Category: Happiness

Introduction

Happiness help people develop optimism and a take on the world attitude. Consequently, happy people are often healthy due to effective wellness and state of mind. Every person has their own story of happiness pursuit. Family relations, including marriage and intergenerational relationships, affect someones state of happiness. While many people find it difficult to pursue happiness, it is an intrinsic individual effort. Yeimi Portillo and Maya Hmed have different social backgrounds and religious affiliations, making them significant for the interviews. However, they hold similar perspectives on happiness. Both interviewees believed that social happiness does not amount to personal happiness. However, ones family and social environment affect personal happiness in various dimensions. Moreover, self-esteem is crucial for a contented life and may lead to sadness or happiness in ones life. While social factors like family and friends affect individual happiness, intrinsic satisfaction is significant for a happy life.

Interviews: Yeimi Portillo and Maya Hmed

Yeimi Portillo

Yeimi Portillo illustrated that family life is significant to personal happiness. She is married to a lovely husband, and they have five beautiful kids: four girls and a son. Yeimi did not identify herself with any religion showing that social institutions play an insignificant role in personal happiness. Yeimis social life was influenced by her family, leading her to have a well-defined and planned career path despite being a housewife. When asked about her perspective on happiness and relationship, she responded that a happy relationship involves an equal share of financial responsibilities. A happy relationship is key to a successful family and encourages sharing of responsibilities (Martin). Furthermore, Yeimi said that social happiness has nothing to do with family happiness since one can have good friends but with the worst family. According to Yeimi, social influences like other peoples attitudes can significantly affect a persons pursuit of happiness (OpenStaxCollege). Therefore, she advised people to focus on their personal goals and ignore negative influences from the social environment.

Maya Hmed

Positivity and content are significant for happiness, as proved by Maya. With Egyptian origins and Islamic culture, Maya is a psychotherapist who is contented with life. She said that happiness is situational since she sometimes found herself happy while at other times, she was sad. Maya proved that social happiness does not influence personal happiness. According to her, as she grew old, she enjoyed the time spent alone. Celebrating victories whether big or small helps people to become happy and satisfied with their progress (Seingman et al.). Moreover, she said that high self-esteem makes one happy and contented with their looks. When asked about her view on a happy relationship, she said that many factors contributed to the happiness in marriage and relationships. Empathizing, respecting, and understanding are key pillars of a happy relationship that contribute to happiness (Diener et al). Although social and family relationships are part of happiness, personal satisfaction is the most important key factor of happiness. Like Yeimi, Maya loves making people around her happy by helping them. Therefore, Yeimi and Maya believed in pouring love out into the world as long as it helps someone.

Lessons Learned

Mayas and Yeimis perspectives on happiness were similar to my personal belief. The two have diverse social backgrounds that have shaped their happiness. Yeimi taught me that a relationship was crucial to happiness. However, fulfilling happiness can only be gotten from an intrinsic personal conviction (Yana). Developing a relationship with oneself instead of sourcing happiness from other people is key to happiness (Diener and Robert Biswas-Diener). Her sentiments proved the source of sadness in my marriage. Our friends and family members can help us become happy, but for a moment (Diener). Moreover, the two interviewees believed that self-esteem is the most significant element of happiness in life. Money is regarded as a source of happiness since it helps people afford their materialistic desires (Baumgardner). Self-esteem encourages happiness and satisfaction while low self-esteem increases frustrations and sadness (MARTIN). Therefore, happiness in life is effectively pursued by developing high self-esteem and helping others.

Annotated Bibliography

Hong-ngam, Jongrak, et al. Factors affecting the level of happiness through economics status: evidence from elderly in the northeastern region of Thailand. International Journal of Business and Globalisation 29.1 (2021): 116-134.

Happiness is influenced by various factors, including an individuals economic status. The authors sought to identify the various economic factors that contribute to happiness among the elderly in preparation for the aging society. Although the paper addressed the northeastern region of Thailand, the researchers identified a special connection between happiness and economic status. According to the article, income, human capital, and accessibility to economic capital influences happiness among the aged. Unlike the youths, the aged have many responsibilities, including taking care of their families. Such responsibilities require financial capacity that helps the aged meet the social and basic needs of their dependents. The level of income significantly influenced the level of happiness among the aged. Those with low incomes were unable to meet their family needs leading to depression and sadness. Therefore, the article concludes that economic factors like income levels influence happiness among the aged. Although the paper addressed the impact of finance on happiness, the author ignored other social factors that lead to happiness amid financial constraints.

López-Ruiz, Víctor-Raúl, et al. The relationship between happiness and quality of life: A model for Spanish society. Plos one 16.11 (2021): e0259528.

Well-being among the communities members is crucial for development in a society. Happy community members take part in various economic and social activities that help sustain the community. López-Ruiz et al. studied the factors that primarily affect the happiness of a population. According to the authors, the factors are associated with income levels and residential and job stability. The article used a regression model to explain the relationship between the Spaniards happiness and well-being. The authors concluded that happy people are those with the highest level of well-being and quality of life in the most important dimensions. The article helped in advancing the researchs theme of money and happiness. Although the article is significant in interrelating happiness and quality of life, the authors failed to address other factors like family and relationships that may affect an individuals happiness. Moreover, quality of life cannot be defined by happiness but by all factors, including cultural values that help in bringing up an individual.

Krys, Kuba, et al. Personal life satisfaction as a measure of societal happiness is an individualistic presumption: evidence from fifty countries. Journal of Happiness Studies 22.5 (2021): 2197-2214.

Happy individuals have personal life satisfaction that impacts society in various dimensions. For instance, according to the interviewee Yeimi, her level of happiness encouraged her to develop an effective career plan. Although various studies have shown that happiness is correlated with individualism, the nature of the relationship is understudied. Krys, Kuba, et al. explore the study gap and test the relationship between individualism and societal happiness. The study focused on four concepts of happiness: individual life satisfaction, individual interdependent happiness, family satisfaction, and family interdependent happiness. The articles theme resonates with my studys topic, the pursuit of happiness.

The authors, upon analyzing collected data, concluded that the positive association between societal happiness with individualism could not be generalized to collectivism-themed happiness. Therefore, although family satisfaction and intermediate happiness are significant for societys growth, personal satisfaction is the most important factor of happiness. However, the study was limited to participants since it only involved students and excluded older participants. Moreover, the authors conclusion that family satisfaction and intermediate happiness do not affect individualism was unsatisfactory. However, the article helped in understanding how happiness ta the individual level can affect the family and society at large.

Lama, Dalai, Howard Cutler. The Art of Happiness.

Economic stability is one of the causes of happiness since people feel satisfied with whatever they do. Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler explore how a handsome income satisfies people, making them happy. According to the authors, human beings feeling of contentment is strongly influenced by their tendency to compare. Consequently, when human beings compare their past with presents and find that they are better, they become happy (Rogers). The authors argument is consistent with the personal perspective on happiness as given by Maya: celebrating every win, whether small or big, makes people happy. Moreover, satisfaction depends on the person human beings compare themselves with. For instance, a poor man may compare himself with a rich man. Consequently, the poor man becomes unsatisfied, which breeds sadness. Therefore, comparison with smarter, more beautiful, and more successful parsons leads to frustrations, envy, anger, and unhappiness. Although the authors argue that satisfaction is the source of happiness, they ignore environmental factors like traumatic events and failure to reach the personal target.

Diener and Robert Biswas-Diener. Can Money Buy Happiness?. In Happiness: Unlocking the mysteries of psychological wealth. John Wiley & Sons, 2011.

Money has been associated with happiness, and wealthy people are believed to live happily. Diener and Robert Biswas-Diener argue that money can buy happiness but to a limited extent. The authors use research that was conducted in the 1980s that determined the relationship between income and life satisfaction level. The research illustrated that the more a person earned, the more they became satisfied with life. Data from wealthy nations proved the same trend. With sufficient income, people can boost their living and afford things that add joy to their lives. Moreover, the authors use lottery winners to illustrate their main argument point. However, Diener and Robert Biswas-Diener present cases where money is not equal to happiness. They use data from research conducted in Calcutta, a city of joy, where people live in abject poverty but live happily. The authors concluded that although money can buy happiness, there are other factors like a healthy relationship that cause happiness. The authors arguments were well defended, but they did not explain sadness as observed among the wealthiest people.

Conclusion

Happiness is crucial for a healthy lifestyle, well-being, and societal development. Interviewing people with different social and religious backgrounds helped in understanding the impact of family and other social factors on happiness. Although family happiness leads to personal happiness, self-happiness can only be achieved through contentment. Money can buy happiness but to a limited extent. Data collected from wealthy people and nations show that happiness is directly proportional to income levels. However, cities like Calcutta have presented contrary data indicating that money is not the only ultimate factor that determines happiness. Therefore, Yeimi and Mayas perspectives on happiness proved that although family happiness and money contribute to happiness, personal satisfaction is the most crucial factor.

Works Cited

Baumgardner, J. (2017). Relationships are key to happiness. Web.

Diener and Robert Biswas-Diener. Can Money Buy Happiness?. In Happiness: Unlocking the mysteries of psychological wealth. John Wiley & Sons, 2011.

Diener et al., 1. (1999). Subjective well-being: Three decades of progress. Psychological Bulletin, 2, 276-302. Web.

Diener, E. &. (2002). Very happy people. Psychological Science, 13.

Hong-ngam, Jongrak, et al. Factors affecting the level of happiness through economics status: evidences from elderly in the northeastern region of Thailand. International Journal of Business and Globalisation 29.1 (2021): 116-134.

Krys, Kuba, et al. Personal life satisfaction as a measure of societal happiness is an individualistic presumption: evidence from fifty countries. Journal of Happiness Studies 22.5 (2021): 2197-2214.

Lama, Dalai, and Howard Cutler. The Sources of Happiness.

López-Ruiz, Víctor-Raúl, et al. The relationship between happiness and quality of life: A model for Spanish society. Plos one 16.11 (2021): e0259528. Web.

