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Gabriela Gonzalez

Professor Beadle

ESW 113 A

01 August 2019

What Happiness Can Do

The differences, similarities, and arguments between these articles come in different

forms. Suffering, however, will always be in the ​fond ​absence of happiness. Happiness is what

every individual strives to be and is exclusive to everyone. Though happiness is largely

associated with wealth, power, and fame,​ true ​happiness within a person is satisfaction. Sonja

Lyubomirsky is a professor of psychology and has a Ph.D. in psychology and she is also the

author of “How Happy Are You and Why?” Graham Hill is a Canadian journalist the founder

of (treehuggers.com) and the author of “Living with Less. A Lot Less.” David Brooks is a New

York Times journalist who wrote the article “What Suffering Does”. Although each author

looks for happiness within themselves, they all have different thoughts about happiness as they

all believe happiness can be found in different ways. ​The three different ways are

circumstantial, physical, and the state of mind.

The articles “What Suffering Does” by David Brooks and “How Happy Are You and

Why?” by Sonja Lyubomirsky both believe happiness and suffering is a state of mind. The first

thing that suffering does is “drag you deeper into yourself”(Brooks 285). It takes you to the core

of yourself just to find that you aren’t who you believe to be but makes you astonished by what

new things you can accomplish from it and become happy. As Lyubomirsky states “Happiness,
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more than anything, is a state of mind, a way of perceiving and approaching ourselves and the

world in which we reside”(Lyubomirsky 185).​ She truly believes that happiness is a state of

mind and wants the world to recognize it in order to be happy. ​Everyone has their own

independent mind, therefore they can only be satisfied with their own original interpretation of

happiness. As to what Graham Hill thinks when he states, “Intuitively, we know that the best

stuff in life isn’t stuff at all, and that relationship, experiences, and meaningful work are the

staple of a happy life”(311). He disagrees that happiness is a state of mind. He believes that the

life we choose to live and what we can take from it determines our happiness and well being.

Each author has different thoughts in ways happiness can be found. Lyubomirsky, States

“Happiness is an expression of the soul in considered actions”(Lyubomirsky184).​ Your actions

are what make you happy. Lyubomirsky believes that happiness is a state of mind, but for Hill

it’s more physical. ​As Hill, claims “There isn’t any indication that any of these things make

anyone any happier; in fact, it seems the reverse may be true”(308). He believes that no

materialistic items in life will bring you the satisfaction as a human being or experience in life

will​ bring you.​ ​Physical happiness, as Hill believes getting rid of everything that is making your

life harder, will bring you happiness. Brooks is different because happiness is circumstantial to

him, as he believes ​suffering makes you humble and appreciative of your life for example “

Abraham Lincoln suffered through the pain of conducting a civil war, and he came out with the

Second Inaugural”( Brooks286). He chose to endure his suffering for the nation. Therefore

Brooks believes that suffering can lead you to become the person you're meant to be and be

happy with yourself. Lyubomirsky and Hill would disagree with the fact that suffering could be

anywhere near happiness. Every author’s argument is different.

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The arguments ​by ​the author, David Brooks, brings us to realize if we deserve to be

happy. Beyond the individual's control “recovering from suffering is not like recovering from a

disease. Many people don’t come out healed they come out different”(Brooks286). No one can

morally say they're healed from a relatives death or grief, they can try but won't stop feeling the

pain. Suffering leads you into happiness once you learn to adapt to it. If you can never

overcome suffering or control what is going on in your life then do you really deserve to be

happy? ​Brooks believes that within what circumstances we are living in, we will be happy if we

can just strive and move past all the bad things. For David Brooks happiness is circumstantial as

for Sonja Lyubomirsky it’s more within what mindset you choose to have.

The argument ​by ​Sonja Lyubomirsky, is what makes people happy? And how happy are

you and why? As Lyubomirsky states, “In a nutshell, the foundation of happiness can be found

in how you behave, what you think, and what goals you set every day in your life”(196). You

can only find happiness within yourself not in others nor in the world.​ If you set a goal in your

life, then persevering can make you happy as well. It doesn't matter what others think; it matters

what you think about yourself. ​ Happiness can be so clear and easy for some people but not for

all. One of the important statements Lyubomirsky says is, “ If you’re not happy today, then you

won’t be happy tomorrow unless you take things into our own hands and take

action"(Lyubomirsky185). No one can tell you how happy you truly are but yourself. She

believes you can be happy if you choose to change your state of mind and manage to control it.

Taking action is the first step in moving forward with your life and becoming happy with it.

Graham Hill interpretation of happiness is almost as similar as Sonja Lyubomirsky, we

shouldn’t be looking elsewhere but what's right in front of us and within us.
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The argument ​by​ the author Graham Hill, asks us, can we create our own happiness? As

Hill claims “My success and the things it bought quickly changed from novel to normal”(Hill

309).​ Hill ​became bored and unhappy with his life when he had all the reason to just enjoy it all.

It all started to become numb to him. ​The truth was that he was making his life “unnecessarily

complicated”(309). The fondness for items affected his life as so to us all. The idea that living a

successful life will bring us happiness is not true but we make our life difficult when we want

more than we need. Hill says, “It took 15 years, great love and a lot of travel to get rid of all the

inessential things I had collected and lived a bigger, better, richer life with less”(309). With

fewer worries and more time on your hands, you can start to do what really makes you happy.

Physically getting rid of everything he didn’t really need is what made him happy. ​All three

authors have an outstanding argument in what they truly believe, what will bring you happiness.

Overall in the article by Sonja Lyubomirsky, Graham Hill, and David Brooks all had a

difference, similarity, and an outstanding argument about pure happiness. Lyubomirsky goal

was to open the audience mindset and enforce us to find where happiness comes from, that

would be from our hearts. Everything that we need is right in front of us and we need to learn to

take it in and appreciate it. Hill also thinks that we should appreciate life; when he gave us his

whole life story to reflect upon and take into consideration that all we truly need in life is

meaningful experiences and to build relationships. ​Hill’s happiness is physical. ​Once we get rid

of all the unnecessary stuff we have in our lives, we will live better and happier. Brooks's main

point was to show the audience that pain is inevitable. ​He believes everything is circumstantial

in our lives and as much as we like to believe that it will go away just by ignoring it, it won't
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unless you face it and take action to overcome it by becoming who you were meant to be.​ It’s

not always a bad thing to come out different as much as it scares us.
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Works cited

Brooks, David, “What Suffering Does.” Pursuing Happiness, edited by Matthew Porftt and

Dawn Skorczewski, Bedford st. Martin’s 2016, pp. 284-287.

Hill, Graham. “ living with Less. A Lot Less.” Pursuing Happiness, edited by Dawn

Skorczewski, Bedford st. Martin’s 2016, pp. 308-313.

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

Skorczewski, Bedford st. Martin’s 2016, pp. 179- 197.