The pursuit of meaning
"Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" the most well known phrase from our Declaration of Independence. Our founding fathers put an emphasis on the importance of happiness and believed it was vital to a functioning society. The insertion of this phrase gave birth to the American dream, and inspired millions. We all seek happiness, there is no denying that. However, what is happiness or what makes people happy, differs from person to person and place to place. In The Geography of bliss by Eric Weiner, Weiner visits the so called happiest countries on earth, in search for why these countries are “happy” but his ulterior motive is to find happiness within himself. One of many countries that Weiner visits is Switzerland, …show more content…
On the one hand, Switzerland has a very similar version of happiness has my basketball team at Foothill, uniformity, humbleness, and selflessness are all virtues that my team prides itself on. However, Qatar is quite the contrast to the fundamentals of my basketball team. In fact, monetary wealth, arrogance, and boasting are all forbidden on the court and locker room. The Declaration of Independence is the basis too many of it’s kind and the “pursuit of happiness” will forever be a goal of every nation, if it is not already. In order to understand the basis of happiness within the Foothill Men’s Basketball team we must first look at my coach. Coach Matthew Stanley emphasized character from the very first day of practice. What does character look like? In his words “selfishness, enjoying others success, and put ups” if you wondering what a put up is, it’s a genuine compliment to another person. We end practice everyday with a put up circle, where if you’d like you can give a put up to a teammate. In addition, Coach Stanley has strict dress code rules, obey or face being kicked off the team for …show more content…
Switzerland is consistently considered one of the happiest places on the planet and when you look at their culture it is clear why. The Swiss have redefined boredom and have embraced boredom has part of life. Whereas, many Americans dread boredom, in result, we spend countless minutes of our life checking our phones out of the fear of being bored. Specifically, the Swiss have learned to enjoy little things such as cleaning the house, throwing out the trash, or listening to music. In other words, the Swiss or content with being bored. Weiner agrees when he writes, “We need a new word to describe Swiss happiness. Something more than mere contentment but less than full-on joy. “Conjoyment”, perhaps. Yes, that’s what the Swiss possess: utter conjoyment. We could use this word to describe all kinds of situations where we feel joyful yet calm at the same time.” (pg 48). Weiner suggests that a word be created to explain this troublesome feeling of contentment and joy that he experienced in Switzerland, “Enjoyment”. Weiner’s theory of “Enjoyment” is extremely similar to the feeling of practicing and playing basketball as a part of the Foothill Men’s Basketball team. I agree that being calm in various situations is vital to happiness and success. Moreover, being able to stay calm during a basketball game can be the difference in losing and winning. Actually, this
"Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" the most well known phrase from our Declaration of Independence. Our founding fathers put an emphasis on the importance of happiness and believed it was vital to a functioning society. The insertion of this phrase gave birth to the American dream, and inspired millions. We all seek happiness, there is no denying that. However, what is happiness or what makes people happy, differs from person to person and place to place. In The Geography of bliss by Eric Weiner, Weiner visits the so called happiest countries on earth, in search for why these countries are “happy” but his ulterior motive is to find happiness within himself. One of many countries that Weiner visits is Switzerland, …show more content…
On the one hand, Switzerland has a very similar version of happiness has my basketball team at Foothill, uniformity, humbleness, and selflessness are all virtues that my team prides itself on. However, Qatar is quite the contrast to the fundamentals of my basketball team. In fact, monetary wealth, arrogance, and boasting are all forbidden on the court and locker room. The Declaration of Independence is the basis too many of it’s kind and the “pursuit of happiness” will forever be a goal of every nation, if it is not already. In order to understand the basis of happiness within the Foothill Men’s Basketball team we must first look at my coach. Coach Matthew Stanley emphasized character from the very first day of practice. What does character look like? In his words “selfishness, enjoying others success, and put ups” if you wondering what a put up is, it’s a genuine compliment to another person. We end practice everyday with a put up circle, where if you’d like you can give a put up to a teammate. In addition, Coach Stanley has strict dress code rules, obey or face being kicked off the team for …show more content…
Switzerland is consistently considered one of the happiest places on the planet and when you look at their culture it is clear why. The Swiss have redefined boredom and have embraced boredom has part of life. Whereas, many Americans dread boredom, in result, we spend countless minutes of our life checking our phones out of the fear of being bored. Specifically, the Swiss have learned to enjoy little things such as cleaning the house, throwing out the trash, or listening to music. In other words, the Swiss or content with being bored. Weiner agrees when he writes, “We need a new word to describe Swiss happiness. Something more than mere contentment but less than full-on joy. “Conjoyment”, perhaps. Yes, that’s what the Swiss possess: utter conjoyment. We could use this word to describe all kinds of situations where we feel joyful yet calm at the same time.” (pg 48). Weiner suggests that a word be created to explain this troublesome feeling of contentment and joy that he experienced in Switzerland, “Enjoyment”. Weiner’s theory of “Enjoyment” is extremely similar to the feeling of practicing and playing basketball as a part of the Foothill Men’s Basketball team. I agree that being calm in various situations is vital to happiness and success. Moreover, being able to stay calm during a basketball game can be the difference in losing and winning. Actually, this