MARTIN, M. (2020). The Connections Between Self Esteem and Relationships. Web.

Martin, M. W. (2012). Happiness and the Good Life.

Maslow, A. H. (2013). A theory of human motivation.

OpenStaxCollege. (2014). The Pursuit of Happiness. PSYCHOLOGY, 83. Web.

Rogers, C. (2004, March 14). Person-centered expressive arts therapy. A theoretical encounter, Person-Centered & Experiential Psychotherapies, 31-47.

Seingman et al. (2005). Positive Psychology Progress: Empirical Validation of Interventions. American Psychologist, 410-421.

Yana. (2022). The Pursuit of Happiness. Web.

The presented movie revolves around the most important aspects of the life of any person, which is happiness. The central idea is to investigate this phenomenon and determine what factors make a person happy. To achieve this goal, the author initiates the long journey towards an improved understanding of this idea and starts it with Manoj Singh, a rickshaw driver who lives in a poor part of Calcutta, or at the bottom of the socio-economic structure (Happy 2011).

However, regardless of the complexity of his situation and no signs of improvement during the next several years, he looks happy and satisfied with his life. Manoj appreciates some tiny moments of happiness that can be found in his life, such as his childs voice when he comes home or the belief in a better future. It is surprising that regardless of poverty, dirt, bad living conditions, and a problematic environment, the man still remains happy and is sure that his family will live better in several years. This belief becomes one of the most notable features of Manoj.

One of the factors that might explain why people feel happy with no reason is the so-called genetic set point or inborn characteristic that every person has. It impacts his/her mood, behavior, and attitudes towards various issues and, at the same time, predetermine how individuals act in their everyday life. However, the movie reveals that the genetic set point for happiness accounts only for 50%, while the remaining part is influenced by other factors (Happy 2011). Jobs, income, social status, and other external circumstances or variables constitute only 10% of happiness, which means that they are not as significant as people might think (Happy 2011).

At the same time, 40% of happiness depends on our personal choices and intentional activity (Happy 2011). In other words, along with the inborn or genetic set point, this unique phenomenon also depends on peoples actions. Individuals can engage in activities or make choices that will precondition positive alterations in their lives and their becoming happy persons, regardless of the environment or other circumstances affecting society at the moment.

The scientific explanation of the mechanism of happiness outlines the critically important role of dopamine in the life of people. This hormone plays a critical role in the functioning of a human body as it is responsible for the feeling of happiness and activity. Unfortunately, dopamine receptors are reduced with age, and people start to suffer from decreased activity levels and depression. Additionally, in accordance with recent research, the critically low levels of dopamine can precondition the appearance and development of Parkinsons disease (Happy 2011). In such a way, there is a direct correlation between the level of peoples happiness and their health.

Engaging in various activities such as running, playing, or having fun, people can boost dopamine and guarantee a positive impact on their functioning. At the same time, it does not mean that paralyzed patients cannot be happy; on the contrary, their happiness will result in the production of dopamine and help to improve the state of their health, which is vital for the enhanced quality of life and prolonged lifespan.

The movie also offers the idea that peoples happiness is a very delicate phenomenon that can be broken by multiple factors. Accidents of terrible events that damage individuals belong to this cohort. When these things happen, people lose the feeling of happiness and are not able to accept the current situation with optimism. There are many factors that precondition such reaction. Pain, both physical and physiological, depressive thoughts, regrets, and other adverse effects decrease the production of dopamine, and people are not able to control their lives. However, the optimistic approach and the belief in a better future can help to become happy again.

The movie offers the example of Melissa Moody, who was hit by a truck and injured. Her face was destroyed, and she had to experience multiple surgeries to restore it (Happy 2011). At the same time, the narrator is sure that she is one of the most positive persons in the world because of her ability to accept the current state of things and move forward, looking for some good moments that can be found in her life in the future. In such a way, optimism and happiness are correlated and often are close to each other.

The film also touches upon the topic of money as it is usually associated with happiness by people. The existence of resources that can be spent on various entertainments and pleasant things is erroneously taken as one of the components of happiness. However, this assumption is not correct; on the contrary hedonic adaptation is one of the first enemies of happiness (Happy 2011).

A person who is not able to achieve his/her goals or act in the ways he/she wants starts to look for some other ways to enjoy life and engages in activities that are traditionally considered pleasant ones. Unfortunately, this substitution has a negative impact on the state of individuals and their ability to succeed in the future. As far as happiness is directly linked to the health of a person and his/her achievement, the hedonic adaptation limits peoples ability to succeed. That is why money and happiness are not closely related, as there are some other factors that impact this unique phenomenon.

The degree of happiness depends on peoples ability to achieve the goals they have at the moment. There are both extrinsic and intrinsic goals. The first category can be defined as something that can be achieved outside a person himself/herself. In other words, extrinsic goals presuppose validation and approval of society. These can be money, image, and status, factors that precondition the position of a person in a certain community (Happy 2011).

At the same time, there are also intrinsic goals or aims that are critically important for a person and make him/her feel happier or enjoy positive emotions associated with achievement. This category of goals is broad and might include self-development, autonomy, education, and many other factors that are important for a person because of his/her character. In terms of the idea of happiness, intrinsic goals are more important for people as they help to meet some critically important needs that are vital for a person. For this reason, their fulfillment generates the feeling of happiness, while the achievement of extrinsic goals might remain unnoticed or not as fascinating as it was expected.

Unfortunately, many people have a poor understanding of their real needs and goals and follow some aims that do not make them happier. For instance, the movie describes karoshi, the practice presupposing that employees commit suicide or experience heart failure by working too long and having no rest (Happy 2011). In Japan, with its unique culture and traditions, karoshi becomes one of the serious problems that prevent people from being happy.

The movie offers a case of a man who died at work trying to support his family with all it needed. However, household members were not happy as they saw their father and husband rarely. In such a way, karoshi cannot be considered a way to happiness as it does not depend on money or financial status. Today, the U.S. culture starts to acquire some elements of karoshi because of the increased rivalry and the desire to earn additional money and acquire some status. As for me, I think that this phenomenon is the wrong way to achieve success, and I do not have the experience of it.

Continuing to explore the world and looking for examples of happy people, the author revolves around the co-housing communities. The term describes the idea of private homes clustered around a specific place, which means that people live as one big family. The given concept appeared in Denmark as a way to avoid isolation and help each other to become happier. People might have their own private space and different jobs; however, their dwelling is linked to another one to form a specific community that might consist of numerous members.

Children play together and consider themselves brothers and sisters, while adults enjoy the benefits of common households. In such a way, co-housing communities is a way to become involved in communication with other people and help each other. However, not everyone can accept this idea because of the violation of some personal space. As for me, I do not have the desire to join such communities because of the need for space and isolation.

Finally, the movie comes to the concept of meditation and its impact on people. The spread of this practice and multiple beliefs associated with it preconditioned the need for scientific research, and its results are surprising. The fact is that meditation can change the brain physically as it impacts its structure. In other words, by intention, a person can engage in the practice that can help to alter the attitude to various things on the physical level and become happier. For this reason, there is a direct link between meditation and happiness.

Altogether, the movie can be considered an important source of knowledge about happiness and the factors that impact it. Having watched the film, one can engage in activities that can help to become happier. It might presuppose the shifts in the attitude to some aspects of life from pessimistic to optimistic ones. Additionally, one should reconsider his/her goals and ensure that some unimportant ideas such as money or status, do not prevent us from becoming happy.

Finally, it is fundamental to outline the current priorities and ensure that attention is devoted to issues that are important now. In conclusion, the film promotes some positive change in the attitude and perspective on happiness as a viewer starts to consider it a factor that can be impacted by his/her own efforts. That is why it can be taken as a useful and important source that can be recommended for further analysis of the given field.

Work Cited

Happy 2011. YouTube, uploaded by what is. 2018. Web.

Introduction

Modern philosophy asks the question of what happiness is, what underlies it, how to achieve it, and whether it exists at all. Modern philosopher Joel Feinberg declares that people are happy when they can fully engage and perceive various activities that they enjoy for the fact they are. Nonetheless, it happens when none of these activities inherently mean anything to a person. In this case, the individual who does not appreciate their activities and participates in them feels engaged and uses them to feel better mentally. Feinberg states that if one does not value their actions, one will never get pleasure. I cannot fully agree with this position since I believe that happiness arises from social interaction, not from assigning value to activities; my argument can be proved by reviewing the conclusions of various ages philosophers.

Main body

In the presented thesis, starting from an egocentric position, the problem is precisely selfishness, which is not fundamental to the rest of the concept. Religious, aesthetic, and other types of experience that bring peace, pleasure, and ultimately happiness demonstrate their effectiveness if they are associated with social processes. They denote the experience of working in a team, spiritual rites and communication within religious communities, or simple social interaction within the family. As a rule, close people with healthy relationships allow each other to feel what they are doing more consciously. As an example of the artificial environment and close people outside the models described above, one can mention the communes of students, artists, ancient Greek communes of the Epicureans, and related Christian monasteries. People in these isolated communities often felt happy through association with close people who shared their social and mental characteristics.

An example of uniting and achieving the ideas of happiness can be seen in the hippie subculture that began its existence in the 60s in the Western world. The hippie movement was born during the protests against continuing hostilities in Vietnam. Many former Beat Generation activists and participants of the Acid Tests joined the movement. Unusually dressed young people with long hair preached the ideas of pacifism, individuality, human unity, and inner freedom. They lived in communities of like-minded people, listened to rock and roll and psychedelic rock, traveled in brightly decorated vans to music festivals. A massive layer of literature, music, art, and philosophy is associated with them, often having happiness as their primary motive, both in a deep Epicurean, aesthetic, or purely hedonistic sense. Hippies have become one of the most significant youth movements on a global scale and have had a substantial impact on contemporary society and world culture as a whole.

