...above all having children” (Munsey 2010.) Before I read this article, I used to think that getting married made things better. You would be closer to one another, trust more in one another, and build a better relationship with one another. I have been with my partner for almost four years, and even though marriage is one thing on our list, we haven’t felt that it has been something we have to do right away. I have a four and a half year old daughter from a previous relationship. Since my partner and I have been together, it seems that the more time and time goes on, the more the four of us grow together as a family. There are some things about this article that I completely agree with and some that I will definitely disagree with as well. As twenty-three women who has lived with the same man for almost four years, and have risen a little girl together seems fair enough that I can consider myself basically married. There is no paper that states that, but I believe that our history and current state very well proves that. There are three main topics that this Harvard professor discusses and that is bottom line, being married and happy, money and finances, and marriage and kids. In my personal opinion I believe that I can give my opinion my Daniel Gilbert’s thoughts, because my life can be easily related to an ordinary marriage. In this article, the first point that Daniel Gilbert brings up is, “it’s not marriage that makes you happy, its happy marriage that...
Words: 1594 - Pages: 7
...The documentary called “Happy,” directed by Roko Belic, is about a quest to finding the meaning of happiness. The inspirational film travels to numerous countries to find out what really makes people happy. It demonstrates powerful real-life stories of people showing their personal definition of happiness. Scientists also offer their input on the secret of this emotion and talk about intrinsic and extrinsic goals. Extrinsic and intrinsic goals represent two very different types of motivation that are the basis for a person’s journey to achieving what they feel is happiness. Extrinsic and intrinsic goals differ in the type of happiness a person is able to achieve. Extrinsic goals are external factors that come from a force outside one’s self that drive a person towards happiness. Someone who is extrinsically motivated is driven by praise, money, image, or status. It is often said that money can’t buy happiness. It perhaps can buy happiness with meeting basic needs, but usually it cannot go beyond that because you are often left with wanting more. The happiness of an event or materialistic thing often dissipates, leaving people seeking for something more. On the other hand, intrinsic goals represent internal factors that are inherently satisfying. Goals like social bonding, social interaction, and personal growth motivate certain people to lead happier and less anxious lives. It is believed that you as an individual choose to be happy. People who are intrinsically...
Words: 994 - Pages: 4
...Austen’s Portrayal of Money, Marriage, and Happiness by Character Usage in Pride and Prejudice Throughout the novel Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen portrays her views on money, marriage, and happiness through the coupling of several characters she created. Austen uses the characters and their relationships to show what true love should really be like in her opinion. One of the ways she showcased marriage in the book was that marriage created love and happiness, as opposed to the idea that love and happiness were a direct result from getting married. I have chosen ten characters from the novel, and through their coupling, will portray Austen’s views on money, marriage, and happiness in the nineteenth century. The coupling of Elizabeth and Darcy is the kind of pairing that is common in present day society. They seemed to fall in love before the decision to marry was decided. Elizabeth defies the general views of what society considers right. She makes her decisions on marriage based on her feelings and not on status, money, or pedigree. This is portrayed in the novel when Mr. Collins proposes to Elizabeth and she does not accept because she does not love Collins. Unlike other couples, Elizabeth and Darcy's relationship is not based on money, status, or name despite Darcy’s social status. Instead, it is based solely upon their feelings for one another. Elizabeth perfectly describes Darcy's affection for her when she stated, "'...you were sick of civility, of deference, of officious...
Words: 1229 - Pages: 5
...Happiness and Positive Emotions The United States Declaration of Independence states: “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness”. To mention happiness in such an important document that would later go on to be the foundation of an entire country, carries a lot of weight and meaning. Most Americans agree that happiness is an important part of one’s life. Even though different cultures have a different perception of happiness, it is still plays a significant role. Research has been done which states people who are happier achieve better life outcomes, including financial success, supportive relationships, mental health, and even physical health and longevity. Having read the chapter of happiness and positive emotions and a few articles, I will related the readings and research to my own understanding and interpretation of how each plays a role in my life. Research on positive emotions, such as happiness, compassion, love and hope, is relatively new. Most scientists who study emotions focus on negative states such as depression, anxiety, and fear. Psychologists spend most of their time trying to help people control those states, whereas happiness is a positive emotion that does not need any help to overcome. Researchers have trouble defining and measuring happiness, and have concluded that happiness does not fit the definition of an emotion. The authors of Emotion, Shiota and Kalat, state that happiness qualifies more as a mood or affect, and people with a happy personality...
Words: 2086 - Pages: 9
...It Takes To Be Happy” by Stacey Colino and “The Happiness Factor” by David Brooks, both authors give insights on happiness, how to be happy, and where happiness comes from. Colino mainly talks about how having a healthy self-esteem, a sense of optimism, gratifying relationships, and meaning and purpose in your life have the most influence on your happiness. Brooks talks about how money, fame, and wealth shouldn’t make us happy. However, both Brooks and Colino express that happiness comes from your inner self, and what you surround yourself with, not materialistic things. First of all, Brooks views on happiness differs from Stacey Colino. Brooks feels happiness comes from relationships with people, and not money. He brought up a good example with the famous actress Sandra Bullock. She won the Academy Award for best actress in 2010. Then news reports came out that her and her husband had a divorce. He was an “adulterous jerk.” Brooks stated that if you have a unsuccessful marriage or relationship, it does not matter what career achievements you have, you will remain unhappy. According to Brooks, countries with high social trust have happier people, better health, and more efficient government. Furthermore, Stacey Colino states basically how to be happy and what steps to take. She gives different ideas on how to be happy, for example, develop an upbeat attitude, hang out with your favorite people, etc. Stacey views happiness with what you have around you, if you’re around...
