Pseudo Happiness
What do you think makes you happy? Good question. Each person has a completely different view of happiness and how to achieve it. Some people require money or material things to make them happy, while for others it is companionship or helping people. Happiness for some is solitude and the list goes on and on. One misnomer in life is that what makes me happy should make others happy too. What do you think makes you happy? That is a question for each individual to determine in life. One thing for sure is happiness can be artificial and real happiness can be elusive when pursued.
One place where many people look for happiness is through their work. This is also an area where many, ironically, find pseudo happiness or just plain unhappiness. In our country we have placed so much emphasis on earning opportunities when choosing careers, rather than the calling, the talent or the true passions being the driving force of the career. This potential poor career choice can make a lot of people unhappy with the job or career they are doing. We spend usually more hours in our life at our vocation than the time spent with family or friends.
As a consumer based society we tend to equate money to success or happiness as another false happiness. When people meet someone new in our consumer culture, they judge their success and happiness based on what is their career field, what kind of car they drive, and what is the square footage of their home and where it is located. Success in our culture unfortunately is based falsely on monetary status. Arthur Brooks puts it this way, “Our market system, which often rewards success with dollars, can create the tendency to confuse success itself with money.” In the end, a feeling of...
... middle of paper ...
...ater than self; and lastly, finding life’s true purpose for yourself. But once again what do you think makes you really happy now? Is your happiness artificial or real genuine happiness?
Works Cited
Brooks, Arthur C. "Can Money Buy Happiness?" The American Magazine. American Enterprise Institute, May/June 2008. Web. 17 Apr. 2014
Cook, Gareth. "The Dark Side of Happiness." Mother Nature Network. The Boston Globe, 15 Oct. 2011. Web. 17 Apr. 2014
Gilbert, Dan. "The Surprising Science of Happiness." TED2004. 12 Apr. 2014. Lecture.
Schwartz, Barry. "The Myths of Happiness: Three Books on How to Attain It and What It Means." Salon. L.A. Review of Books. 31 Mar. 2013. Web. 08 Apr. 2014.
Steindl-Rast, David. "Want to Be Happy? Be Grateful." TEDGlobal2013. 20 Mar. 2014. Lecture.
Ricard, Matthieu. "The Habits of Happiness." TED2004. Feb. 2004. Lecture.
In “The Real Truth about Money” (2005), Gregg Easterbrook discusses the effects of money on the people’s happiness. He presents his article with statistics of the generation immediately after the World War II and the current generation. He has experienced both generations as he has lived in both and is very familiar with the difference of people’s lives now and back then. Easterbrook is a highly reputed journalist, he is an authorized writer, editor, and professor. He worked with many professional magazines and newspapers; accordingly, he has enough knowledge to write about the people’s happiness in terms of money. Easterbrook has well convinced the readers with psychological facts from university researches and credible
Happiness plays an important and necessary role in the lives of people around the world. In America, happiness has been engrained in our national consciousness since Thomas Jefferson penned these famous words in the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (Jefferson). Since then, Americans have been engaged in that act: pursuing happiness. The problem however, as Ray Bradbury demonstrates in his novel Fahrenheit 451, is that those things which make us happy initially may eventually lead to our downfall. By examining Guy Montag, the protagonist in Fahrenheit 451, and the world he lives in we can gain valuable insights to direct us in our own pursuit of happiness. From Montag and other characters we will learn how physical, emotional, and spiritual happiness can drastically affect our lives. We must ask ourselves what our lives, words, and actions are worth. We should hope that our words are not meaningless, “as wind in dried grass” (Eliot).
In the two non-fiction pieces, “Skiing with the Dalai Lama” and “An Account of Happiness”, they state similar beliefs of happiness. In both they show things that gave happiness for a short period of time. But both show something that is will give happiness more than those...
Myers, David G. "The funds, friends, and faith of happy people." American psychologist 55.1 (2000): 56.