The hippie subculture gained fame for the fact that often its members settled in the wilderness with their isolated communes, where nothing prevented the implementation of the ideals and principles of the movement. Rejection of consumerism, return to nature, mutual assistance, and equality for many became the slogans under which entire communities were formed. Some of them have survived today, such as The Farm  the oldest and most successful of the existing hippie communities. This is an international community in Tennessee, near the city of Summertown, living on the principles of non-violence and respect for the Earth, as well as the path to happiness for its members. It was founded in 1971 by Stephen Gaskin and 320 San Francisco hippies. Starting with a few huts and wagons, today, the Farm is an impressive area of cultivated land, several residential buildings, and outbuildings. This settlement not only achieved economic independence but also became quite an influential entity in the state of Tennessee.

Most of the commune runs on solar and wind energy, and the ability to coexist with nature without harming it is valued above all else. Some Buddhist teachings also entered the life of the commune. The inhabitants of the Farm lead a healthy lifestyle, produce organic products, and are engaged in scientific research in the field of renewable energy, environmental recycling, and assistance to Third World countries. However, their experience of finding peace, harmony, and happiness, coming from social equality and well-being, is a clear example of the collective nature of eudaimonic happiness from coexistence next to loved ones.

These ideas originate long before modern times and even more so long before the appearance of the first hippies in the middle of the twentieth century. The concepts of cohabitation, coexistence, and gaining freedom and happiness in isolation from society with friends and relatives originated in the days of classical Greece, at the time of high antiquity. In those days, philosophy as such was born, and it was between its fathers, such as Plato, Socrates, Epicurus, and other great minds, that there was a long discussion about the nature of happiness.

Determining the nature of happiness, called eudemonia in Greek, belongs to universal themes and Greek philosophy. The classic and one of the fathers of philosophy, Aristotle, believed that satisfaction is what all people strive for by themselves. The ancient philosopher devoted a significant part of his ethical treatises to the discussion of this subject. Afterward, only philosophers of the Stoic school gave it secondary importance among those who were familiar with the works of Aristotle. Although the standard Stoic sage was undoubtedly considered by the Stoic philosophers to have achieved happiness, they still paid primary attention to the question of the nature of virtue. Many characteristics of the early Platonic system of views on the nature of happiness are described in the ethical writings of Aristotle. Enjoyment for Platos adherents is associated with pleasure, wealth, or honor, which to a certain extent is also characteristic of the ideas of psychological egoism.

Aristotle, however, examines and rejects the positions offered by Plato regarding happiness. Equally, this classic of philosophy criticizes Platos assertion that happiness consists in the contemplation by the soul of the very idea of the good as such. However, this philosophical discourse of the two philosophers eventually underwent a series of transformations. The popular beliefs of the followers of the early Platonists reappeared in the form of a well-developed philosophical theory of happiness. So the idea that happiness is pleasure, rejected by Aristotle in his reflections on ethics, was later revived in the teachings of Epicurus. Epicurus has had a powerful influence on the hedonistic view of happiness and the role of selfishness in its acquisition and deserves an important place in any discussion of happiness and hedonism.

Epicurus, as a philosopher, dealt with the solution of many philosophical issues, entered into multiple discourses and had a rather unique position in many topics that are still relevant to this day. One of these is the question of happiness and its achievement, of what is needed for a persons harmonious and peaceful existence as a human being. Epicureanism teaches that pleasure, physical and mental health, freedom from fear and prejudice, and friendship are the source of human happiness. According to the Greek Epicurean philosophers, one should not be afraid of the gods, and one should not be scared of death. Each desire should be evaluated from the standpoint of what will happen to a person as a result of their satisfaction or dissatisfaction, and this is the brief essence of Epicurean philosophy. Unfortunately, of the numerous works of Epicurus, only crumbs have survived to this day, but even from them, it is quite possible to get a complete picture of the essence of this teaching.

Epicureanism proclaims pleasure as a substantial value but rejects hedonism, the desire to revel at the moment, forgetting about the future and the past. Instead, Epicurus calls for enjoyment as a permanent state of mind. The philosopher came to the conclusion that true happiness is revealed in the provision of the personal and private to the social common. The philosopher demonstrated his position by leaving his native city with his closest students to the countryside, where they built a construction that became the center of the first commune in history. In the commune, Epicureanism adherents found the meaning of happiness, in the absence of wealth and poverty among the members of this community, in communication, joint work, and rest. Contact with loved ones, collective work and rest, creativity, and tranquility have become the very secret of happiness for the followers of the philosopher.

As can be seen from the ideas of the ancient classics of philosophy, egoism in the phenomenology of happiness has always been controversial to the same extent as collectivism and sociality. All these systems were based on the subjectivity of the authors or their followers perception of happiness as such. Happiness travels through time and minds from Plato and Socrates, who thought of happiness as the pursuit of virtue as a phenomenon or feeling that originates from money, power, and influence, and up to Epicurus. Epicurus and his students, inspired by the collective source of happiness, eventually found happiness in a quiet, isolated life alone with each other. At the same time, none of their discourse opponents ever found happiness and did not declare it, only going into attempts to search for the root of the phenomenon itself.

Despite all the examples described above, happiness is subjective, and this is the only fact whose debatable potential in modern times, if not exhausted, then is of less importance than at the dawn of philosophy. This phenomenons subjectivity implies that happiness for each individual consists of its components, and even its very essence is different for each person. The perception of happiness by a person is influenced by their experience of existence, communication, emotions, fears, traumas, and way of thinking.

The abstract essence of the mind and consciousness of a person striving for rationalization, at the same time, constantly reduces such ephemeral phenomena as happiness to something intimate and incomprehensible to many people around. That is why people who surround the individual can share their view of the world and existence and have a similar definition and idea of happiness to help achieve it. The consensus among such people always leads to reflections and conclusions that give happiness a conceptually complete look. Thus, even considering the individual nature of the perception of happiness, hinting at possible egoism in the ways of achieving it, it has a social core in reality.

I believe that the ideas of Joel Feinberg, representing the way of finding happiness through selfishness, are correct in motives yet, the idea that it rises from or is supported by selfishness is wrong. As demonstrated above, it is the social, collective approach to finding the happiness of each individual that works best. Surrounded by close people with similar views and practices to the perception of the world, who are ready to support the thought of their friend, these people can find happiness. It does not matter if it is a family, church, or hippie community. In the end, all of them are essentially a union of people, in many ways not similar, but striving to find themselves and their place in the world, to find happiness and peace.

Conclusion

To conclude, a selfish approach can have an effect on individuals because, in the end, all people are different. Yet, for the majority, it is the social path to knowing oneself, the world around, and ones place in it that works and can present the desired outcome. Despite this, Feinberg is right that people are happy when they can fully engage and perceive things that are important to them. Such things can be a religious and aesthetic experience, self-expression, knowledge, control, and the like. Nevertheless, the philosophers idea lacks an important component, namely close companions for a person.

Introduction

At a present stage of social and economic development of the world community still it is very important to achieve the reliable maintenance of the population of globe with food stuffs. The foodstuffs constantly acts as a necessary and uncontested part of fund of vital means, and increase for whatever reasons its deficiency is fairly perceived as the disaster demanding fast actions.

Main Text

It is naturally, that the food problem has old historical roots and at the aggravation inevitably generated on all continents serious threat to health and the existence of their inhabitants, and also to normal functioning of an economic mechanism. It has got nowadays the global importance for the reasons of humanistic property and by virtue of integrity of the modern world where famine and undernourishment still are widely kept, struggle with which is interconnected with so hard and actual problem of overcoming of economic backwardness of former colonies and dependent territories.

The basic reason of the scale food difficulties observable during last decades, became structural internal disproportions in national systems of food maintenance in developing countries. From here as a result presence of scissors between a market demand and the offer for the main food stuffs. The powerful role in the given process belongs to a urbanization. It first of all defines formation of new standards of food consumption and causes shifts in structure of a feed in favor of international products (Evensky, 2005).

The international sounding gives to a food problem also that circumstance, that its strong decision cannot be reached the isolated efforts of the separate countries from which well adjusted cooperation without dependence from public in them public and political systems is required.

Now in the world, probably, there is no state in which manufacture, distribution and foreign trade in the foodstuffs would not be serious care of the central authorities. And in this respect considered problem too acts really planetary in spite of the fact that one countries collide with chronic lack of food stuffs, of others the current purpose became qualitative improvement of a diet to approach it to scientifically proved norms, and the some people are compelled even to struggle with surpluses of made products and illnesses of the population caused by their superfluous consumption.

The saved up centuries-old experience testifies, that the problem represents the synthetic phenomenon which is not closed by frameworks of actually public reproduction and demands wider approaches. The meal, in the fundamental principle belonging an inhabitancy, is used already as a product of culture and in this sense will neutralize opposition within the limits of system nature-culture, borrowing in it intermediate, transitive position. And at that completely not minor to what the term occurring in classical geography  a civilization of rice  in which rice possesses a leading place not only in a feed testifies, for example, but also in all complex of spiritual communication between people and the world of the nature.

Shortage of food stuffs accompanied with mankind on all extent of its history. In mythology of Indians of Central America there was a deity of famine, and owing to texts of Codes Maya and to sacred books of ancient inhabitants of region, legends, rituals, religious sacral symbolic we can judge that outstanding role which belonged to its main food culture  to corn.

However the tendency of obvious, basic improvement of a situation has extended only on separate regions, led to sharp territorial differentiation of the world in a level of maintenance and consumption of the foodstuffs.

It started to be obvious after a victory of industrial revolution over the countries of the West and has been aggravated during a time of becoming of colonial empires. The problem of overcoming of the developed break still is far from the sanction, and deficiency of the foodstuffs continues to remain until now, according to opinion widely occurring in scientific books, more serious danger, than rather young universal problems  pollution of an inhabitancy and an exhaustion resources. It was not casual still earlier the conclusion is made, that the history of mankind always was history of struggle for a daily bread.

These bitter and emotional words, nevertheless, are rather disputable, and contrary to them it was wrongful to expect other: primary abundance of food stuffs fatally would doom people to remain to stages of appropriating economy, being content with collecting, hunting and fishery (Evensky, 2005).

