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Kenia Gonzalez

Professor Ditch

English 115

1 October 2018

Happiness Copy of the one emailed

Happiness is defined in psychology, as a mental or emotional state of well-being which

can be defined by, among others, positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to

intense joy, according to the article, “A healthy pursuit.” Although happiness is defined as such,

happiness can be interpreted in many different ways by many different people. Four different

articles one by Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler, David Brooks, Graham Hill, and Sonja

Lyubomirsky each developed their own theories or experiences with happiness. In His Holiness,

the Dalai Lama and Cutler explore training the human outlook that alters perception. People tend

to return to same stage of happiness after their initial stage of happiness. They are focusing more

on the internal space of happiness and believe the way to transform this is to seek mental

happiness rather than relying on wealth as a source for your happiness. David Brooks presents a

view that ‘people desire happiness, yet they feel shaped by suffering.’ He focuses on both

internal and external spaces of happiness. He suggests that we can transform this space by

holiness. Physical or social suffering can give an outsider’s point of view. Suffering makes some

people think more deeply about the human condition. Graham Hill argues that less really might

be more. That living a non-materialistic life will bring more happiness. Hill focuses on the
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external space of happiness and suggest that we can transform this space by not consuming so

many materialistic items. Be conformed with less which in reality to him is really more. Sonja

Lyubomirsky argues that happiness can be found in your actions. Lyumbomirsky focuses more

on the internal space of happiness and suggest that we can transform this by our actions. All in

all, happiness is viewed in many different forms by every individual.

Happiness is being content with what you have in your life. There are two different types

of contentment. Which relates to the different views of happiness and what might be the

happiness of one might not be to someone else. The first is material happiness, the second one is

a natural simpler happiness. “Unlike many other religions that are centered on a supreme being,

Buddhism is centered on four basic truths: Life is not perfect; people are left unsatisfied by

trying to make life perfect; people can realize there is a better way to achieve fulfillment; and by

living one's life through wisdom, ethical conduct and mental discipline, people will reach

enlightenment Dalai Lamas are believed to be the reincarnation of an important Buddhist deity

and the personification of compassion.” Being the Dalai Lama you are believed to be the

physical personification of compassion so your sole purpose is to help those who are suffering

and are in need of help. Only then will you feel real and true happiness. But that is not the case

for most people living in the present and being a productive member of society. Many people

work hard and like to show what their hard work has gotten them. “A pay raise, a new car, or

recognition from our peers may lift our mood for a while, but we soon return to our customary

level of happiness.” (22) We experience short term happiness when it's based on material

happiness. What happens when the new car is no longer new, the pay raise can always get better

or is making you work way more hours than you expected, or when we aren’t praised for our
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good work in the future? We no longer feel as happy as we did that very first time. Many people

are only temporarily satisfied/ content until the better things come up next. Their happiness is

only temporary, “Researchers surveying Illinois state lottery winners and British pool winners,

for instance, found that the initial high eventually wore off and the winners returned to their

usual range of moment –to-moment happiness.” (22) After gaining this happiness they were

seeking it was only temporary. This idea of winning a vast amount of money wasn’t enough to

keep them happy for the long run. This relates to the main argument that happiness is a state of

mind that cannot be permanent based on external factors. In order to transform this, one can’t

rely on external factors.

We all want happiness of any kind, but often it’s the difficulties that really shape us and

help us grow. David Brooks believes that it is the harder times that really molds the person just

like in the case of Franklin Roosevelt. “Think of the way Franklin Roosevelt came back deeper

and more empathetic after being struck with polio. Often, physical or social suffering can give

people an outsider’s perspective, an attuned awareness of what other outsiders are enduring.”

(284) Sometimes trying to picture or put yourself in someone else’s shoes is not enough to get

someone to turn their life around. People actually have to experience something that will

physically and emotionally change their lifestyle for good. A once healthy, wealthy man in

power suffered from a disease that physically made him take a step down to care for his well-

being and adjust to his new way of being. You are no longer the same person you were before

the incident and are now put in new situations that you have to deal with and learn to deal with in

all new types of ways. But the one thing that can set you aside is the way of being before the

incident. Roosevelt was known to have a bright personality to seem to contribute to his success
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in living life with polio. He suffered but came back stronger, “Recovering from suffering is not

like recovering from a disease. Many people don’t come out healed; they come out different.”

(286) Suffering can really alter your way of life. After going through such trauma, one will not

come back the same. His suffering in the end formed a better person he came back deeper into

what he believed in. Often people who suffer physical or socially can become more aware.

Suffering sends you on a different course. Suffering drags you deeper into yourself and then

suffering gives people more accurate sense of what their limitations are. Like some of the things

they can and cannot control. Compared to Lincoln whom suffered through the pain of conducting

a civil war, but he came out of that with his second inaugural. He came to a realization that there

was deep agony not just through him but through the nation as a whole. He responded to this

pain in a very positive way.

Sonja Lyubomirsky, view articulates that one’s mental state plays a huge role in the

happiness of people, “Happiness, more than anything, is a state of mind, a way of perceiving and

approaching ourselves and he world in which we reside.” (185) Similar to what The Dalai Lama

and Cutler believe, which is that happiness is based on your own mindset. Happiness is

something that is within you not something you can seek. Two people can be experiencing the

same thing; however, they can handle the situation different, “It’s especially frustrating and

perplexing to be around such individuals when they’re in the same difficult or troubling situation

as we are but seem happy in spite of it.” (179) One’s mindset can really determine how one will

approach a certain situation, some can see it as a challenge and some will let it put them down.

It’s all within you to decide whether you will have a positive mindset and keep this state of

happiness regardless of certain crisis you face.

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Less really might be more. The more options one has the more stress that can be put on

the person. We have unlimited choices and we tend to feel like we chose the right one. Many

times, multiple choices can also make you want to try something new just to end in failure and

complete disappointment so now time and money has been wasted. “There isn’t any indication

that any of these things make anyone any happier; in fact, it seems the reverse may be true.”

(308) Graham Hill argues that less is more and that materialistic items don’t bring you happiness.

People always want more and end up taking on more than they can handle. They want the bigger

houses, nicer cars and clothes and jewelry but everything come with its price. Whether it’s an

actual currency price or the price of responsibility that comes with owning many things. He

relates his own personal experiences to this, “It took 15 years, a great love and a lot of travel to

get rid of all the inessential things I had collected and live a bigger, better, richer life with less.”

(308) It took him so many years to finally come to the realization that wealth and material items

don’t bring happiness, but can rather do the opposite. Having everything he ever hoped for

shaped him and helped him better understand where happiness really comes from.

All in all, happiness can be interpreted in many different ways by many different people.

Just like the four different articles one by Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler, David Brooks,

Graham Hill, and Sonja Lyubomirsky each developed their own theories or experiences with

happiness. Happiness is very much your choice, just like one has a choice on certain things that

make them happy and the way they view happiness.

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Works Cited Page

Brooks, David. What Suffering Does. The New York Times, 2014.

“Dalai Lama.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 28 Apr. 2017,

www.biography.com/people/dalai-lama-9264833.

Hill, Graham. Living with Less. A Lot Less. The New York Times, 2013.

Lama, Dalai, and Howard Cutler. The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living. Riverhead

Books, 1998.

Lyubomirsky, Sonja. The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You

Want. Sonja Lyubomirsky, 2007.