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Pedrozal

Benigno Pedroza
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Professor Ditch ~\

English 115 ,, r!' l ~

10 October 2018 ~
The Keys to Happiness

achieving happiness has many routes, and many authors have come up with their

explain what they think to be the best method of achieving happiness is. They have

e definition of what they believe true happiness to be. Each author has their own

individual focus, but they all seem to revolve around an internal or external space. The authors

that believe happiness to be internal are Hii Holiness the Dalai Lama with Howard Cutler,
David Brooks and Sonja Lyubomirsky. Graham Hill is the only author to connect happiness to an
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Many of the things people can experience have a huge impac£ (;n6 heir happiness, whether (

the effect is positive or negative depends on that individual's mentality. In the article, "The

source of Happiness," Hiss Holiness the Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler claim that true
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·1lppiness can be determined by one's state of mind: and t at true happiness can be achieved by

anyone; even those who have had difficult experiences. Cutler supports his claim by comparing

two of his friends. One that had a lot of money and was living a luxurious life but still ended up

unhappy after some time; and another friend who had been diagnosed with HIV. His first friend

that had money said, "It's strange; after I got over all the excitement of making all that money,

things kinda returned to normal. .. but overall I don't think I'm much happier than I was before"

(pg.21 ). This demonstrates that although a person has the things they want, they won't be happy
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for long if their mentality is not positive or content with the things they have. Cutler's friend thj ,' ) ~I .:.'i~
was diagnose with HIV explains that he felt devastated when he was first diag~osed, but after I \ t r ,:~\

some time he was able to accept that he now had the virus. He goes on to say, I Just seem to \) 1., i'\
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appreciate everyday things more, and I'm grateful that so far I haven't developed any severe ' ..

AIDS symptoms and I can really enjoy the things I have done" (pg.
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having a positive mentality can make a bad experience or terrible moment in life become \1 \

bearable, and eventually allow us to be happy.

The thought of suffering is widely associated with negative experiences that can hurt a
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person, but suffering can also lead to good with the right mentality. David Brooks in the article, \,

"What Suffering Does," suggests that suffering and happiness are closely connected because
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"people shoot for happiness but feel formed through suffering" (pg.284). For example, when
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someone's family member dies due to a type of health condition they might respond with a

positive mentality. They might create organizations to raise awareness or support the

organizations that have already been established. As mentioned by Brooks, "Often, physical or

social suffering can give people an outsider's perspective, an attuned awareness of what other

outsiders are enduring" (pg.284) . When people suffer, their way of thinking changes, and they

begin to do good things to try and counterbalance the negativity brought by suffering. He also

mentions that, "recovering from suffering is not like recovering from a disease. Many people

don't come out healed; they come out different" (pg.287). This idea explains how suffering c

lead people to change, most likely for the better, because t ey can now have empath r others

who suffer the same fate . Ylyrvi} /\, 4'.. {1t · • ~ '> ~ v I v/.e V0 I
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Being happy all the time or at least when you want to be is not a cotnnt@n practice, thatj-_,;• /(ck__
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might be because some might believe that happiness can only come when certain events pass. ~
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Sonja Lyubomirsky in the article, "How Happy Are You and Why?" suggests that happiness

comes from two internal spaces, the state of mind in which you perceive and approach happiness

in the world you live in and your genetic predisposed level of happiness. Lyubomirsky supports J
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her claim by listing what she thinks are common myths of happiness believed among people. She
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explains that one myth many people believe is, that happiness can only be achieved until a {<J., j,
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certain event comes to pass such as marrying your true love, having your dream job, and ownin 1: \

a nice home. She argues that, "If you're not happy today, then you won't be happy tomorrow

unless you take things into your own hands and take action" (pg.185). Lyubomirsky is implying

that when and how much happiness you experience is up to you. In her article she also talks of

our genetic basis for happiness and a gene called 5-HTTLPR that has two forms, a long and a

short. Firstly, she says, "It appears that each ofus is born with a happiness set point, a

characteristic potential for happiness throughout our lives" (pg.190). Every individual is born

with a set point for their potential of happiness throughout life but that doesn't mean that their

level of happiness can't be changed. According to her, "The short allele is undesirable to have,

because if rids the brain of a substance needed to fend off depressive symptoms" (pg.192). This

means that if you're born with this gene your predisposed to have a harder time maintaining a

certain level of happiness because you will be prone to depression. Even though you might have

a genetically low set point for happiness or if you happen to have the 5-HTTLPR gene, if you

/ m~e it your goal to be happy then it can be achieved if the correct actions are taken into place.

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don't need, but only want, will not supply a stable source of happiness. Hill then goes on to
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support his claim by giving insight on his own experience, "Soon I was numb to it all .... It didn't

take long before I started to wonder why my theoretically upgraded life didn't feel any better and ) \
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why I felt more anxious than before. My life was unnecessarily complicated" (pg.309). His new d'
upgraded life gave him little to no happiness after some time, compared to when he first had new / ~J'
things. At first all the new things he had brought him happiness, but only for a short amount of / ]

time. Once he became accustomed to his new life, the initial value of his new belongings was no ~!~ / f
longer the same which led to his happiness to fade away. Hill then says, "Intuitively, we know V .,
that the best stuff in life isn't stuff at all, and that relationships, experiences and meaningful work

are the staples of a happy life" (pg.311 ). Once he got rid of all the things he no longer needed or

wanted he was free to spend his time on creating new relationships and having new experiences.

This is what Hill considers to be an internal and stable source of happiness for anyone. / (2

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Every one of the authors mentioned above has their own method to achieve wha~

believe to be true happiness, some of which, can be interpreted as internal or externaVAithough t .( )

not every author has the exact same method to achieving happiness they all seem to relate back/ ) ( X,J' I
to the idea that the mentality and perspective an individual has in their lives has a big impact on /
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how much happiness that person will actually experience in their lives. The authors mentioned : \ l,

mostly above talk about how a person needs a positive mentality or they say that in order to

achieve happiness you need to pursue it with all your effort. If a person doesn't have a positive

outlook in life it will be very difficult for them to ever achieve any level of happiness. Other thl

just having a positive mentality, a person must put all their effort forward when looking for

happiness, because eventually there will be obstacles that impede you from achieving happiness

and if you don't put enough effort into it you most likely won't achieve true happiness. Everyone

should be able to feel happy and by following the right steps anyone can be happy.
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PedrozaS

Works Cited I
Brooks, David. "What Suffering Does. "Pursuing Happiness: A Bedford Spotlight Reader,

created by Matthew Parfitt & Dawn Skorczewski, Bedford/St. Martin's, a Macmillan

Education Imprint, 2016. pp. 284-287.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Cutler, Howard. "The Sources of Happiness." Pursuing

Happiness: A Bedford Spotlight Reader, created by Matthew Parfitt & Dawn Skorczewski,

Bedford/St. Martin's, a Macmillan Education Imprint, 2016. pp. 21-32

Hill, Graham. "Living with Less. A lot Less." Pursuing Happiness: A Bedford Spotlight Reader,

created by Matthew Parfitt & Dawn Skorczewski, Bedford/St. Martin's, a Macmillan

Education Imprint, 2016. pp. 308-312

Lyubomirsky, Sonja. "How Happy Are You and Why?" Pursuing Happiness: A Bedford Spotlight

Reader, created by Matthew Parfitt & Dawn Skorczewski, Bedford/St. Martin's, a Macmillan

Education Imprint, 2016. pp. 179-196

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