With a sufficient degree of accuracy to characterize a global food problem difficultly as basic calculations are dependent on chosen criteria, it is inevitable rather conditional. First of all, it is difficult to establish average in scale of all planet norm of a feed for zones and regions of the Earth by virtue of the objective reasons differ on power consumption, human life demanded for maintenance.

The hungry diet causing as a result physical degradation of an organism, contains less than 1000 kcal a day; it receive, according to estimations having a wide scatter, from 500 million up to 800 million people. In calculations of the United Nations on 1990 this figure has made 785 million person. In the world chronic undernourishment by which it is captured 1,5 billion the person, 1000-1800 kcal on a regular basis receiving only a day is widespread.

It represents now more serious threat on globe, than famine in old sense of a word which was caused by separate crop failures and amazed localized, though often extensive and density populated areas. Probably, that under the term undernourishment it is rational to understand not only the general high-calorie insufficiency of a feed, but also specifically albuminous.

In this respect contrast between industrially developed and developing countries is especially evident and great: In the first daily consumption of fibers per capita makes nearby 100 3 from which over 50 % fall to fibers of an animal origin; for the third world these parameters are equaled according to the little more than 50 3 and approximately 20 %. Protein starvation can arise at insufficient caloric content of food even if it is balanced on fibers as their part then is used in an organism as an energy source. As a result, if a feed bad quality, 30-40 % of fibers against 50-60 % in case of maintenance with a high-grade diet are acquired only.

From obvious activization in second half XX century of attention to a food problem as the global phenomenon is not followed with a rectilinear conclusion what exactly last decades the mankind has collided with especially strong shortage of food stuffs. Still the League of the Nations (the progenitrix of the United Nations) recited in 1928, that 2/3 population of a planet test famine and undernourishment; according to FAO, proceeding all the same, probably, from less rigid criteria, in developing countries in 70th 36 % of inhabitants chronically undernourishment, and later 20 years the figure has decreased up to 20 %.

This indisputable achievement should not cover that circumstance, that in the world die annually of famine about 13-18 million person, from them there is a great number of children. So, inspections of the World organization of public health services in Latin America have shown, that half of cases of death of children in the age of till 5 years directly or is indirectly connected with a bad feed. Correlation between, on the one hand, consumption level of fiber and calories and, with other, infantile death rate is precisely traced (Evensky, 2005).

At the same time shortage peep as an occasion for a lethal outcome it is fixed, and that only partially, only at sharp famine which is observed, for example, last years in Somalia. At its latent, latent character as to Bangladesh, the weakened organism becomes a victim of any illness which is registered by statistics as the actual reason of death. Therefore to define strictly quantitatively influence of starvation and undernourishment on a parameter of death rate and life expectancy while it is impossible. Break in a level of health services of the population and in sanitary-and-hygienic conditions is complicated also with direct comparisons of the countries which are being at different steps of social and economic development.

The World food conference called by General Assembly of the United Nations Organization and authorized to develop a way and means by means of which the international community as a whole could make concrete measures for the decision of the world food problem in wider frameworks of development and the international economic cooperation is approved by the resolution 3348 (XXIX) General Assemblies from December, 17th, 1974, accepts the following Declaration:

Conclusion

Recognizing, that

1. Sharp food crisis which with special force has amazed people of developing countries where the most part of a starving and undernourishment worlds population lives and where more than two thirds of population of all world make about the third part of the world foodstuffs  discrepancy which threatens with the further deterioration within the next ten years,  not only is fraught with serious social and economic consequences, but also puts under serious threat the main principles and the values connected with the right for a life and human advantage, as it is represented in the General declaration of human rights;
2. Liquidation of famine and the undernourishment, stipulated as one of the purposes of the Declaration of social progress and development, and liquidation of the reasons causing occurrence of similar position, are the general problem of all countries;
3. Position of people mentioned by famine and undernourishment, is consequence of historical conditions of their life, especially social inequality, including in many cases foreign and colonial domination, foreign occupation, a racial discrimination, apartheid and neo-colonialism in its all forms which continue to remain among the basic obstacles in a way of full clearing and progress of developing countries and their people;
4. similar position last years has worsened as a result of some crises taken place in economic, such, as deterioration of a condition of the international currency system; inflationary growth of charges on import; the heavy burden caused by external debts in the balance of payments of many developing countries; a growing demand for the foodstuffs, shown partially in connection with influence of demographic problems; gamble, and also shortage and the increased cost of the basic means of conducting an agriculture (Evensky, 2005).
5. these questions should be considered within the limits of negotiations spent now on the Charter of the economic rights and duties of the states, and General Assembly of the United Nations Organization it is necessary urgently to call to come to a common opinion and to accept this Charter which is the effective tool in an establishment of the new international economic attitudes which are based principles of equality and validity;
6. all the countries, greater and small, rich or poor, are equal in rights. All the countries possess the full right of participation in the decision of a food problem;
7. well-being of nations of the world substantially depends on an establishment of system of the world food safety which would provide corresponding presence of the foodstuffs and the reasonable prices for it at any time, irrespective of periodic fluctuations and change of weather conditions, and also from political and economic pressure, and should facilitate thus, besides other, development of developing countries;
8. the world and validity comprise development of economy, promoting the decision of world economic problems, liquidation of insufficient development, offering the strong and final decision of a problem of the foodstuffs for all people and guaranteeing all countries the right of free and effective performance of their programs of development. For this purpose it is necessary to finish with threats and application of force and to promote fuller cooperation of the states, to apply principles of non-interference to internal affairs of other states, to provide full equality of the rights and respect of national independence and the sovereignty, and also to encourage peace cooperation of all states, irrespective of their political, social and economic systems. The further improvement of the international attitudes will create the best conditions for the international cooperation in all areas that will allow to use greater financial and material resources, among other, for development of an agricultural production and significant improvement of the international food safety;
9. for the concrete and reliable sanction of a food problem it is necessary to use the best efforts, directed on reduction of an increasing break which divides today the developed and developing countries, and also on development of the new international economic order. It is necessary to create conditions that all the countries actively and effectively participated in new international economic attitudes by creation of the corresponding international systems, capable to carry out corresponding measures with the purpose of an establishment of fair and equal in rights attitudes in trade and the international economic cooperation;
10. developing countries confirm the belief that the basic responsibility for maintenance of their own fast development depends on them. Therefore they declare the readiness to continue to make active the individual and collective efforts with a view of expansion of mutual cooperation in the field of agricultural development and manufacture of the foodstuffs, including liquidation of famine and undernourishment;
11. as many developing countries by virtue of the various reasons not always are capable to satisfy the food needs, it is necessary to undertake urgent and effective international measures for rendering of the help which is not accompanied by political pressure by it.

According to the purposes and problems of the Declaration on an establishment of the new international economic order and the Program of the actions, accepted by General Assembly at its sixth special session.

Conference solemnly proclaims

1. Everyone the man, the woman and the child possess an inalienable law to be free for famine and undernourishment for full development and preservation physical and mental faculties. The modern society already possesses sufficient resources, organizational opportunities, technics and, hence, in a condition to reach this purpose. In appropriate way, liquidation of famine is the general duty of all countries of the international community, in particular the developed countries and the countries, capable to assist.
2. The basic duty of the governments is teamwork in a direction of increase in manufacture of the foodstuffs, and also more fair and effective distribution of the foodstuffs between the countries and inside of them. The governments should start immediately more coordinated actions against chronic undernourishment and the diseases which are taking place among the poorest and vulnerable groups of the population. With a view of maintenance of a corresponding feed the governments should develop the corresponding policy for all in the field of the foodstuffs and the feed, integrated in the general plans of social and economic and agricultural development which are based the corresponding information concerning the cash and potential foodstuffs. The great value of parent milk in this connection should be allocated, proceeding from the concept of a feed (Banerjee, 2006).
3. Food problems should be considered during preparation and realization of national plans and programs of economic and social development with a stress on their humane aspects.
4. A duty of each interested state according to its sovereign reasons and the internal legislation are removal of obstacles on ways of manufacture of the foodstuffs and maintenance of appropriate stimulus for farmers. Prime role in achievement of these purposes effectual measures of social and economic reorganization by means of change of policy in the field of an agriculture, the taxation, the credit and capital investments, and also reorganization of structure of rural areas by means of such measures, as play change of conditions of possession, mobilization of all potential of manpower resources, both women, and men in developing countries with a view of the integrated agricultural development, and also involving of small farmers, fishermen and landless workers with a view of achievement of demanded manufacture of the foodstuffs and employment. Besides it is necessary to recognize a key role of women in an agricultural production and rural economy of many countries, and also to provide, that corresponding training, the program of expansion and financial opportunities were accessible to women on equal terms with men.
5. Resources of the sea and the internal rivers become today as never the important sources of the foodstuffs and economic prosperity. Therefore should be taken the measures directed on assistance to rational use of these resources, mainly for consumption by their person to promote satisfaction of food needs of all people.
6. The efforts directed on increase of manufacture of the foodstuffs, should be supplemented with all possible measures with a view of prevention of irrational use of the foodstuffs in its all forms(Banerjee, 2006).
7. To stimulate manufacture of the foodstuffs in developing countries, and in particular in the least developed among them, to the developed and other countries capable to rendering assistance, it is necessary to take urgent and effective international measures to give to them the significant additional technical or financial help on favorable terms and in volume, sufficient for satisfaction of their needs, on the basis of bilateral and multilateral agreements. This help should not be accompanied by the conditions contradicting the sovereignty of the states-addressees.
8. All the countries, mainly advanced in the industrial attitude, should promote perfection of the know-how of the foodstuffs and use the best efforts, directed on assistance to transfer, introduction and distribution of the corresponding know-how of the foodstuffs in favor of developing countries, and with this purpose they, in particular, should use the best efforts on distribution of results of their research work between the governments and scientific institutes of developing countries so that they could promote stable agricultural development.
9. For maintenance of corresponding preservation of natural resources which are used or can be used for manufacture of the foodstuffs, all the countries should cooperate to facilitate preservation of the environment, including a sea environment.
10. All the developed and other countries capable to rendering assistance, should cooperate in the field of technics and the finance with developing countries in their efforts directed on expansion of the grounds and water resources for an agricultural production, and also maintenance of fast growth of opportunities of reception on fair conditions of means of an agricultural production, such, as fertilizers and other chemicals, high-quality seeds, credits and technics. In this connection also represents importance cooperation between developing countries (Banerjee, 2006).
11. All the states should make the maximal efforts directed on reorganization as required of agricultural policy to pay prime attention, to manufacture of the foodstuffs, recognizing in this connection interdependence of a world food problem and international trade. In definition of the approach to programs of assistance to farms for internal manufacture of the foodstuffs the developed countries should consider interests of developing countries  exporters of the foodstuffs to avoid negative consequences for their export. Besides all the countries should cooperate with the purpose of development of effectual measures under the sanction of a problem of stabilization of the world markets and assistance to the fair and favourable prices, in case of need by means of the international agreements, improvement of access on the markets by reduction or liquidations of tariff and not tariff barriers which exist concerning the products which are of interest developing countries, substantial growth of export receipts of these countries, assistance in diversification of their export, and also to apply in relation to them in multilateral trading negotiations principles,
12. As the general duty of all international community is maintenance of presence at any time necessary world deliveries of the basic food stuffs by maintenance of corresponding stocks, including emergency rations, all the countries should cooperate in creation of effective system of maintenance of world food safety.