Words: 467 - Pages: 2
...puts a spot on the relationship between happiness and economic wealth. According to Brooks there is something a lot more important than economic wealth. “Marital happiness is far more important than anything else in determining personal well-being”. Brooks uses a lot of statistics to support his points of view. From one of the statistics, he deduces that winning the lottery does not make you any happier. Instead he tells that we are happiest after our retirement. “The overall impression from this research is that economic and professional success exists on the surface of life, and that they emerge out of interpersonal relationships, which are much deeper and more important”. The main point in this text is that marital happiness is way more important than economic wealth. Text 2 – But will it make you happy? Text 2 is written by Stephanie Rosenbloom and was brought in The New York Times in 2010. It focuses on the fact, that we are in an economic crisis and we do not spend as much money as we did before the crisis. Because of that, we have to use our money properly. “..people are happier when they spend money on experiences instead of material objects..”. This claim is a generally assumption in the text, and Rosenbloom keeps talking about how it makes you happier, when you spend your money on an experience instead of plain old stuff. Fashion lovers disagree with Rosenbloom. The fashion journalist Hayley Corwich says, “I could pull out things from my closet that I bought...
Words: 967 - Pages: 4
...that virtue is not acquired naturally but rather through being-at-work. Virtue is not merely a habit of preoccupation of what one deems right or wrong, on the other hand it is an adherence to active states. The latter matter mentioned above can also be thought of as being-at-work. If one does not captivate to see how being at work is indispensable to the meaning of virtue, one cannot practice virtue. For this reason, one might ponder, “What are the implications of being-at-work?” The implications of being-at-work lay the foundation of the path to happiness. A happiness that contrary to popular belief, is not slavishly tied to circumstances whose lasting effects are but temporary, but a happiness that can only be obtained as a result of living a virtuous life. Likewise, a true friendship will help an individual in the right direction to happiness. Aristotle delves in to what the three kinds of friendship are and their relationship to virtue or lack thereof. The three kinds of friendships, in the context of Aristotle’s philosophy, are as follows: pleasure friendships, friendships for the purposes of one friend using another, and what Aristotle calls a true friendship. Of true friendships, Aristotle writes,...
Words: 1086 - Pages: 5
...It simply means you are happy within yourself. Happiness is the way you look at life. It’s being okay with everything in your world. It’s being surrounded that people who truly loves you and you’re on the right path of your life. On the other hand, happiless is having the impression that you’re happy because of materialistic things such as money. Having all the money in the world does not equate to happiness. You can have everything in the world but would not be happy. You would not feel true happiness. For example, Robin Williams – he has achieved so much and is loved globally; he’s famous, rich, and successful, yet he experiences depression. Happiless also occurs when people put a façade up, pretending to be happy on the outside. Happiness does not root from materialistic objects but from within...
Words: 975 - Pages: 4
...that happiness can be bought, or that money helps create happiness. Happiness is defined in different ways. Some may say that living free is a form of happiness. Others may say that family brings happiness to one’s soul. We can say that most people would like to feel some form of happiness. Happiness can determine how your life will succeed or not. Happiness can be maladaptive and adaptive in an evolutionary perspective. My happiness will help me and my future, survive in this modern world. My happiness is determined by my career. I have obtain a position as a police cadet that has brought me my happiness. My happiness is to defend those who can’t and to offer any help possible. My daily routine is different and exciting. The adrenalin rush I get from deterring crime or giving advice to people in need makes me happy. The...
Words: 1320 - Pages: 6
...aspect they all hope to achieve: happiness. Out of many factors which play into one’s happiness, one may be the relationships people share with others. A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck both imply that the American Dream is primarily about achieving happiness through relationships such as family and companionship— A statement still relevant in modern society’s view of the dream. However, while Hansberry argues family is more important than achieving the dream, Steinbeck argues companionship is essential to achieving the dream. Hansberry reveals that having a family is...
Words: 915 - Pages: 4
...Happiness is important than wealth How can I choose?Wealth or happiness?It is the normal phenomena among people who is difficult to choose.Although there are many people think that wealth is better than happiness. I think different people have different idears about this topic.But in our group opinion,we would choose the second one, happiness. The reason is that people cannot do anything without the happiness.To be honest,no matter what you rich or poor,happiness is the first thing in our life.However,many people think if they have a lot of money,they can buy everything which they want,as far as I am concerned,I admit things have its own value and it also could make our quality of life become more better,at the same time we cannot buy love,friendship,espcially happiness,whether you believe or not.I realize that if people onle have lots of money,he ignores his relationship,without friends,lover and family.How can he change?Just a lonely people in the world.,nobody would pay attention to you,you have to go work ,go shopping or whatever you do by youself.I want to know how your feeling is?I just to say lonely people without happiness cannot live in our society. A successful businessman, one of my father's friends, devoted himself to his business. He works from morning to night every day. There is no weekends in his mind. He often says, "I must earn much money so that I can get what I want. "Lately, he is ill. Though he has a lot of money, he can do nothing but lie in the hospital's...
