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Ashley Hines

English 114 A

Professor Beadle

12/5/2018

Happiness is not a cup of dandelion tea

As a society we are constantly chasing after the ​idea ​of happiness, but over all

we have a difficulty understanding of what happiness actually is or how to achieve it.

There ​are many ​misconceptions about happiness leading people to believe in concepts

that are not necessarily ​true. Some​ more popular ​fallacies​ are; the idea that happiness

is an item that can be bought, living with less emotional pain intern equals happiness, or

even that the happiness achieved in childhood will depict happiness in adult life.​ These

ideas can aid in the precute happiness, but alone they will not make you happy.

Happiness is an ongoing life lesson and even struggle for most, there is no magic pill or

concrete path that will make you truly satisfied and happy with your life. Happiness is a

mindset that that must be practiced in our day to day lives.​Though the articles; ​“What

Suffering Does”​ by David Brooks, ​“Living with a lot Less”​ by Graham Hill, and ​“How

Happy are You and Why?”​ by Sonja Lyubomirsky; we can view new perspectives ​on

happiness​, reflect on our preconceived notions, and how they may possibly be not only

unhelpful but hindering us from happiness.​ Although the articles by Brooks, Hill and

Lyubomirsky are seeming to be extremely different and very in style, context, and

arguments they all have the same overarching theme of happiness and how they
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believe it can be achieved. All the articles deconstruct what it means to be happy in

different ways and hint at the well known philosophy that happiness is a difficult journey

not a destination,​ and takes a lot of work contrary to popular belief​.

In today's materialistic society happiness is often weighed by what you can

afford, happiness is believed to be bought,​ for ​example; ‘if I buy x then I will be happy’ .

This is idea is displayed well in the Kendall Jenner PEPSI commercial, where the

popular soda PEPSI creates unity among the people no matter race religion, nationality

or sexuality. ​ Graham hill challenges this idea​ by discussing​ how he had everything that

would seemingly make him happy but “started to wonder why my theoretically

upgraded life didn't feel any better and why I felt more anxious than before.” (pg 309

Hill). He then​ preaches on​ how minimalism helped him declutter his mind by

decluttering his life. Minimalism is a​ way of life​ in which one chooses to fall out of the

materialistic lifestyle that is glorified by today's society and only own the minimal

necessities needed for living. “Material objects have a tendency to crowd out the

emotional needs they are meant to support” (pg 312 Hill)​. ​ Minimalism helps people

focus on what they have and not what they lack, ​which in turn, ​illuminates the argument

presented previously though the pepsi debate of people feeling the need to own

something to be happy. Minimalism on its own will not make someone happy but

expresses​ the idea that happiness can be found in any situation and gives you the

space to discover who you are and what really makes you happy, for Hill this ​meant​ the

relationships with his loved ones and travels. Everyone will have a different experience
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on what makes them happy which is why it is important to go through process of self

discovery.

It is believed that one who is truly happy doesn't face challenges or suffering in

life, intern suffering is seen as a burdon and in ways counterproductive to the “goal” of

happiness. In the article “What Suffering Does” written by David Brooks, the contrary is

stated by discussing the grave importance of emotional turmoil. He describes a time of

suffering as a journey of self discovery that can lead to happiness and emotional

fulfillment. Throughout the article​, Brooks​ hints at the idea of needing to lose oneself to

find oneself. “...people who endure suffering are taken beneath the routines of life and

find they are not who they say they believed themselves to be.” (pg 285 Brooks).

Although suffering will not directly make someone happy, it sets the steppings stones

for a person to develop emotional maturity and allows them a time of self evaluation.

Through self discovery people can then learn what individual things bring them

moments of joy and incorporate that into their day to day life giving them an overall

satisfaction with themselves. Coping with pain and life's troubles is difficult and there is

no guaranteed strategy to succeed at heart acce but there is beauty created within all

the pain, I like to refer to this beauty as self discovery. “Instead of recoiling from the

sorts of loving commitments that almost always involve suffering, they throw themselves

more deeply into them. Even while experiencing the worst and most lacerating

consequences, some people double down on vulnerability. They hurl themselves

deeper and gratefully into their art, loved ones and commitments.” (pg 287 Brooks)
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The idea that happiness is a matter of perspective is explored in detail in the

article “​How Happy Are You And Why​” written by Sonja Lyubomirsky.​ Lyubomirsky had

people rate their happiness and the results were extremely shocking, although some

people have a surfacely happy life or seem to have all the “criteria” to be happy, they

were still unhappy. “Many of us, especially those who are not very happy, believe that

our unhappiness is genetic and there's nothing we can really do about it. To the

contrary, glowing research demonstrate persuasively that we can overcome or genetic

programing..” (Lyubomirsky pg 186). Through her studies, we come to the conclusion

that although no ones life is perfect and everyone deals with tubbling issues, how we

view our problems is what affects our happiness not the problem itself. As depicted in

the ancient chinese symbol of yin and yang, similarly you cannot have happiness

without suffering for they always live within each other. As an individual you can choose

to focus on the good or bad portions of your circumstances. For example let's say you

eat the same type of pasta every day, you like pasta but at a certain point the

excitement and joy when you think of dinner is no longer there or you may even begin to

despise pasta; but now let's say you haven't eaten pasta in quite a bit of time, when

deciding pasta is your next meal you are excited and it brings you joy. Although the

pasta itself is mostly neutral the way the pasta is viewed inflicts different emotions on

the consumer, this experiment can be carried into many parts of our lives and proves

that we have control over how we feel. Happiness is a matter of perspective on the

emotional turmoil that is bound to happen in our lives. Through this article the reader

gains a feeling of control over their fute and feelings of hope.

The idea of happiness is a difficult one to grasp, and is extremely tainted by

media and outside influences.There are many things that give us temporary happiness

such as narcotics and other stimulants, but in reality they do not give us emotional

satisfaction.“In a nutshell, the foundation of happiness can be found in how we behave,

what you think, and what goals you set in your everyday life” (pg 196 Lyubomirsky)

Happiness is different for each individual witch is why it can be so confusing and seem

ungraspable. Through all these articles its proven that happiness is a lot of work and no

matter the circumstance anyone can pursue happiness. ​Happiness is not as easy as

making a cup of tea, happiness takes a lot of work and self discovery, but nonetheless

is completely achievable from anyone and everyone. Being happy doesn't mean no

emotional turmoil will arise, is not something you can buy and a worry free childhood is

not needed.
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Bibliography

Brooks, David. ​“What Suffering Does”​. Pursuing Happiness, Bedford ST. Martins, 2016

Hill, Graham. ​“Living With a lot Less”​. Pursuing Happiness, Bedford ST. Martins, 2016

​ ursuing Happiness, Bedford ST.

Martins, 2016

Pepsi. “​Kendall Jenner for PEPSI commercial”​ Youtube, April 4, 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dA5Yq1DLSmQ