Misenheimer 1

Will Misenheimer
Deby Jizi
UWRT 1102-028
4 March 2016
Happiness Research Quiz
Throughout the entire study of happiness, I have learned much about what
happiness is and how it is developed. I learned in How Happy Are You and Why?
that each individual attains a certain set point of happiness that is passed down
genetically, but this is only a small fragment on the pie chart of happiness. The
myth that money is the key to happiness was also disproved in Can Money Buy
Happiness?. Money is not a bad thing, but we know that materialism can be toxic
to happiness. At this point in my studies is when I truly realized that happiness is
not a tangible good, but a perspective. It was a wonderful realization that achieving
happiness does not require a long process, but instead may be an immediate
change in mentality. The study of happiness also went into more depth in Aversion
to Happiness, in which I learned that some individuals possess an uncanny
tendency to avoid happiness, usually through an unrecognized fear of change, or
fear of breaking a superstition. Lastly, I also increased my knowledge base through
the TED talk in which Dan Gilbert discusses playing, The Believing Game. The
Believing Game is a mentality of not immediately arguing some fact or statement
that someone makes in delivering a declaration. When I completed double journal
entries after watching, The Believing Game, I found that I was able to understand
and take more out of the arguments of the authors. Following the absorption of
information, I would then be able to make a totally informed decision of whether or

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not I agree with the authors statement. Therefore, after reading all of the assigned
readings and performing double journal entries, I feel that I have a well-formed
opinion and perspective of happiness. Happiness is not a prescriptive product of a
formula. One does not buy this or that to achieve happiness. One adopts a tendency
to be happy through the installation of a positive mentality that involves optimism
and thinking win/win. By thinking win/win, one solves for the best method that gives
all parties a favorable outcome. This is also a notion that I adopted from Sean
Coveys Seven Habits of a Highly Effective People. To anyone who may be
struggling with his or her happiness, I would say to you that all of your problems are
solvable, and if you focus on the good in a bad situation, there is always a way to
manage. This will create in you a sense of happiness, especially during times in
which there seems to be no trouble present.