All the countries-donors should accept and carry out the concept of preliminary planning of food aid and use the best efforts with a view of granting the raw goods and-or the financial help which will provide necessary quantity of grain and other articles of food. It is the extremely important to take urgent measures. Therefore Conference calls all people to express the will, both in the personal plan, and through the governments and the nongovernmental organizations to work in common to put an end to long-term disaster which represents famine.

References

Evensky Jerry (2005).

Adam Smiths Moral Philosophy: A Historical and Contemporary Perspective on Markets, Law, Ethics, and Culture (Historical Perspectives on Modern Economics), Cambridge University Press.

Banerjee Abhijit Vinayak, Benabou Roland, Mookherjee Dilip (2006).

Understanding Poverty, Oxford University Press, USA.

Set reasonable goals

In the pursuit of happiness, we need to set reasonable goals in accordance to what we value in life. According to desire-fulfillment theories, achieving these goals will then bring about pleasure (Benatar, 2006). Achievement of these goals can also directly contribute to feelings of endorsement, one of three faces of happiness (Haybron, 2013).

In response to this, some may instead argue that we should eliminate desires, including desires to attain goals. Since no desires that we have, including these goals set out, can be satisfied immediately, we endure a period of frustration before the desire is fulfilled and this frustration results in suffering. Buddhists also argue that desire is the cause of suffering as our desires are frustrated more often than fulfilled, resulting in us experiencing pain more often than pleasure (Singer, 1994). This is further supported by Epicurus who believes that katastematic pleasures are better as it is a feeling of having no more desires, which is more stable (Muyskens, 2019).

However, these goals set in place are not only meant to give us happiness when we achieve them, but they also give us a sense of purpose. According to Headey (2008), non zero-sum goals promote life satisfaction, which contributes to happiness. Furthermore, the fact that few human creatures would consent to be changed into any of the lower animals, for a promise of the fullest allowance of a beast’s pleasures (Singer and Mill, 1994) as well as the large majority of society being unwilling to plug into Nozick’s experience machine (Nozick, 1974) when given the choice to show that apart from attaining happiness, the experience of doing something matters to us. In both cases, becoming lower animals and being plugged into the experience machine prevents us from experiencing conscious decision making and the resultant effects of our decisions. Despite the promise that both scenarios give, for maximum happiness, society at large rejects it, suggesting that happiness gained without effort from us may not be as valued. It can be further argued that the attainment of desires and goals not only contribute to endorsement, which is fleeting (Haybron, 2013), it may even contribute to engagement as one enthusiastically takes on what life has to offer (Haybron, 2013) in pursuit of the goal. It may also contribute to attunement as the individual knows that he is living his life to the fullest as he tries his best to achieve the things that matter to him, resulting in him living life without regrets.

It is also crucial to ensure these goals are reasonable and attainable. Setting our minds on reaching impossible goals without careful evaluation of our abilities is simply setting ourselves up for failure and disappointment, which will only result in suffering.

Hence, setting reasonable and attainable goals results in satisfaction when we achieve it and gives us a sense of purpose, contributing to a happier life.

Change our attitude towards suffering

The next step in achieving happiness is changing our mindsets towards suffering. Dealing with how we view suffering is crucial as suffering is inevitable. According to Schopenhauer, life is a constant state of striving and satisfaction, and according to Benatar, no matter how we evaluate life, coming into existence is suffering (Benatar, 2006). From a hedonistic point of view, where the quality of a person’s life is dependent on the amount of pleasure, negative mental states make up the majority of our experiences, even in the best lives, even if they are only mildly negative ones. According to desire-fulfilment theories or according to objective list theories, frustration of desires and the lack of things that are objectively good predominate our lives. Since we are already in existence, it is pointless to compare between existence and non-existence. Instead, we can look towards how we view suffering in order to increase our happiness in our lives.

The Stoics suggest to remember that nothing is permanent, that no bad feeling will last forever (Muyskens, 2019). Taoists similarly emphasizes on going with the flow, adapting and accepting difficulties and sufferings that come our way instead of resisting them (Stead, 2018). It may seem that these thoughts encourage us to resign to our fates, to just accept suffering without seeking ways to improve our lives. However, they do provide a new perspective on dealing with suffering – instead of viewing them as bad things that happen to us, and spend time dwelling on how unfortunate we are to have to suffer, we can have hope that that suffering will soon pass, and change our attitudes to seeing these sufferings as opportunities for growth. Layard (2005) draws attention to an interesting finding that supports this view. It was found that a person’s health was chiefly affected by his subjective assessment of his own health rather than objective results obtained by the doctor. This suggests that our attitudes towards difficulties and sufferings we face may play a large role in how much we actually suffer.

In addition, sufferings can lead to more happiness for an individual. Suffering can build our character, teaching us values that can benefit us in other aspects of our lives, creating more positive mental states. For example, suffering in the form of having to study long hours for good grades can teach us the importance of discipline, which is a character trait that will benefit us in other aspects of our lives, be it in the sport we play or even in our future jobs, which will lead to more success in those aspects and bring us more happiness. Furthermore, akin to the example by Seligman (2004), where a pet lizard needed to stalk and shred the food it was fed before it was willing to eat it, our pleasures are tied by evolution to a series of actions. Believing that we can achieve pleasure through shortcuts and avoid sufferings is foolish. Instead, it is suggested that suffering in the pursuit of a goal contributes to the pleasure and happiness we attain when we eventually reach our goals. Hence, suffering can in fact lead to greater happiness.

Sufferings by an individual can lead to an increase in happiness for society at large too. Individuals throughout history and even ones today have suffered for causes larger than themselves, benefiting society and generations despite them having suffered tremendously in the process. For instance, Rosa Parks, an African American who refused to give up her seat on a public bus to a white man, a violation of the racial segregations laws in that city, in fighting for racial justice. Her act resulted in her suffering, as she was jailed, fired from her job and forced to leave the city after receiving multiple death threats (Brinkley, 1999). However, it relieved the sufferings of the generations after her as that act propelled the civil rights movement.

Hence, knowing that our suffering can increase our happiness and happiness for society, and changing our attitudes to suffering, we can increase our happiness.

Learn to be grateful

Another way to achieve happiness is through learning to be grateful, which has been proven to be an effective happiness intervention. A study showed that college students who were asked to keep a gratitude journal on a weekly basis for 10 weeks reported feeling better about their lives and were optimistic about the upcoming week, as compared to students that did not (Alipour, Pedram, Abedi & Rostami, 2012).

However, it is crucial to note that gratitude should not only arise when we compare the things we have with what others do not. Many tend to be grateful through comparison, for instance, being grateful for their food when they think of children in other countries who are starving. Sirgy argues that when people have to evaluate their lives, they often use a benchmark to compare their achievements against (Weimann, Knabe and Schöb, 2015). This may be detrimental as there are always others who are better off than us, and if our gratitude arises only from comparison, looking to those who are better off than us will result in not only a decrease in gratitude but may lead to resentment, lessening our happiness.

With the rise of social media, comparison between individuals has become increasingly easy and benchmarks for comparison has become less objective. Social media allows individuals to carefully manicure their online profile, resulting in many only posting their best and happiest moments online (Manago & Vaughn, 2015). Passive observation by others provokes social comparison. The comparison may have an even larger effect than comparison to celebrities as the former are more relevant standards for self-evaluation (Manago & Vaughn, 2015).

If comparison results in gratitude and hence happiness, richer countries should be happier. However, comparing between poorer and richer cities or countries, there is evidence that the inhabitants of poorer cities or countries are not less happy than that of richer ones. Furthermore, comparing between the past and the present, the average level of happiness in 1970 was not much different from that in the late 1940s in the United States despite average income being about 60% more (Brickman, Coates & Janoff-Bulman, 1978).

Hence, comparing our lives with others’ is proven to be an ineffective way to achieve gratitude. Instead, finding gratitude through expectations based on our achievements related to our own past can allow us to see how far we have come. Gratitude in this form, without comparison with others, allows us to be truly grateful for what we have, irrespective of what others have, contributing to happiness that is more stable.

Evaluate how satisfied we are with our lives

Evaluating how satisfied we are with our lives is also essential for achieving a happier life. Socrates is famous for his view that “The unexamined life is not worth for a human being” (Nussbaum, 2008). After deciding what we value in life, setting reasonable goals, changing our attitudes regarding suffering and learning to be grateful, we need to evaluate if we are satisfied with the lives we are living.

