Happiness/Success
Happiness
is a confusing subject to me because it can be experienced and interpreted in
so many different ways, but when I think about it, what really bothers me is
the materialistic value that society has instilled in us as people. For
example, have you ever noticed that anything that is considered fun in the
world today requires money, and the more money you have the more activities and
fun you can experience? We then become people who begin to look to
materialistic items to make us happy, and once that happens we fall victim to
the process that I like to call the “American Dream” format. Isn’t it funny how
if you ask any teenager what they want their life to be like, it all begins to
sound the same? They say they want to
grow up, go to college, get a good job that makes a lot of money, have kids,
get married, and die happy. They don’t say that they want to grow up and
experience true happiness, and explore life to its fullest potential because
they are already in the maze of what everyone believes and tells them success
is. In this day and age, your success is judged on the amount of money you make
correct? I feel that success is something that cannot be determined absolutely
and it coexists with happiness, because the more success you have in life the
happier you are. Success should be determined on what you believe it is. If
there is something that you really enjoy doing and truly makes you happy, you should
feel successful for doing it. Don’t worry if others think your ideas or what
you like to do isn’t important, lucrative, cool etc. Do what makes you happy, and in my opinion
you will have lived your life to the fullest and it was a success. (The definition
of the word happy is “an emotional state of experienced pleasure”). To round up
my idea on defining true happiness, I will use this assignment as an example.
At the end of the day, my paper will be judged by my peers on how they feel.
With that being said, and with the most respect to each reader, I truly feel
that whether my work receives many votes or none, I was just happy with getting
the chance to talk about my own ideas (right or wrong), and since doing this
brought me pleasure, it is a success and I now get to experience what my
interpretation of true happiness is. Thank you for reading my abstract idea.
"If there is something that you really enjoy doing and truly makes you happy, you should feel successful for doing it." This quote right here stood out to me the most and this post as a whole really applies to my life right now. At this moment in time I have all this pressure from my parents to choose what I want to do for college and the future. But to be completely honest I have no idea what I want to do, but I know that I want to do what makes me happy and what makes me feel successful and not what everyone else believes is happy or successful. Thank you for this, I loved it. :)
ReplyDeleteSo what makes you happy is a success, not necessarily money or things. That is a great way to look at Happiness. Very "cool" abstract idea. It was definitely a pleasure to read and therefore was a successful use of my time as well. :)
DeleteI really like how insightful you are. I totally agree with everything you said and I'm pretty sure most readers will too. We really should concentrate on what makes us happy, not on what money/materials mean.
ReplyDeleteIt's true, you can't buy happiness.Sure, you can pay to go to Disneyland or something, but it's not something that lasts for more than a day (unless you get a multiple day pass...but that's besides the point). Happiness should be something that lasts forever and it should be free.
ReplyDeleteThe thing is money makes the world go round, things like traveling make you happy right? But once you think about it how are you gonna travel, how are you gonna eat? Money. That's that answer, we all have to go to school to get an education and go to college to acquire more knowledge about your career you want so you could make money and do things like go on vacation, collect things, experience life and all the pleasures. Its sad to say but this world has kind of shaped us in a certain way, almost like everyone's a robot if that makes sense. There's so many opinions that comes with this subject of what truly is happiness and being successful but thats a new story. I liked where you were going with this, it made me think and give my own interpretations and opinions :) :) :)
ReplyDeletei like your view on this and i completely agree with you pepole do believe that money is the root of all happiness when quality time and experiences matter the most
ReplyDeletelovely. i agree, we are all so taken with this obsession of a road, or a path, which one to take, but what if there isn't one? our inherent fear of the unknown, judgement and isolation has us at the mercy of others and the market rather than accountable to our true happiness. great abstract idea to discuss, and beautiful definition. it is rather disheartening the lucrative nature manipulation has proven to be. unfortunately, money purchases possessions and possessions are believed to make us happy. id be interested in the difference of definition of happiness drawn from multiple individuals, each in a difference social class. thank you for sharing:)
ReplyDeleteWow, what a great view into dom's feelings. It's not often that a person, especially a teenage boy gives his peers insight as to how he feels. This was very entertaining and really made me think. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI love the conclusion of your paper, because you could not be more correct. If your satisfied with your work and writing this article made you happy, it doesn't matter anyone else's opinion on it. I love reading these types of passages because it gives us a chance to see how our peers view different elements of life.
ReplyDeleteThere was a study once that dived into this and they found that once someone's basic necessities were met (place to live, health, food, bills are paid) a person who makes considerably more than another person isn't happier than the person who makes considerably less. Anyways, just something to think about.
ReplyDeleteVery good promt. I did my blog piece last month on beauty as an abstract idea and now reading Im rading yours and its great. I like the idea of defining the murky and you did it perfectly. YOur voice was very present in the writing and I feel as though you were talking to me in person sharing your views. I remember hearing this quote once that "money doesnt buy happiness, but it sure takes away all the unhappy thins." What do you think about this? Well anyway great piece!
ReplyDeleteI loved reading this because I began to examine myself and what makes me happy. I'm glad you took the time to write this and remind us all of the true meaning of happiness.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with everything you said in this. Even though happiness is a confusing subject, you explained it in a way that was really well played! Good job!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more...our society really does evolve around money which is so very shameful. You made a great point and your abstract idea was definitely a success! I also liked how you started off with your opinion and then questioned the audience. Good job :)
ReplyDeleteinteresting perspective on happiness. I enjoyed this read a lot because of how insightful your writing is
ReplyDelete"They don’t say that they want to grow up and experience true happiness, and explore life to its fullest potential because they are already in the maze of what everyone believes and tells them success is." YES. Thankyou, gosh this quote is beautiful! And the last sentence. :') fantastic job, man!
ReplyDeleteI love the idea that happiness is not found in materialistic things but found in what you enjoy doing and how experiences are what is most important to live a happy life. Well done:)
ReplyDeleteWow, I really agree with this abstract idea. Whenever I receive new items like my laptop, I always reflect on how hard they work to get such things for me to be happy or satisfied. The subject of "true happiness" really is something worth deep discussion. Thanks for a really great read that is worth pondering deeply about.
ReplyDeleteI loved listening to a different perspective on what happiness really stands for. Great job! I wanted to read more :)
ReplyDeleteI love how you were able to analyze how much we value success... That's so true...seriously this is so great and deep! I love it! :D
ReplyDeletevery beautiful piece and had me starting to question myself about it :)
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this abstract idea. Very insightful.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, happiness is a really confusing concept. This really got me thinking about it.
ReplyDeleteYou're on point. Especially with the how similar our paths to success are-students are year aim for their dream collges and hope to lead into a profitable career. Unfortunately, our society thrives on materialistic comforts (at least, the visible part of society) making it difficult for the ones with passions to dream beyond an income. The fear of failure reminds us to stay grounded, in a class of disbelievers
ReplyDeleteWow Dom, it was nice to see your perspective of happiness and success! I feel like I know you soo much better! I hope you find the happiness you want!
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