Happiness, a short word but with great importance and meaning. When we look around and ask other people what their goal in life is, the most common answer, based on many surveys, is to be happy. Why are there so many unhappy people? Is happiness difficult to find and to achieve to its fullest level? Nowadays, our society is so consumed in the material aspects of life: work, social media, and appearance that we forget to take a break from our busy lives to appreciate what is around that can make us happy. For example, spending time with the people we love. Happiness should be shared within our families and throughout the community. With little details we can make someone else happy and at the same time, we'll be making ourselves happy as well.
Sometimes we ask ourselves what would make us happy? What is more important to us? Not everyone has the same opinion about these questions, there are those who believe that it is to be wealthy and have a high social position. On the other hand, there are people that live in extreme poverty and they are the happiest human beings on earth. That is because
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they take into account all of what they have, they look at their lives different and everyday is an opportunity to live. However, we are not able to find happiness because we don't look at life from another perspective, the other angle of the picture. There are many reasons to be happy, to celebrate and be grateful. It is not just about the goods but also about the feelings and how we interact with each other. Our family members, friends, and neighbors play an important role in our daily felicity. Wouldn’t it be nice to take at least one or two days of the week to sit around a table and talk to our family members, without the necessity to use any technological device? Getting together as a family, making jokes, and bringing good memories to the conversation is the perfect method to feel happy. Also, there are memorable traditions in each family that give every member the opportunity to participate. If we do these activities more often, we would be able to realize the importance of our family and how happy we are when we spend time together. Such little details, as those that I mentioned before, will, in effect, spread the joy in our household. On the other hand we have our neighbors, which are the unofficial family that live closest to us. Although most of the time we don't get along with them for many different reasons, it's good to have someone to say "Good Morning" to, and get that warm greeting back. This little detail will definitely make someone happy and change his or her day as well as ours. But how can we become more close and family like in our communities? It is true that not everyone, where we live, will have the time or the desire to get along with others. However, with the support of all the members of our community we can change that opinion. As a community, we have the responsibility to create a better environment to live. Ideas such as how to clean and maintain our neighborhood should be heard and take it into consideration in order to change improve our lives. Also we should help and support those who are in need, carry bags for the elderly, creating a safe playground for children, or simply greeting each other. Those are the little details that bring us together as a community, as a family. In retrospect, all of us are looking for happiness in the most difficult places.
We are looking into being rich, or having more things than others, we are taking more time for material things and technology than for ourselves and families. Our society is so consume in the impossible that forgets about the little, but very important details that will make us happy. Our families, our neighbors, the wellness of our community and surroundings. If all of us give a little, and work to improve the way we live, caring more for others and ourselves, having a well-balanced life, we can make our community a much better environment, and we will be able to find happiness. As the American singer-song writer and musician, Ryan Cabrera said, “Sometimes the most happy people in life are the ones with nothing. We can't lose sight of the little things in life that should make us the
happiest”.
The article “High Incomes Don’t Bring You Happiness” verbatimly states, “Beyond $75,000, money is important for life evaluation, but does nothing for happiness, enjoyment, sadness, or stress” (Kenney 4). Those who spend prodigal amounts of money disdain plebeians because they claim that money is the foundation to living a great life. However, money only helps one meet certain needs and does not contribute in instigating true happiness within oneself. Happiness comes naturally by one’s actions and accomplishments. Although, money helps buy the commodities which satisfy one’s life, it is not the direct source for obtaining glee within a
People who are viewed as happy in our culture today are also seen as being rich, having a loving family, and a great occupation. Our society is attracted to material things, rather than spiritual ones. Can a person who does not have many possessions and an elevated social position still live a happy life? Epicurus believed that each one of us could achieve true happiness, and our only problem is that we stubbornly search for it in all the wrong places. Epicurus states that we only need three things to be happy besides the essentials needed for survival: friends, freedom, and an analyzed life. I will be comparing contemporary American notions of happiness to the Epicurean view.