While hedonism suggests that we evaluate our overall happiness through calculating our net balance of positive and negative mental states, many other thinkers believe that there is more to overall satisfaction with our lives. Aristotle argues that happiness is about eudaimonia, beyond feeling good, it is about doing good through identifying one’s virtues, cultivating them and living life in accordance (Di Tella et al, 2006), while Seligman believes that authentic happiness involves both positive emotions and valuable activity (Seligman, 2002).

Similar to them, I believe that happiness in life is more than merely placing positive and negative mental states experienced in a lifetime on a scale and seeing where it tips towards. Instead, I believe that happiness is an overall satisfaction with one’s life, where we know that we have lived our lives to the fullest, pursuing the goals we have set out for ourselves in accordance to what we determined to be valuable in life. Considering what we are grateful for and evaluating our lives, we can also ascertain if what we have decided matters in life, and the goals we have set out initially have contributed to our happiness. If we find them to be erroneous, we are able to change and modify them, coming up with new goals that we can now pursue and achieve happiness. Such self-reflection and re-evaluation can be helpful in ensuring we are on the right path towards happiness.

Do not be overly concerned with how happy we are

Individuals seeking a happiness action plan are often trying to find ways to make themselves happier. As such, it may be counterintuitive to suggest that being happy requires us to care less about whether we are happy enough. However, this principle is echoed by John Stuart Mill as well, who believes that true happiness comes when we are not seeking it out. This may be due to the fact that our happiness is sometimes out of our control – some are predisposed to having negative mental states due to their genetic traits. Studies have shown that happiness is partially determined by one’s genetic set point. Through examining twin and adoption data, the researchers concluded that happiness was 80% genetic (Lyubomirsky, 2001). Furthermore, even things after our death could affect our legacy and hence our eudaimonia. Some Christians like Thomas Aquinas also believe that perfect happiness in this life was impossible because that requires the perfection of ourselves, which is something only God can do (‘Aquinas and Happiness’, 2012). As such, achieving maximum happiness is often not something we can control. If we place too much importance in achieving maximum happiness in our lives, we run the risk of being more upset when we realise that we are unable to achieve it. In fact, this is similar to the problem society faced during the enlightenment, where new optimism about happiness led to happiness becoming the goal of life. Achievements associated with happiness, such as the American dream, became an obligation, where even the government’s role was to aid individuals in achieving happiness and its related goals, making those who failed to achieve it were made to feel as if they were to be blamed for their failure. Therefore, one needs to avoid placing too much importance in their pursuit of happiness in order to lead a happier life.

Conclusion

In conclusion, there is no fixed set of steps one can look to in order to achieve a happy life. However, deciding what brings us happiness, setting reasonable goals, changing our attitude towards suffering, learning to be grateful and evaluating how satisfied with our lives may make us happier. However, it is also crucial to note that happiness is often a by product of the things we pursue, pursuing happiness in itself may not be feasible, hence we should not be overly concerned with how happy we actually are.

Introduction

From an Islamic point of view, happiness is expressed by the word sa’adah. Shaqawah, which normally conveys the sense of profound suffering and distress, is the word opposite to sa’adah. Two aspects of life are linked to the word sa’adah: the hereafter (ukhrawiyah) and the universe now (dunyawiyah). The word sa’adah has a strong association with both the realm of the afterlife and the present. In the case of

Hereafter, sa’adah means the sense of the supreme type of happiness, which is eternal contentment and joy, the greatest vision of God, offered to those who, in earthly life, have honestly dedicated themselves to serve God by obeying His orders and refusing His prohibitions. In other words, they follow the values of Islamic instructions & teachings. On the other hand, the present existence is related to three factors: ( 1) the self (nafsiyyah), such as intelligence and good moral behavior; (2) the body (badaniyyah), such as good health and safety; and (3) factors outside the self and the body (kharijiyah), such as wealth and other qualities or attributes. It is clear from the clarification above that happiness influences not just our secular and daily life; it can not, in reality, be isolated from the metaphysical facets of our lives as understood and directed by religion. This universal life is founded from the revelation of Al-Attas.

In order to get a better interpretation of the sa’adah in Islam, it is important to recognize the shaqawah first, according to Al-Attas. The basic sense of great (grief, pain, sadness, spirit roughness) is expressed by Shaqawah.

The sense of shaqawah in its different conjugated forms such as shaqaa, yashqa, tashqa, shaqiyy and shiqwah are also partly related to the afterlife in the interpretation of the Quran, partly to this universe and some also to both. Both of them definitely refer to those who turn away from God and reject His instructions, according to Al-Attas.

In brief, it is clear to us that shaqawah adds suffering to the lives of human beings. This feeling of ‘desperation’ will happen to someone who disregards God’s commands and still behaves in a manner that God has forbidden. This sense of desperation will happen to someone who disregards God’s orders and often disregards them.

On the contrary, al-Attas (1995 ) argues that the sa’adah means that if a man honestly submits himself to God by pursuing His instructions and commands in his self-consciousness, he will then be given boundless peace & happiness. This can be accomplished by the noble sense of iman or religion (faith) that will take him from the very real universe in which he resides and continues in the afterlife to absolute satisfaction.

Body

The definition of pleasure is interpreted differently by Western & Greek scholars. Thus, it is noteworthy to examine some of the Western views on this idea in order to better analyze the idea of pleasure. It is worth beginning with the opinions of Aristotle, Arius, and Epicurus, some of the Greek philosophers. Aristotle describes happiness (eudaimonia) as doing well and doing well and finding eudaimonia as the absolute final end, according to Annas.

As for Arius, he describes happiness as the highest or the greatest or the most important thing in one’s life. And Annas offers his reformulation of the ethics of Aristotle. He assumes that because the final good is not the satisfaction of physical and external rewards, but life according to morality, happiness is, thus, an operation (energeia) in harmony with morality in acts which, as one may wish, are favoured. Through adding to it as current, bodily and external products are considered beneficial of happiness; but those who assume that they fulfill (sumpleroun) pleasure do not realize that pleasure is life and life is the satisfaction of behavior (sumpepleratai). No physical or external goods is an action in itself or an operation in general.

For Epicurus, pleasure is the good life that can be attained by resisting suffering and wishes beyond one’s intrinsic needs for things. The possessions to be found in life are physical enjoyment, mental happiness and harmony. Annas (1993 ) argues that happiness is simply a joy that proposes a man’s final end. For that purpose, we do not prefer every pleasure, but often we skip over many pleasures, when greater irritation follows from them for us and we evaluate many pains superior to pleasures, when greater joy continues along for us while we tolerate the pains for a long time. Because this joy is the primary objective and is inherent to us. Therefore, any joy because of having nature that is common to us (oikeian) is a positive thing, but not all discomfort is necessarily normal to stop. Both these problems should, however, be judged by weighing together and looking at the pros and cons, for we use the positive as a negative thing on certain occasions, and the poor as a positive on the other side.

It is equally important for us to explore how some Western scholars assess and reformulate the idea of happiness that they have learnt from ancient Greeks. According to Brad Art, happiness is a symbol of deliberate joy and lack of suffering. Pleasure is the only desired goal. Another definition of happiness is: ‘Happiness is the best thing in life, the finest of our goods. It’s different from the other products we’re shooting at; it’s not another source, but the way we deliberately seek those other ends, and then it can be referred to as the usage we make of those ends. Since happiness is our own pursuit, it is something that we do, and so it is up to us. The above mentioned definitions of happiness pleasure are drawn from both the philosophers of Greece and Westernism. Indeed, they have their own views on happiness. However, they tend to narrow the idea of happiness only to the life of today. Currently, since most of them do not believe in life after death, they are reluctant to speak about the reality of pleasure after death. This is, from the point of view of Islam, the most faulty argument of Western thinkers or scholars’ regarding the idea of happiness.

Avoiding them to explore the idea of success in the light of the afterlife would not address the questions and concerns that threaten the idea. This may be the contributing factor why Westerners in their interpretation of the meaning of ethics are still restricted. Observing it from an Islamic point of view they tend to be ‘lost’ about ethics, and this feeling of ‘lost’ is one of the variables that appears to keep them from pursuing the notion of happiness in its full potential. Al-Attas makes an assertion about their ‘fear’ of addressing the ‘happiness’ idea after death. He argues that in the case of contemporary Western philosophy, which does not know if there is such a thing (death) and how we are going to be responsible for it, this is notably so. The ancient Greeks sought to get away from it by saying that after you die there is nothing, you are only done, you are non-existent, but even that did not mean happiness and peace, either. It generates suspicions, it causes confusion, and so it does not solve the problem. Philosophers do not like to speak about these problems.

Death-there is still little understood about it. Right now should they want to test death and make people consider it as normal, but they don’t want to handle it like that … The terror of those who deny the teachings of God is something that they can’t get rid of. And when they claim to believe that there is no such thing, it is always nagging. They can not avoid the fact that the concept of happiness, as far as Islam is concerned, is not just in this world, it persists, even though they succeed in pretending, and so you can have fake happiness in this universe.

There are four groups of means (wasa’il) for happiness, according to al-Ghazali, which man will use in his life to attain happiness. There are four types of virtuousness in each of these four instruments. In truth, the total number of means therefore amounts to sixteen. However, not all of these methods are similarly important to satisfaction. In other words, they have their own roles, some are good, and some are required for happiness to be accomplished.

The four groups of means are (1) the bodily ‘goods’ (al-fada’il al-jismiyya), (2) the ‘goods’ of the soul (al-fada’il an-nafsiyya), (3) the ‘goods’ of divine grace (al-fada’il at-tawfiqiyya), and (4) the external ‘goods’ (al-fada’il al-kharijiyya). The good of the soul consists of good conduct (husn al-khuluq) and faith (iman). Faith is thus broken into revelation knowledge and functional belief knowledge. Often, confidence is considered a synonym for wisdom. It is split into temperance and righteousness as of decent conduct.

