What is Happiness?

Introduction

According to Gulla, happiness is the inner state of mind that people emotionally inhibit when they feel confident with their surroundings (1). He points out that people feel that they are in a state of happiness in ways that correspond to their emotional feeling. He notes that while some people characterize happiness as pleasure, love, joy, and satisfactions, others adamantly see happiness as a feeling based on their inner contentment and self enjoyment. However, being in state of happiness entails rational values, the primary goals of which are to identify and erase irrational wishes that people blindly engage in when attempting to be happy (Gulla 1). According to Mahatma Gandhi, “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” This means that when people rationally value and engage in activities that put them at ease or at no conflict with their surrounding, they build inner contentment that expresses their satisfaction with whom or what they interact, thereby enhancing happiness.

Gulla notes that each individual has primary goals to achieve in life, and, therefore, one initiates different strategies and processes so as to achieve his or her goals (1). However, he points out that the resentfulness and commitment that people inhibit in achieving their goals primarily determines the effectiveness of these goals in helping them to pursue their happiness. In addressing happiness, this paper discusses factors that are important in achieving happiness. It highlights ways in which people pursue happiness and also the best ways of pursuing happiness.

Important Factors in Achieving Happiness

According to Lopez, developing core values and belief helps in creating self assurance and acceptance, which are essential for achieving happiness (1). She points out that happiness is normally created out of enthusiastic decision making processes that each and every individual engages in. Such processes are primarily guided by their ability to develop core values in life. She notes that individual’s core values not only help him or her in decision making processes, but also gives him/her a wider perspective of determining his/her destiny. On the other hand, she points out that an individual’s belief is essential in assessing his or her capability of attaining the perceived destiny.

As quoted by Gulla, Brian Tracy notes that, “Happiness comes when you believe in what you are doing, know what you are doing and love what you are doing” (4). For instance, believing in the values associated with personal integrity helps an individual attain such values, thereby developing rationality which enhances one’s interaction with the surrounding, thereby making one happy. According to her, people can be effectively happy if they develop clear understanding of their ultimate values and beliefs in life. This will enable them to create a sense of certainty and self assurance with whom or what they interact.

Additionally, Lopez points out that setting effective goals in life is another factor that is essential for people to achieve happiness (1). According to her, developing new goals each and every day enables an individual to be optimistic and determined in working towards attaining the set goals. She notes that setting effective goals normally portrays an individual’s futurity of what he or she works to become, thereby enabling an individual to take decisive action by initiating processes which in turn would make him/her happy. She points out that taking decisive actions helps an individual in overcoming indecisiveness, laziness, and frustrations that normally work against achieving happiness.

As quoted out by Lopez, Fredrick Buechner notes that, “Purpose is the place where your deep gladness meets the world’s need” (1). For instance, the level of education has always been associated with individual’s income, which for most people normally enhances happiness; therefore, an individual could set an educational goal that would help him or her in attaining higher education level. Lopez states that engaging in active learning processes not only help an individual in obtaining higher income, but also enables him or her to expand his/her mind and perceptions on how to see and deal with things that pose challenges on their happiness (1).

On the other hand, Gulla points out that in achieving happiness, people should dream big. He argues that dreaming big enables people to surpass their current involvement in life, thus guaranteeing their future happiness (2). She notes that dreaming big helps in initiating processes that help in increasing the probability of the future’s ability to be happy. This is because happiness is not automatic and whether it comes depends on an individual’s effort. This is clearly captured by Henry David Thoreau’s quote noted by Gulla that states that, “Happiness is like a butterfly, the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder” (2).

How People Pursue Happiness

According to Tkach and Lyubomirsky, pursuing of happiness depends on an individual’s self appraisal in determining strategies that would enable him/her to meet his/her primary set goals in life (183). They note that self appraisal will enable an individual to consider circumstantial factors as avenue of initiating his or her happiness. They point out that the circumstantial factors ranging from personal income and physical residential area to employment opportunities normally dictate the nature of an individual’s happiness depending on their perception of uch factors. For instance, most people normally see wealth created from personal income and investment as a parameter that sufficiently optimizes their happiness (Gulla 2). According to him, people who develop such perception normally see the potentiality of wealth in acquiring various assets that comfortably suit their demands in terms of luxury and basic requirements such as attaining education.

Gulla points out that people normally establish the importance of professionalism in enhancing wealth creation, which normally accounts for the development of happiness; hence, they engage in advance learning processes (2). He notes that professionalism not only enables people to be happy through hefty income generation, but it enables them to engage in activities that clearly improve their well being. For instance, professionalism entails intense project research on various issues, which not only include reading but also involve exhibition, thereby developing a wider conception on how to cope in life so as to be happy (Tkach and Lyubomirsky 220).

However, as stated by John Templeton, reported by Gulla, “Happiness comes from spiritual wealth, not material wealth. It comes from giving, not getting, and if we try hard to bring happiness to others, we cannot stop it from coming to us. To get joy, we must give it and to keep joy, we must scatter it” (3). This conception is primarily built on moral conduct and values that enhance and develop good cordial interconnection among people, thereby creating a favorable environment that effectively suits both their moral beliefs and well being of people.

According to Gulla, most people who normally value such perceptions usually engage in charitable activities that would enable them to distribute most of their resources ranging from money to moral teaching with an interest of developing happiness to them (3). For this case, wealthiest Americans such as Bill Gates have created charity foundation in their organization that enables them to make monthly distribution towards eradicating social factors that adversely affects the disadvantaged people. Gulla notes that such procedures develop interconnection and inter-correlation of people in a society and due to this, they feel secured and happy (3).  

Best Ways of Pursuing Happiness

According to Gulla, the best way of pursuing happiness is to be satisfied with what an individual has (4). He notes that since happiness does not automatically come and remain and primarily depends on an individual’s effort, people must develop satisfaction with what they have, since that is where their effort has been fully captured. As said by Bertrand Russell, reported by Gulla, “the good life, as I conceive it, is a happy life” (3). This means that being satisfied with what you have actually defines happiness. According to Gulla, being contented with what you have normally creates self esteem that influences good moral conducts in an individual towards his or her surrounding, thereby creating self awareness and acceptance, and hence leading to happiness (3).

Moreover, enhancing a well balanced life is another best way of pursuing happiness. According to Tkach and Lyubomirsky, a well balanced life primarily depends on personality, which ensures that an individual prioritize important factors such as health, income management, and effective relation with whom or what he or she interacts (185). They point out that a well balanced life normally enables people to be trustworthy, honest, and modesty in the society. Such qualities are essential for enhancing happiness. For instance, spiritual leaders are normally regarded as trustworthy and honest people based on their spiritual doctrines, and for that reason, they are normally engaged in initiating peace where conflict arises so as to restore happiness among the group (Gulla 4).

Conclusion

The paper has highlighted that happiness of people normally depends on people’s inner emotional feelings in identifying factors or activities which make them satisfied with their surroundings. It was noted that people enhance their economic status through better education and higher employment opportunity so as to make them happy; however, their spiritual well being that connects them with their surrounding is also an important factor and should be encouraged to help in initiating happiness. Moreover, the paper has emphasized on the need for people to trust and value whatever they have as this will enhance their happiness.