consisted of enjoying uncertainty, embracing insecurities and becoming familiar with failure. Failure, to those philosophers, was one of the most important components of happiness if used correctly. The acceptance of failure was believed to lead to a striving towards success and the understanding of other negative emotions lets people understand what to do to be happy. The acknowledgment and acceptance of failure, although thought by many to decrease happiness, allows people to live happier and meaningful lives. According to “Flow- The

They may use the article “Outdoor and Out of Reach, Studying the Brain” as an example of how technology has not been shown to be detrimental to one’s happiness. They could show the opposition to the “believers” in the group of psychology professors. The skeptics to their claim include people with credentials very similar to their own. Todd Braver and Art Kramer, psychology professors at Johns Hopkins and the University of Illinois, are both highly educated in the field of psychology and their beliefs should also be considered. Although these highly esteemed professors were skeptical of the theory, the more time they spent in nature, the less skeptic they were of the idea. By the end of the trip, Mr. Braver was looking into what caused the various benefits and Mr. Kramer was rethinking his entire view on the usage of technology, considering that it may cause less focus. This loss of focus is explained by Nicholas Carr in the video, “What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains”. He talks about how the constant influx of messages and the act of constantly checking our cell phones and emails are causing us to be in a perpetual state of distraction. The constant bombardment of information is causing modern humans to be constantly thinking about and absorbed in their devices. This is causing people to have worse memories and