Hawthorn !

Grace Hawthorn

Professor Ditch

English 115

1 October 2018

The Road To Optimism

For some, happiness is something that is very hard to come by whether it be for internal

or external reasons, while others find it with ease no matter what the circumstances are. There

are many aspects of happiness that I was never aware of until I read “The Sources of Happiness”

by His Holiness The Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler, “What Suffering Does” by David Brooks,

“How Happy Are You and Why?” by Sonja Lyubomirsky, and “Living with Less. A Lot Less” by

Graham Hill. Each author has an alternate perspective on happiness, although has similarities in

their overall messages. I have constantly assumed that my happiness level is because of where I

am in life and my circumstances. After my readings I have learned that is not all true and that

happiness is much more then your environment.

In the Dalai Lama’s and Cutler’s article, they assert that happiness can come from both

ones inner self, as well as the ability to choose to make the right decision in life that will bring

happiness. They believe happiness is external as well as internal and we can transform this space

by asking ourselves questions regarding our happiness. However in the article “What Suffering

Does” by David Brooks, he argues that suffering changes people in a positive way and that

happiness is only found internally which can be altered by finding peace. Sonja Lyubomirsky

believes that happiness is found internally in what you do in life to become happy by

acknowledging where that happiness comes from. In contrast, Graham Hill, the author of “Living
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with Less. A Lot Less” takes on a more external view, meaning happiness is something that

comes from not what you have but from what you experience.

The authors The Dalai Lama and Cutler explain in their article that there is both internal

and external ways to be happy. The authors use many examples explaining their reasoning such

as Christopher Reeve, who was an actor that was paralyzed from the neck down. Although rather

then being unhappy with his life, he was still able to find happiness within. Reeve points out “‘I

realized that the only way to go through life is to look at your assets, to see what you can still do;

in my case, fortunately […] I still have a mind I can use.’” (The Dalai Lama and Cutler 28). We

can not let one bad thing ruin the rest of ours lives, we must continue to find happiness in all that

we can just as Reeve did. Just because one bad thing happens in your life, it does not limit you

from continuing to do some form of the thing you love. The Dalai Lama and Cutler explain that

before making decisions about ours lives we must ask ourselves: will it bring me happiness?

Because if the answer is anything but yes, then we will know how to improve our lives. With this

question in mind we can start to alter our lives by making the correct choices to have wonderful,

happy lives. This takes on a more external view because the authors are claiming that if you

make the decision to take a job in a different state for example, it may not bring you long-lasting

happiness which is why this question is so important.

Brooks and Lyubomirsky, the authors of two different articles have the same view and

suggest that happiness comes from what you were born with, as well as what you do internally to

become happy. In the article “What Suffering Does” by David Brooks, he discusses the process

of suffering as well as how it affects an individual afterwards. The author suggests that we must

find something that we can cherish out of the bad experiences. Brooks describes the later effects
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of suffering: “Recovering from suffering is not life recovering from a disease. Many people don’t

come out healed; they come out different.” (Brooks 286). Many people suffer throughout some

point of their life, however it is important that when we come out of the deepest parts, we must

turn it into something pure.

According to research done by Sonya Lyubomirsky, who is a professor of psychology in

UC Riverside, there are three things that can determine happiness: intentional activity,

circumstances, as well as ones set point. A set point for happiness describes our overall level of

happiness, and is based on genetics. Our happiness level is largely genetically determined,

Lyubomirsky states that the set point determines 50% of our happiness. Although 40% of our

happiness is still up to you, the author explains “happiness can be found in how you behave,

what you think, and what goals you set every day of your life.” (Lyubomirsky 196). Therefore

she suggests that happiness is much more internal rather then external, and just because an

individuals set point for happiness is low does not mean we cannot be happy, we still have the

ability to transform our lives. Lyubomirsky also gives an example of the extent of happiness born

within by describing the happiness level of identical twins that were raised apart. When the twins

reunited in their middle age, they had striking similarities one of them being their happiness

level. When one twin was happy through part of their life the other was happy as well, and the

same results were produced when they had lows in life too, proving the genetics of happiness.

Graham Hill, the author of “Living with Less. A Lot Less”, argues that one will find

happiness through experiences, not through materials. Throughout the article Hill describes his

life which was lavish and full of materialistic objects. The author explains that because of his

multitude of processions as well as property, he became overwhelmed resulting in unhappiness.

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Hill clarifies that “Though American consumer activity has increase substantially since the

1950s, happiness levels have flatlined.” (Hill 311). This proves that just because someone may

be rich and have all the latest gadgets, as Hill once had, does not mean that they will be

consistently happy. When Hill finally let all of his things go, including his large houses, and

started experiencing the world he became increasingly happy. The author takes on a more

external view by explaining that in order to find true happiness we must not invest ourselves in

fancy houses, cars, and gadgets. Rather relationships as well as meaningful experiences and

work, forming a happy life (Hill 311). Letting go of what we think will make us content, and

embracing what we know will make us happy, will result in a true joyful life. Hill questions why

he should take up more resources then he needs when he can genuinely enjoy life with less,

which is a question we must all ask ourselves to transform our space in a positive way.

Many people all have different ideas on what happiness is and what they can do to

become more joyful in life. These five authors of four articles with contrasting views on

happiness definitely shed some light on where happiness is found and how this space may be

transformed. Whether it be internally as Brooks and Lyubomirsky explained, or externally as Hill

described, or even both as The Dalai Lama and Cutler show, there are ways to find happiness all

around. Abraham Lincoln once stated: “Folks are usually about as happy as they make their

minds up to be.” (Happiness Quotes), which in a way can sum up their arguments. Happiness all

starts with us, although we must be willing and motivated to want to have a joyous life to change

our space in a positive way as all authors guided us to do.

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Works Cited

Brooks, David. “What suffering Does” Pursuing Happiness, edited by Matthew Parfitt and

Dawn Skorczewski, Bedford/ St. Martins, 2016, pp. 284-287.

Cutler, Davis and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. “The Sources of Happiness” Pursuing

Happiness, edited by Matthew Parfitt and Dawn Skorczewski, Bedford/ St. Martins,

2016, pp. 21-32.

Hill, Graham. “Living with Less. A Lot Less” Pursuing Happiness, edited by Matthew Parfitt

and Dawn Skorczewski, Bedford/ St. Martins, 2016, pp. 308-312.

Happiness Quotes (13672 quotes). Goodreads. https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/happiness.

Accessed 27 Apr. 2018.

Lyubomirsky, Sonja. “How Happy Are You and Why?” Pursuing Happiness, edited by Matthew

Parfitt and Dawn Skorczewski, Bedford/ St. Martins, 2016, pp. 179-196.