Happiness Case

Happiness

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 these items still live a happy life? Epicurus (an ancient Greek philosopher as well as the founder of the school of philosophy called Epicureanism) 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. 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 perspectives. 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 wellbeing 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 makes you happy is determined by you, and only you.

In our contemporary American life we have the desire for things that we do not really need to make us happy. Our commercial world intends to sell us substitutes for the things we truly need in order to be happy. We replace our real needs with things like clothing, furniture, cars, nice houses, and many other unessential items. What makes us happy is so varied. To be happy is a fleeting thing, which we enjoy so much and often want it back as soon as possible .The things that make one person happy in his/her life can seem boring to others. Beaven (95) in his book "No Impact Man" says "America has a free market and its indicators tell us that Americans have a love for their cars. Cars makes Americans happy, as in any love affair does, right?'' Also, Seligman (2002) in his book "Authentic Happiness" says "The pursuit of happiness is enshrined in the declaration of independence as the right of every American, as well as on the self-improvement shelves of every American bookstore. Yet the scientific evidence makes it seem unlikely that you can change your level of happiness in any sustainable way." This is not true for other cultures for some people barely have cars but they are still happy. Furthermore, happiness is not only the right of every American but that of every Single person on earth.

Positive thinking (being happy) can be related to whether a person believes they have control over their own actions or if they think they are being controlled by an outside force. Beaven, No Impact Man, says; "The happiest people did not live their lives on some particular loop. Rather these folks had raised their baseline mode in ways that did not require repeated doses of new stuff. The people most satisfied with life it turned out, had strong social connections, found meaning in their work, got to exercise what they considered their highest talent and had a sense of some higher purpose." Work can also provide people with a sense of happiness, as it not only provides us with an income but also gives people a meaning to life making them feel productive and puts structure into their day. Peter Warr (2007) compares work to taking vitamins as he believes a certain level is essential for health and wellbeing.

Ellen Langer and Jody Rodin (1976) illustrated how a feeling of control over some quite small aspects of living can have a large impact on the happiness, alertness and even physical health of elderly residents in a nursing home. One group got to choose their rooms, mealtimes, food and they were given a plant to care for; whereas the other group was just constantly told what to do. The first group became more alert and active, also having a higher mortality rate. People can focus their thoughts to make themselves happier by looking at their strengths, things that have gone well and by having realistic expectations in life. If a person believes in themselves then they will