He further shows us that the people of today are richer than their grandparents but are not happier in their lives (from National Statistics of social pathology). Even with these facts, people in the United States still believe if they had more money all of their problems would be solved, but once they reach that next income bracket they are not satisfied and try to reach the next one. Myers et al tells us, "even if being rich and famous is rewarding, no one ever claimed material success alone makes us happy. Other conditions like - family- friends- free time - have been shown to increase happiness" (Csikszentmihaly 145). therefore we must find balance in our own lives, and not just focus on making money. Instead we need friends, family and even free time, as aforementioned doing an activity you enjoy such as listening to music or
Wealth and happiness are two things society sees as coinciding: to be happy, money is a necessity, and to make money, happiness is essential. This assumption about wealth is close to correct, however overlooking the impairment wealth brings to a person: ignorance. Ignorance is a trait found in all sorts of people, but occurs the most often in those with wealth. When one’s wealth is so grand paying a house full of people to like you is reasonable, ignorance is bound to flourish. Without needing to be a good friend or a good person to make people joyful, the wealthy often forget to introspect, and instead inspect their houses to make sure the guests in them are pleased. The guest’s pleasure does not come from knowing the
Most people think that wealth and success equate happiness, but the wealthy and successful do not know what they should be happy for. Tomoyuki Iwashita was a middle-class man in Japan and wrote: “Why I Quit the Company” to explain why he was insatiable with the job he had. Iwashita knew he had a desirable job that provided him with many luxuries on top of all the necessities; however, he did not appreciate the many benefits of working at such a prestigious company. On the other hand, those who are stricken with poverty are much more appreciative of everything they have. Jo Goodwin Parker wrote “What is Poverty?” and she explained the reality of poverty to her readers and wanted those who were wealthier than her to understand. The deprivations that accompany poverty seem to be unimaginable, but those in poverty live the unimaginable life every day. Poor people do not have much to be thankful for, but they still appreciate the little things even if they are angered by their disadvantages. People of a privileged lifestyle do not appreciate the necessities as much as those below the poverty line because
Happiness is something most humans value above everything else. The various things in life that make us happy, such as family, friends, and cool cars, to name a few, are the very things we hold dearest to us and place the most value on. People fill their lives with things that please them to ease the gloom that comes as a result of the seemingly never-ending trials and tribulations of life. We gladly accept any amount of pleasure we can extract from the monotony of our daily lives, and we will do almost anything to achieve happiness.
It is easier for wealthy people to pay for their needs, such as health care and dental care. If any abrupt situation approaches dealing with their health, a wealthy person will be financially stable to pay and fix it. According to an article, "Happiness Around The World: Is There More To It Than Money?" by Bozionelos, Nikos, and Ioannis Nikolaou, “One would expect that money is more important when it helps meet basic needs, and this should be especially true in poorer nations. However, as already seen, the relationship between income and general life satisfaction was mainly explained by whether material aspirations (such as buying luxury goods) could be fulfilled.” In other words, one’s concept of happiness can vary from nation to nation. For example, people living in poor nations and having a low income tend to be satisfied by having just enough to meet their necessities. While, on the other hand, people with higher income tend to be satisfied if they have enough to buy luxury goods. Being wealthy does not lead one to happiness; it can help some people to obtain happiness, but it can also lead others to have unwanted experiences. Having a minimum amount of money is necessary to be happy. Having the minimum amount of money to pay bills, have medical assistance, buy groceries, and clothing is considered as the basics needed for one to be happy. Money is a tool that can help a person obtain objects that can help him or her to have a comfortable life. However, money should not become the reason why a person is happy. Happiness comes within a person as a human being and money will never replace a friend, nor a loved
“The real measure of your wealth is how much you’d be worth if you lost all your money.” (unknown). All families are not perfect, they all have problems that they struggle with daily, they all go through tough times that cause unhappiness, but the thought that these factors have no affect on rich people is completely untrue. In Judith Guest’s Ordinary People and Jo Goodwin Parker’s “What is Poverty” both address how two families relationships, happiness and daily struggles are affected by the amount of money they have, which shows that the more money a person has does not necessarily make that person happier.
Happiness is a feeling that humans naturally desire. Without it, one feels incomplete. In this generation, happiness has taken on a definition by how we are presented to one another. It is measured by how much money we have, how famous we are, or the things we possess. When in reality, none of these things guarantee a happy life. Happiness is something that cannot be bought with money, but rather, it must be found, earned, sought after. Each and every one of us has our own list of things that we consider to make us happy. However, happiness shines brightest through the relationships we create, and the goals we make for ourselves to strive after. Along with these two essential sources, we then can mix and match those things in life that we enjoy to create our own unique formula for happiness.
..., a person who earns $25,000 is happier than a person who makes $125,000 and an employee who makes $500,000 is only slightly happier than someone who makes $55,000. Lastly, there are more important things in life that and make you happy, for example, friends. They don’t come with a price tag, and if they do, you definitely need new friends. Money won’t make you happy since good times can’t be bought. You don’t need a fancy vacation to have a good time; it’s just a matter of who you spend it with. Over the years, humans have blown the value of money way out of proportion. People make it seem like if you’re not filthy rich, then you won’t live a good life but it’s not true. You can lack money and yet still live a perfect, happy life.
But in 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 having it with your most beloved family. It does not lie in attending honorable parties, but to attend a party with honor.
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.
Acquiring things like houses and cars only has a transient effect on happiness. People’s desires for material possessions crank up at the same, or greater rate, than their salaries. Again, this means that despite considerably more luxurious possessions, people end up no happier. There’s even evidence that materialism makes us less happy. People don’t shift to enjoyable activities when they are rich.... ...
I believe that happiness is the key to living a good and prosperous life. Through all of the sadness and hate in the world, happiness gives me hope. It gives not only me, but others hope and joy. Happiness gives us something to hold onto, therefore we cherish it as much as we can.