This is because the suppression of desire and anger is involved in temperance and justice and it is on this suppression that the acquisition of all good traits depends (Al-Ghazali, 2015). Then it is possible to divide the four possessions of the soul into two minor parts: faith or understanding and the soul’s praiseworthy attributes. Those two are the closest ways to finding happiness. Since action (‘amal) will accomplish the enhancement of the soul by positive qualities, the closest means to happiness appears as knowledge and action. As for physical possessions, fitness, strength, long life and elegance are noted. Physical possession is also an important way of obtaining satisfaction, identical to the former, since the rewards of the soul can’t be entirely obtained without it.

It is clear how the former and the physical are integrated with each other. Without sound health and sufficient physical strength from bodily ownership, ownership of the mind, which consists of information and action, can’t be followed with ease. Men will achieve greater happiness in their lives through this mix. Income, influence, family and noble birth are the advantages which are external to the body. In helping men to find happiness in their lives, each of these elements has its own function. In other words, in his worldly relations, they improve man’s proper conduct and thereby give him greater chances to plan for happiness. Let’s use wealth as an example. The owner would be free from the duty to acquire the essentials of life by acquiring productive resources. He will, in turn, spend much of his time gaining information and putting it into effect.

As for a noble birth, it does not mean the birth of a wealthy man. Currently, it involves being born into a religious family that cultivates piety and wisdom. One who is born in such a family, according to al-Ghazala, will inherit characteristics of good nature from his father, and this concept of a noble birth is a real sense to happiness. Godly guidance (hidaya), divine guide (rushd), divine leadership (tasdid) and divine support (ta’ad) are the virtues of divine grace. The aim of these advantages is to merge physical possessions and external advantages with that of a spirit. The two former qualities will not generate the latter without these advantages. The attempt of a man to achieve happiness will be disrupted as this happens. On the contrary, if the four groups of these advantages or possessions are completely working, then men will comfortably find happiness in their lives.

Conclusion

The four groups of means are (1) the ‘goods’ of the soul (al-fad’il an-nafsiyya), (2) the bodily ‘goods’ (al-fad’il al-jismiyya), (3) the external ‘goods’ (al-fad’il al-khrijiyya), and (4) the ‘goods’ of divine grace (al-fad’il at-tawfiqiyya) (Quasem, 1978, p.58).

This essay has discussed briefly but comprehensively the meaning and experience of happiness. From the discussion, the conclusion that could be derived is that that there is no end in happiness. The inference that may be taken from the debate is that there is no limit to satisfaction. In reality, one can achieve satisfaction for the rest of one’s life, both in earthly and secular life as well as in the afterlife.

In reality, the Vision of God, the finest end of paradise, will be given to him in the hereafter. It is clear that Islam offers such an exclusive way for man to find peace in his life, with respect to the means to peace. This route encompasses the external and inner actions of man. It also serves to affect the destiny of man immensely. This suggest that if practiced scrupulously, the conduct and behavior of man would be improved to a higher merit.

In short, he’s going to find himself honoured by the laity and blessed by Heaven. There is no question that these elements will lead those who practice them to the love of God with respect to knowledge and action, which are the primary means of happiness. Moreover, the vision of Allah in the afterlife would be given to him. It should be considered as a respectable Muslim among those who follow these elements. This is because in the Qur’an and Hadith, they truly do what God and His messenger have told them.

It is everyone’s desire and ultimate goal to live and pursue a happy life. Many work so hard throughout their lifetime to achieve and accomplish what they think will bring them true happiness, whether it is associated with some type of monetary value or extrinsic value, and for others, true happiness is associated solely with intrinsic value. All around the world, people strive and face challenges on a daily basis to ultimately live “the happy life” and each person has his own definition and different way in attaining what is known to be the good life. What seems to be very basic and ordinary for someone could be a fantasy for another person who is less fortunate and limited from taking advantage of the opportunities that life has to offer. For instance, a child who lives in undeveloped parts of Africa would dream of the lives that we live today in an advanced and civilized country like the United States. That child’s fantasy and definition of “good life” would be all about receiving education, having clean food and water and a safe place to live which to us, these factors sound very normal and basic human necessities. By my definition, those who live the happy life have a positive, optimistic view on life and a stable mental health which, therefore, influences one’s soul to be positive and in peace and proves the interrelatedness of a healthy soul and a happy life. My stance on this topic is that if one’s soul is happy, healthy and a harmony is present between his soul and his actions in daily life, he is one step closer to achieving the happy life than someone who is pessimistic, in battle with his soul and his emotions and sees extrinsic value in true happiness.

As mentioned in his book called The Republic, Plato strongly believed that the soul and one’s actions are closely connected to each other. He states, “A man is wise if that small element in him callled reason governs according to what is good for the soul’s three elements, for their own sakes and in their mutual relations” (Plato, 37). This means that it is the duty of reason to enable a person to make a healthy decision based on what is good for his own sake, not the effects that it will bring along later.

Life in the present day is full of exciting and complex challenges and changes. Changes that in turn affect both the physical and mental aspects of a human being. Inevitably facing these challenges and changes, human beings tend to pay more attention to their physical health and often ignore their mental health. However, the importance of mental health is no less, if not more important than physical health. According to mentalhealth.gov, “Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being; It affects how we think, feel, and act.”

A person who can overcome the stresses of everyday life can be described as a person with good mental health and they are capable of leading an independent life. Factors such as being cheerful, having a positive outlook on life, setting goals to achieve and making healthy relationships are all components of forming a good mental health which will therefore shape a healthy soul. It’s important to note that all the mentioned factors include an intrinsic value and are spiritual and they cannot be purchased with money. Seneca, another philosopher also agreed upon the fact that true happiness must be “solid, constant, and more beautiful in its more hidden parts” rather than something that is only beautiful on the outside, and worthless on the inside.

What would a good life be summarized as? Healthy partnerships, emotional harmony, reason and logic, having hobbies, judgement and stress free thoughts and to some extent, financial stability would be some of the key points that contribute to having a good life. The good life is often seen as a state in which a human being exhibits total virtue. As plato described it, a virtue can be defined as one having total moral excellence. In addition, virtue is an essential part of a good life, however, the good life cannot only be achieved by being virtuous. It is important to note that both Plato’s and Seneca’s ideology regarding virtue is very similar. Just like plato, seneca also defined virtue as a way in which one leads his life according to reason.

The idea of character development plays a vital role in personal excellence. Moreover, intellectual excellence, often summarized as theoretical knowledge, is a major point that affects one’s reasoning and decision making abilities. It is one’s decisions that are the determining factor whether he will be harmonious and in peace with his soul and live a happy life or, it can be the total opposite, should he make negative and bad choices. In a letter to his brother called “On the Happy Life,” Seneca stated, “The happy man is content with his present lot, no matter what it is, and is reconciled to his circumstances; the happy man is he who allows reason to fix the value of every condition of existence.” This means that one who has a peace of mind and a harmonious life, will not be eager to want more of what he cannot afford and be ungrateful towards the things that he already holds a position in. Another point that both Plato and Seneca would agree upon would be the fact that a human being should have control and moderate his desires. By moderating the desires, one would create a divine-like state of tranquility within his inner self and he would be less allured to be drawn towards the immoral life-decisions and eagerness.

The happy life entails the spiritual inner components of one’s healthy soul such as having virtues. The two mainly discussed philosophers, Plato and Seneca, also believed that true happiness is not about extrinsic factors or about being extremely wealthy, but rather it is about having a harmony between the soul and actions, having moral virtues and developing good habits which will therefore construct a healthy soul and lead to a happy life. Those who are optimistic, have the ability to reason and have created a harmony between their emotions and actions have a good mental health. A good mental health is then followed by a happy soul which will enable one to successfully achieve a happy life. The good life without either of the elements such as containment and inner tranquility cannot be accomplished in its true essence. The ability to reason and make proper decisions is the foundation of one’s healthy soul. Once a man begins to appreciate the things that he has achieved during his life, he will begin to realize and understand the first step in leading a happy life.

It is probably okay to say that everyone in the world wants to be truly happy and that they want to enjoy their time on earth, but mainly everybody struggles with being truly happy. It is just something that doesn’t come naturally for many. Happiness really depends on your own way to feel joy, to have certain people around you or doing something you love like a hobby, or something that brings meaning and purpose to your life. Happiness does not come out of thin air you have to decide when to be happy, and what makes you truly happy. You must decide that you are going to be happy no matter what life throws your way. Many people have their own definition of happiness but what is the actual meaning of happiness.

Happiness, according to dictionary.com, means the state of being happy. This definition doesn’t really mean much. Wikipedia gives a more in-depth definition of happiness. It says happiness is the feeling of an emotion such as pleasure or joy, the appraisal of life satisfaction or the quality of life, subjective well-being and eudaimonia (Wikipedia para.1). It is very difficult to find a good definition of what happiness means, because many do not really have an explanation of what happiness is, they just know it when they feel it. Happiness changes in everybody just because you are super happy today does not mean you will have the same amount of happiness the next day or in the next second or minute. This is because of short term happiness. “Short-term happiness is based on the release of the chemical Dopamine in our brain. This organic chemical is released whenever we are stimulated by things that please us (Hugo, 22)” When the event is over so is the happiness that you felt. It just disappears quickly. Short term happiness is stimulated by things like laughing with friends, watching funny videos, basically anything that you love doing. Long term happiness is something very different from short term happiness. It is created by feeling happy about your purpose in life, and things that you have accomplished in life. Long term happiness is not based on an event like short term happiness. As Hugo stated, “Long-term happiness is created by feeling happy about your purpose in life, the successes that you’ve had and/or the satisfaction of who you are and what you’ve accomplished” (Hugo,26). Basically, what you should realize is that your definition of happiness is unique things that make you happy may not make others happy.

Instead of thinking about our problems we should think about solutions to help solve our problems faster. Each day many people find something good that they enjoy doing. Maybe it is something super small, such as buying a book, eating, watching your favorite tv show, going watch a movie with friends or boyfriend or even just a family member, or something as simple as walking around and enjoying nature but whatever it is if it makes you feel happy and at peace then do those things more often. Small things can bring the most happiness to our lives. Happiness is not what you feel from the outside, but it’s something that comes from inside you.

