Kyle Hembree

Mrs. Thomas
UWRT 1102-021
October 1, 2015
Reflection
Reflecting upon the assignment, after my first peer-review I feel confident in my topic and the
direction that I wish to take the paper. However, I am still apprehensive about the final result
being repetitive or perhaps too scatter brained. I received very good feedback on my analogy of
the reader walking on a path that leads to the Kingdom of Happiness, so I was considering
working it into my final paper. I would also like to use additional, similar analogies throughout
my paper, so that I can use some of my creativity to draw the reader in.

Dependency in Relation to Happiness

Throughout my life I have noticed that society prioritizes love over most other
contributions towards happiness. This observation can be supported by simply analyzing
television, novels, art, fairytales, and multiple other forms of media. Exposure to this has
influenced my expectations of happiness and led me to assume that romance plays a key role in
pursuing happiness. It wasnt until recent years that I began to speculate the importance that a
romantic relationship has on ones well-being. After hours of contemplation, there was one
question that peaked my interest. Can an individual achieve happiness without dependency?
Imagine walking down a path. You are not quite sure where you are, but you know you
want to end up in the Kingdom of Happiness. Once you have chosen a direction to begin walking
in, you soon arrive at a fork in the road. There are three direction to choose from. As you stand
there trying to decide which path to take, three travelers begin to approach you, one from each

direction. When they finally reach you, they all stop to introduce themselves. Their names are
Wealth, Romance and Religion. You ask them for directions to happiness, and each claims to
have just left that kingdom.
After contemplating how this could be possible, you soon come to the conclusion that
each path must lead to happiness, but which should you choose? You ask them to describe their
journey so that you can decide which path is best, and they each comply with your request.
Wealth describes his path as very long, dark, and crowded with many cruel pick pockets. He
claims that it is possible to get to happiness, however many travelers end up getting lost and
never actually arrive safely at the kingdom. The next person, Religion, describes his path as
challenging for some and states that there is no way to determine how fast you will arrive,
because everyones pace differs. He claims that it is very well lit and has many guides that will
provide assistance if you get lost. However, there is something you must possess in order to
travel down this path. Faith.
Finally, Romance tells of the journey on his path. He depicts the path as being very short
and quick. Despite how short the journey is, there is a catch. The path is very twisted and has
many ups and downs, causing it to be challenging to navigate. He tells you that if you wish to
take this path you must first find someone to travel alongside you for assistance. He warns you
that if you follow the path alone, or lose your companion along the way, you find yourself lost in
a dangerous forest.
After hearing about each of the paths, you decide to rule out Wealths. Religions sounded
nice, but he could not tell you everything you wanted to know so you begin to doubt the
accuracy of his depiction. You want to travel down the same path as Romance, but there is no
one to share the journey with. While you are standing there, conflicted on which path to choose,

you suddenly have an idea. What if you stray from the path and try to find the kingdom of
happiness on your own? Is it even possible? This is what I hope to learn through this inquiry.
Around the world, people everywhere all seek the same thing, happiness. Happiness is a
universal goal of mankind, but ways of achieving it have always been controversial. This is
because happiness means something differently to everyone. There are countless ways to achieve
happiness, but in this inquiry I would like to focus on some of the most common. I would like to
take a psychological approach in researching happiness and whether it is possible for people to
discover it without assistance. There are countless studies that have been done on happiness, so I
am positive that it is a researchable topic. Also, the question that I have presented is very relevant
to both my classmates and I, because we are at that fork in the road, where we decide which
direction in life we would like to travel.
Due to an unfortunate history with depression, I have already done some research on
happiness. However, most of the sources that I have used thus far have focused on self-help
rather than psychological studies. I know that love plays a large role in happiness. When I refer
to love, I do not mean romantic love, though it also plays a significant role. The love Im
referring to is loving yourself, others, God and possessions. I hope to find that happiness is more
easily achieved than many people believe.
In conclusion, the inquiry that I wish to research is Can an individual achieve happiness
without dependency? I feel that this question is very researchable and will provide useful
knowledge for both my classmates and me. My intentions are to discuss common factors in
reported happiness and take a psychological approach to happiness. I plan to focus on the
different types of love and the role they play in attaining happiness, along with how individuals
are dependent upon love, religion and possessions in order to be happy.