Happiness is a feeling adults experience when they receive a gift, win something, and various other reasons, but does money buy this happiness everyone experiences? Don Peck and Ross Douthat claim money does buy happiness, but only to a point in their article which originally appeared in the Atlantic Monthly (252). Throughout their article, reasons on why money can sometimes buy happiness are explained. While some of the reasons given are effective, not all are satisfying answers for adults working diligently to make a living. Money is a part of everyone’s life, yet it is not always the cause of happiness.
In Michael R. Hagerty’s and Ruut Veenhoven’s article “Wealth and Happiness Revisited – Growing National Income Does Go with Greater Happiness” they talk about the effect wealth has on your emotions...
In addition, money’s effect on an individual’s happiness will be examined, in particular the belief that more money will bring more happiness and how it is not as significant as individuals with less money being less happiness.
For some, happiness is all that matters. Happiness is achieved in many ways, and it doesn’t always involve money. There are many things that contribute to making a person feel happy and successful. One can feel successful without a lot of money at all. For example, feeling loved is something that makes everyone happy. Many believe that without love life is not thoroughly complete, thus never truly achieving success. Ones line of work can also affect how happy he is. Some feel that it is more important to enjoy work and get less money than it is to hate work and get paid more. Another factor in achieving psychological success is ones ability to enjoy what life gives him. There are many qualities of life that are overlooked. Everyone is dealt family and it is important to value that.
Bowman, James. "The Pursuit of Happiness." The American Spectator. N.p., Sept. 2010. Web. 19 Apr. 2014.
Money is probably one of the most important things in this world. Without it, life would be very hard. With it, you become economically stable making life would be easier in some ways. But the real question is, can money actually make someone physically and emotionally happy? There are many sides to this debate; some who say yes and others who say no. Though most people agree with the statement, “Money doesn’t buy happiness,” there is still a large amount of people who disagree with it. They believe that money does indeed buy happiness and that it’s the most important thing in the world. There is no right or wrong answer to this question, it’s just a matter of what you believe in and your values.
Gertner, Jon. The Futile Pursuit of Happiness. New York: The New York Times, 2003. n.d. Web. 27 Nov 2009.
When none of us has ever come across such words and formulas, none of the great personalities has ever mentioned it, then who the hell has instilled it in our minds that money brings happiness. But among this debate one question still raises its head - What is happiness? Happiness is not actually leading a luxurious life but the luxury of living a life. Happiness is not actually about expanding your business, but it lies in expanding the horizons of life. Happiness is not having a meal in the most famous restaurant but to have it with your most beloved family. It does not lie in attending honorable parties but to attend a party with honor.
It seems only natural that happiness should flow from having more money. Even if they don’t admit it, people still behave as though it were true. More money means you can have what you want and do what you want. The house you dream of? It’s yours. The new car you desire? Here are the keys. The freedom to enjoy your favourite pastimes? Here’s your racket, the court is down there, just past the pool.
I never really thought the expression, “money can’t buy happiness”, was true. As an infant, just by observing the people around me, I observed when they would obtain money and a huge grin would spread across their face, the corners of their smile spreading from ear to ear. Whenever I would see that grin and a person’s face light up at the sight of a crisp, green bill it would make me believe that I had proved the famous expression wrong. Now that I’ve grown up and matured, my idea of that expression has changed. As of now, I am able to reflect on life more and look deeper into things and particularly into people more than I was able to do years ago. My ideas about this expression changed the most though because of the money situation my family had stumbled upon because of the failing economy. I remember being younger when the economy was doing well and waking up to twenty gifts for each of my three sisters and I. We used to believe that all of those presents, brought in because of money of course, were the best part of waking up on Christmas. Of course all of those toys and material items would make a child happy; however looking back it would only make them happy if it was given to them by somebody who bought it for them with love.
Happiness can come in different forms for each person. Some people dream of achieving great wealth to buy everything they ever wanted. Others may find simple tasks such as, reading a book, to make them happy. There are people who find happiness by making others happy, whether it’d be, feeding the homeless, or giving random compliments to strangers. I think that most people would agree that the purpose of life is happiness. There are several things that bring happiness to my world, which include, family, health, and laughter, among other things. Accomplishments can also bring happiness to people, which is what many people strive for during their lives. It can be a promotion, diploma, house, etc. It is usually something that is challenging,