Words: 425 - Pages: 2
...Wealth, Happiness, and the National Economy, Is There A Paradox? Question Does a healthy national economy increase the happiness of the nation’s citizens? Background America is still recovering from the greatest recession sense the Great Depression and many countries around the world are now struggling with bad economies, unemployment, and massive debt. But why are governments so concerned about the economy? Governments care because it is believed that a better national economy leads to a better quality of life for the nation’s citizens. So, governments spend billions of dollars as an attempt to help the nation’s economy grow, which should lead to a better life for the nation’s citizens. This seems like it has good intentions, but many governments borrow the money they use for this spending and that only creates new problems. In the United States, the total debt is greater than its total economic output, and this debt will only hinder future and long term growth. On top of all that, the idea that a better national economy will make the citizens happier overall contradicts the idea that money doesn’t buy happiness. Does this mean that money actually does buy happiness, or does it mean that the economy doesn’t have anything to do with people’s happiness? Some regions are poorer than the United States and yet are happier, an example is Latin America. Other richer countries, like the United States, Japan, and China have had great economic growth over the past few...
Words: 2981 - Pages: 12
...the negative effects that our society brings with it. I remember in high school, more specifically sophomore year, I was lucky and thankful enough to be the recipient of a substantial gift from my parents. For my 16th birthday they gifted me with a $15,000 check and said to spend it wisely. I could not believe it, I was so ecstatic and shocked I had no idea what to do. After a few days of careful consideration, I finally decided buying a car would be the best investment at the time. I did what most people do and bought myself a car, a BMW. Little did I know that the BMW would come with negative judgments from my high school peers. In the eyes of my peers I was known as the rich snobby kid who used his parents’ money to buy himself a flashy BMW to boast about. I was placed into a virtual social class of sort, being “better than everyone.” I was viewed as a selfish show-off, called rude and unwanted names just because of the car I owned. But this could not be farther from the truth. In no way did I feel better than anyone else, nor did I ever boast about having a fairly decent car for my age. But of course in our society, what I said did not matter, everyone judged me by the car I drove. I was left with feelings of sadness, dissatisfaction, and disappointment. I almost wanted to sell my car because I knew that would be the only way to make the judgments disappear. In James Twitchell’s Two Cheers for Materialism, he discusses the emphasis that our society puts on materialism. He...
Words: 1149 - Pages: 5
...top 1% financially and everywhere in between. Consider this, if you took a group of randomly selected students from my high school and your goal was to estimate their household income based upon the value of their possessions (phone, clothes, jewelry, shoes, etc...) you'd most likely get it all wrong. This is because it doesn't matter where you come from, how much money you have, or what you look like; you're a customer, you're a consumer. We live in a society today and I went to a high school where people are judged based upon their possessions and what they can acquire. It doesn't matter how you acquired it, as long as you've got it. I think that judging people based off of what they own is a huge mistake. I think it's unfortunate we are constantly purchasing things because of a brand or a logo, but at the same time I don't practice what I'm preaching. It's interesting to me that as I begin to think about it, I don't think any of the nice things I own are bringing me happiness right now, they have only provided some form of instant gratification. If someone asked me what I have to be happy about, I'd provide the cliché answer along the lines of “a loving family, food, and a roof over my head”; that's the truth and none of the above cost a dime. Throughout the article's I read, I believe they reinforced my original opinions on consumerism but also broadened my understanding of the issue at hand and helped me realize how and why we have created the society we live in today. ...
Words: 2005 - Pages: 9
...wealth’. The book states that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) measure is flawed as it accounts for everything that doesn’t make life worthwhile, such as cash transactions. The main message regarding the ‘The Economics of Happiness’ is that happiness is the aim of life, and virtuous actions create foundations of happiness as well as the path to a content life. As I was reading this book I noticed four main, resonating themes that occurred throughout the plot. Firstly, Anielski studies the makeup of our current economy and its everyday functions. Once the key economic terms, such as genuine wealth, value, competitiveness and capital are defined we can then begin to create a new road map for societies to use measurement index’s based on the notion of ‘wellbeing’ rather than GDP. He goes on to criticizing Adam Smith’s book title ‘The Wealth of Nations’ which failed to accurately define the word ‘wealth’ which, according to the Old Testament, means the ‘conditions of well being’. This essentially means that wealth can no longer be narrowly defined in terms of the money value of material possessions but must also include the many intangible items that contribute to our quality of life, such as spiritual well being, hope, happiness and the strength of relationships. Anielski then mentions the Genuine Progress Indicator, this measure is designed to reveal hidden environmental costs as well as several measures of both social progress (value of unpaid workers) and decline which the GDP...
Words: 1693 - Pages: 7
