Why Happiness Is Important To Me

Happiness can be completely different for many people; for me it is spending time outdoors using my hands for work. I could never have a desk job where I just sat at a desk and played with a computer. Working outside with my hands either working on or driving tractors is my favorite choice. Some people enjoy going to the amusement parts or concerts, but I on the other hand prefer to be outside working and getting stuff done. I find crowds and packed public places to just be distracting and chaotic compared to the wide open outdoors. In the movie Happy that we watched in class, they showed an Indian rickshaw driver named Manoj Singh that lived in a three sided tarp shack, and he barely made enough money to feed his family. Singh considered …show more content…
In that time I have grown to love working and growing up there. Living on a farm has taught me how to work and how to have responsibilities. While some people hate their job, or work to get away from their life, I see farming as a great way of life. Franklin D. Roosevelt said “Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.” (Brooks). For me farming gives me joy of achievement every day when I get a pivot of hay baled with sufficient dew or when I am successful in fixing a tractor. In farming there are many short-term or minor achievements such a fixing the tractor or pivot and many large ones such as growing a good healthy crop that profits at the end of the year. The magazine business insider wrote in one of its articles that “12% of factors that govern how happy you feel are faith, family, community, and work.” (Brooks). The first three on that list are to be expected, but the last one is somewhat of a shocker. People spend a considerable amount of time planning what to do when they retire, choosing careers that have good retirement benefits while the job itself contributes to your overall happiness