In life, one of the most imperative elements is happiness. Throughout the globe, in different locations, different people engage in different mechanisms with the sole purpose of getting happiness. Most things and endeavors that human beings engage him are as a result of the urge to attain this state at the end of the day (James et al., 32). Life is strenuous. Due to this, happiness makes it bearable. It is important to note that different things and issues bring happiness to different people. As such, something that may make one person happy may not necessarily make another happy.
However, in general terms, some of the factors that end up bringing happiness to people may include having a lot of money, being in a good condition as far as health is concerned and generally, living a life that is fully organized. A good financial status is among the essentials of happiness. This is because of the ability it gives one to acquire whatever they desire. When one has a lot of money, or rather he is in a good financial status problems are always reduced since money can play a role in solving most of them. Whether it is in paying school fees, building a house, buying a new car and many other things, a person who is in such a condition need not to worry a lot. All the readings given in this course, to some extent, talk about happiness and the factors that may lead to it.
According to the sources given, there are many factors that may lead a person to having happiness. In Seligman’s ‘A Balanced Psychology and a Full life’, the author discusses how positive emotion, engagement and meaning enhance an individual’s level of happiness. According to his argument, ‘science can illuminate component of happiness and investigate empirically what builds those component’ (Seligman, 32). Positive emotion, according to the author, is the first route that leads to happiness. In essence, a declaration by an individual that they are happy is simply referring to the route of having positive emotion towards something. Positive emotion, to a large extent, can be improved. This is done through various ways. For instance, one can decide to cultivate gratitude and forgiveness.
In ‘Some Dark Thoughts on Happiness, Senior gives a comparison of things that are likely to promote happiness in individuals. By doing this, he makes a comparison in a factor by touching on the two sides. For instance, he argues that there are high chances that married people tend to be happy when compared to the unmarried. Citing Seligman’s early research on happiness, in which he conducted research using more than thirty five thousand people from the opinion research center, most of the people who claimed to be happy were in a marriage. For instance, 40 percent of people who were married at the time claimed to be happy. This is a big margin when compared to the 24 percent among the unmarried that claimed to be happy. Perhaps the issue of contention should be; what is in married life that promotes happiness that the unmarried do not have? In essence, married people, to a large extent, have settled and have gone a long way in accomplishing their goals, plans and projects. Marriage is in most cases associated with maturity.
Before a person decides to marry, they must be in a position in which they have a better decision making. It also means that they will share the problem and other responsibilities whenever they may arise. This is unlike the unmarried people who have to handle the problems alone. Marriage, therefore, is another factor that promotes happiness in an n individual’s life. Other funny reasons the author gives include that people who believe in God tend to be happier than those who do not, while ‘smarter people aren’t any happier, but those who drink in moderation are’ (Senior et al. 12)
Arthur Brooks’ ‘A Formula for Happiness’ attributes happiness to three factors: genes, values and events. His argument is to the effect that if human beings arm themselves with this knowledge, then their lives will be improved. Inheritance plays a major role in defining a person’s happiness levels. Through the research whereby identical twins were tracked and consequently separated when they were infants, the author argues that their happiness was considerately in the same levels even though they were raised in different backgrounds. In their conclusion, the researchers argued that human beings inherit a large proportion of happiness.
In fact, the researchers gave 48 per cent as being the proportion of happiness that human beings can inherit. In essence, this means that the environment and other external factors play a minor role in determining how happy an individual is. The transfer of genes, as the author argues, can be blamed for a person’s tendency not to be happy. As the author puts it, ‘Since I discovered this, I have been blaming my parents for my bad moods’ (Arthur et al., 23). Practically, it is difficult to agree with this assertion. For instance, environmental factors play a big role in determining how happy a person is. The people that surround us influence our take on some things and as such, arguing that genes play a crucial role in determining a person’s happiness is rather laughable.
Money has also been argued as being a key factor in making a person happy. This is according to research by Elizabeth W. Dunn and her colleagues in ‘If money doesn’t make you happy, then you probably aren’t spending it right.’ In this article, the authors establish the relationship that exists between happiness and money, although weak to a large extent. The manner in which people spend the money determines the level of happiness that they acquire. As such, they give eight suggestions on how they should spend the money.
Essentially, people should ‘buy more experiences and fewer material goods, and use their money to benefit others rather than themselves’ (Dunn et al,43) These are some of the factors that the authors suggest that may ensure people get happiness from their money, by spending it in the right manner. In essence, most people tend to think that having a lot of money in itself promotes their level of happiness. However, there is a tendency for people not to be satisfied with what they have, and will always struggle to acquire more. However, by spending the money rightly, then chances are that one may acquire happiness in their lives.
In conclusion, happiness is an illusion that is brought about by various factors. What may be a factor to sway the happiness in an individual may not necessarily affect another person. Due to this, people ought to look for and employ whatever works best for them to be happy.
Works Cited
James, William. The Principles of Psychology. New York: Dover Publications, 2006. Print.
Seligman, M P. A. S. T. A Balanced Psychology and a Full Life. Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences, 2004, Vol. 359 No. 1449, pp. 1379-1381, n.d.. Print.
