Pursuit of HappinessEnglish 1302

What is happiness?“Happiness is prosperity combined with

virtue.”-Aristotle

Happiness:1)a state of well-being and contentment:

JOY 2)good fortune: PROSPERITY

-Merion- Webster Dictionary

A happy life = a good life

Can we find happiness?

Yes!!!•Spiritual/Religious Happiness•Philosophical Happiness•Psychological Happiness (emotions, close relationships)What about:•Realist Happiness (wealth and power)????

The University of Michigan researchers asked a national sample of Americans to express their feeling through various facial expressions. Which face comes closest to how happy vs. unhappy you feel you are?

The University of Michigan researchers asked a national sample of Americans to express their feeling through various facial expressions. Which face comes closest to how happy vs. unhappy you feel you are?

Really Happy: 20%

PrettyHappy: 46%

Happy: 27%

Average: 4%

Really Unhappy: 0%

Pretty Unhappy: 1%

Unhappy: 2%

On a Scale of 1-10, how Happy & Unhappy

3/10 – NINE and SEVEN2/10 – EIGTH 1/10 – SIX 1/10 – NINE 1/10 – NINE. EIGHT1/10 – TEN

3/10 – ONE2/10 – TWO1/10 – THREE 1/10 – FIVE1/10 – SEVEN1/10 – EIGHT

Are Participants?

Religious/Spiritual HappinessDeeply spiritual/religious people are happy and willing to left their happiness rest in the hands of a higher power, such as God, a Buddha, etc.

Their relationship with God, or whomever, is so intimate, it bring them high self-esteem, their source of contentment.

Inner Contentment-The first method is to obtain everything we have wanted, such as the perfect dwelling, vehicles, career, spouse, body, and enough money to satisfy ourselves. -More importantly, to apply the second method in which we appreciate and desire what we have, instead of focusing on not having what we want.

Philosophical Happiness-Epictetus: Accept that we cannot solve everyone’s problems, other than our own. Play your own part, and play it well.

-Add value to you life with your goals and ambitions to achieve happiness.

-Aristotle: ‘It is for the sake of happiness that we all do everything else we do.’ As long as we have a sensible plan for our life, our goals will show that we mean it to be a worthwhile, happy life.

Psychological Happiness (emotions and close relationships)

-“Four in five adults –adults of all ages– rate love as important to their happiness. And they are right.” David G. Myers-We want and desire companionship and family.

-Divorce rates go up- Independence acceptable at old age.-It has been a pull between giving your heart and independence, but both can be their own kind of prison.

-Close relationships have shown to promote health and happiness. We find support and comfort in them. That is what keep us going. -People cite family as the source of pleasure and emotional strain.

Close relationships are the sources that bring the most heartache, but also the greatest joy.

Realist Perspective

-Money doesn’t buy happiness!!!“Apparently, money power, or learning was not

the most important aspect of a good life.” Ventegodt, Søren

IN THE END“Happiness is one of the most important things in life but happiness is something you have to find in yourself — being who you are and accepting who you are — and no one can do that for you.“

-Michelle Dockery