Many people spend a lot of time searching for the meaning of happiness. They want to find out what makes them truly happy in life. Many people think that money is key to happiness but that is where they are very wrong money can only contribute to their happiness. Even though money matters and can help you get things that are needed, it’s by all account not the only thing that adds to our joy. On the chance that cash implies covering the entirety of our essential needs, it can emphatically add to joy. In any case, after essential needs are met, expanding your extra cash adheres to the theory of consistent losses (Booth 8). Happiness is not about where you are or what you have, but these things contribute to the happiness that you have. Happiness is about loving yourself and where you’re at in life. According to Stephanie Booth, ‘The stuff we think gives us “happiness” right now—such as scrolling through social media—activates the brain’s ancient motivation-and-reward system, and only gives us momentary pleasure.” (11) Many things can make you happy for a while, but the true emotion of happiness is living the best life possible.

Happiness is not being happy all the time. Researchers have found that all most all happy people still experience happiness from time to time. Level of happiness can change in response to some live events. Many people need to see happiness as a journey and not a destination. We tend view our joy as something that occurred before, or something that will occur later in life. Individuals invest the greater part of their energy commending the past or attempting to accomplish something later. They see joy as a goal. Something to accomplish. According to Steve, “happiness is a combination of how satisfied you are with your life, how good you feel on a daily basis, and how engaged you are with your network of family and friends.” (springs, 52). They forget they are living in the present and not in the past. As Steve Spring stated “No achievement in the future is going to make them extremely happy. No amount of money is going to buy their happiness. No relationship is going to guarantee their happiness. They need to learn to fully enjoy living in the present.” (spring, 34-38). There are some people that focus on being happy, but they end up being less happy.

Happiness can come in two different ways. The first way is on a standard level, there are numerous ways we can prepare our mind in happiness. For instance, we can pick adoring musings, words, and activities. The more we develop love, sympathy, euphoria and unbiasedness, the more we will end up being an energetic wellspring of satisfaction for other people. Also, for ourselves as well. The second way is on a significant level, when we are in contact with our actual nature happiness normally emerges. We don’t need to successfully make it. It just streams up when we reside in our characteristic psyche. Different feelings may emerge like misery, outrage, stress, or dread; however, they won’t really stick if we become acclimated with essentially resting free and open space of our unique mind. These two ways to deal with developing bliss are interconnected. Effectively captivating in positive contemplations, words, and deeds carries us closer to our actual nature. At the point when we are in contact with our actual nature, these positive characteristics immediately show. On alwayswellwithin.com there are steps for a more lasting happiness the first step is to eliminate negative thoughts, actions, and words. The second step is to adopt positive attitudes, actions, and words. The last step is to reconnect with your true nature through meditation. These steps may help some people, but may not help others, but it is a good start to helping people find happiness throughout their life.

Many people have their own definition of true happiness. Happiness is in what you do in your daily life and what makes you truly happy. Happiness can come from anywhere at any time. Many people feel happiness when they are doing something, and others feel happy when they are not doing anything at all they could be playing a game or watching tv and feel happy. Happiness is different for everybody on Earth. No one can tell you what happiness really is, only you can say what happiness really is. According to Stephanie, “people’s striving for some ideal “happiness” is one of the great causes of unhappiness in the world” (27). Joy is having fulfillment and importance throughout everyday life. It’s the capacity to feel positive feelings. The capacity to beat negative feelings. The capacity to interface with others. One thing everyone should understand is to not go around chasing happiness, just let it come to you and you will not be disappointed. Happiness is very hard to define, but happiness is doing what you love to do and having true happiness can take you a long way.

What would it take for you to make tomorrow a day filled with happiness and joy? What would it take for you to make tomorrow a day where you enjoy an inspired and productive work/life balance? What would it take for you to make tomorrow a day where you followed your dreams and met all of your goals? What would it take for you to change your life for the better? For me the answer came in a very unexpected way. I got hit by a taxi.

Or rather, I got hit and then run over by a taxi. Twice. The car was estimated to have been traveling at 35 mph. At that speed, the doctors expected I would be hurt, bruised, bleeding, or at least sporting scrapes and scratches. But oddly, I was physically perfectly fine. I got up the next day and went back to work. But something in my thinking had changed.

As I detail in my latest book, “I Got Hit By A Taxi, But You Look Run Over,” while patiently waiting in the ER that night I experienced a perfect moment of clarity about the value of balance, the power of joy, the need for passion in our work, and how combining all three could lead to transformational change in our lives. Granted, it came to me in a voice that rather candidly said, “Happiness is what matters; all the rest is bulls—,” but good advice is good advice, no matter what language it uses.

Women are renowned as change agents in society, and we have a long history of creating positive growth in the world at a dramatic level, but making transformational change in our own lives can be harder to achieve — and I don’t recommend a speeding taxi for anyone.

Before the accident, I had hurried through overloaded workdays, rushing from meeting to meeting, usually complaining that I wasn’t having any fun, and wondering when happiness and joy would finally to come into my life. I’d ask myself “Why?” but I never knew the answer. The answer is that only I could make meaningful change in my own life.

Since the accident, I have lived my life with the understanding that transformational change – in any arena of our lives –

is completely achievable when approached with passion and a plan. When we stop asking, “How will it happen?” or “Who will help me get there?” and make a plan of action for ourselves, then even the most intimidating goals — getting a new job, owning a home, finding a good partner, or even just living a life of happiness and joy – can be achieved.

So how do you begin to live a balanced and inspired life? How do you make transformational change?

Start small. I believe in The Power of Three: do three little things a day – three for your personal happiness, three for the world and three for your goals – and in time they will build happiness and joy in your life and keep your perspective on the things that really matter.

For my personal happiness, I do these three things: I have a really good cup of coffee each morning, I take time each day to exercise, and I enjoy an excellent glass of wine at the end of the day.

For the world, I pick up a piece of garbage off the ground every day and throw it away in its proper receptacle. I also write a piece of personal correspondence to someone. When was the last time you received a handwritten note from someone in your mailbox? A small, simple gesture like that truly can change someone’s day, and perhaps inspire their life. I also try to pay someone a genuine compliment each day. Sending positivity to myself and into the world can fuel us for success like nothing else.

Lastly, I do three things toward my goals every day – taking small steps toward everything from learning a new language or building my client base to completing my next book. When you make it a priority to focus on your goals but do it in small manageable bites, you can achieve anything.

For example, did you know that in 1912 Juliette Gordon “Daisy” Low founded the Girl Scouts with the simple goal of getting girls more access to the outdoors? Their first meeting had only 18 members, but today the Girl Scouts boast more than 3 million members and are responsible for the largest financial literacy program for girls in the nation. One woman taking a small step toward a manageable goal has, over time, impacted millions of lives in countless ways that she couldn’t have imagined. And we can all do that.

Another example of what we can achieve when we live an inspired and balanced life is the Ms. Foundation for Women. The oldest women’s foundation in the U.S. began as a conversation between four friends — Gloria Steinem, Marlo Thomas, Patricia Carbine and Letty Cottin Pogrebin — and 45 years later, it is a landmark example of using collective power across race and class to achieve social justice.

By following our passions, making a plan of action and taking small daily steps toward our goals, we can transform and inspire not just our own lives but the lives of people in our communities, our world and even future generations.

How do you live your life? Is it out of balance? Lacking inspiration? You don’t need permission to grow. You don’t need anything external in your life to change before you can begin. And you definitely don’t need to wait for a taxi to hit you! By taking small steps, you can achieve transformational change starting today. You can simply begin to live a balanced and inspired life, and by doing so, your world will be transformed in ways you can’t even begin to imagine.

Happiness to me is like a cloud. A cloud can be altered by its environment and it grows and shrinks by its climate. Clouds can disappear and reform, but there will not be clouds; happiness is always present. We, as a tenacious and ambitious species, have to just find it and make happiness out of situations. Happiness is one common denominator between cultures and people in my eyes. As it stands, who doesn’t want to be happy? On a basic level, I believe that our search for happiness is the greatest motivator. We do what we do in the hopes that we will ultimately find greater happiness, whether it is rising on the corporate ladder or going to an underdeveloped country to volunteer. It does seem intuitive to think one values this supposed state of mind so highly, we can reach that belief.

“We accept the ups and downs and care mainly about our average happiness over a longish period of time” according to Lanyard. I don’t agree with Lanyard’s assumptions in his analysis (Lanyard). This is because unlike getting achieving success academically, there is a paradox between the ultimatum and how we evaluate our mode of discourse. Honestly speaking, when we value happiness very highly, we will set standards and expectations for happiness that are very difficult to attain. This can easily lead to disappointment when we fail to meet our goals, especially when the goals are concrete to lead to an abstract goal.

Myers’s views are quite interesting as well. Myers states that “we are not born for happiness” as Samuel Johnson wrote (Myers). However, I think that we are born in a state of happiness. I like to think that the dogma “Ignorance is bliss” supports my claim in this sense. This is because when babies are always jubilant and happy because societal norms and such have not affected the baby yet; this means that I believe we as humans enter the world with optimism and nothing but happiness, but events and the environment around us at a young age shape the temperament that is reported in these reports. That being said, Myers is quite detailed in his acknowledgment of other scientists and scholars’ results from their research. “Even my esteemed fellow Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has written that genuinely happy individuals are few and far between”(Myers). I agree with this humorous assessment because I remember my readings in Buddhism suggesting that desire is the root cause of suffering. It’s this society that decreases our state of being due to conforming to this environment. As shown in the videos we watched in class, it is unbeknownst to those who live in closed-off communal societies why we work for a profit. Everything we do is in pursuit of a profession and expanding ourselves beyond who we really are. Like how Henry Thoreau said, we must be with ourselves to truly be happy. Our western environment that inspires ambition only increases our desires, thus our suffering.