Cost Of Happiness

Is the world a great place to live or inherently evil? Do people seek to harm or heal? Is the world void of stress or is that simply a view through rose-colored glasses? There are many decisions to make throughout a day and others our brains complete automatically. People need to choose their clothes, not the rate they digest food, their words, not their body temperature. Where in the world then, does happiness fall? Are we in control of our enjoyment or must it be triggered by outside sources? Psychologists have wondered a similar question throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Some studies have narrowed the range of possible conclusions. It seems like the attitudes we hold toward our surroundings do, in fact, determine the …show more content…
Everyone is not plagued to be happy of unhappy based solely on his or her genetics. Sonja Lyubomirsky, author of the book “The How to Happiness”, argues only that 50 percent of a person’s happiness is attributed to genetics. It can be compared to the way a metabolism shapes a person’s body weight. Some people can remain healthy without trying, while others gain weight the minute they stop eating healthy or stop a working out. People may have a low set point or high set point depending on their genetics, early family circumstances, or the presence of a traumatic event. Remember though, that’s only half the battle. Another 10 percent of any given person’s happiness is their life circumstances. Things in this category would include their clothes, house, family, income, career, and accomplishment (Lyubomirsky). This may be one reason, people who “have it all” materialistically can be less happy than people who have little possessions. Fortunately, the remaining 40 percent of how happy a person can be is all based on choices and …show more content…
Isn’t that the definition of happiness, being respected, safe, and appreciated? Some people seem generally optimistic in everything they do. Others remain generally pessimistic from day to day. From personal experience, I can tell there are times confidence allows me to think happier, choosing to get the most of me joyful times. I am significantly happier when writing an essay on a test I studied for over one I had not prepared for. When a person is not worried about his/her surrounding or others reactions, happiness has an easier time manifesting. A study preformed by Helen Cheng and Adrian Frunham concluded there was a significant correlation between high self-esteem, high confidence and happiness (Cheng & Furnham). I believe taking steeps to increase self-confidence and self-esteem, will work hand in hand to finding more happiness. Many times high self-esteem is linked to the way a person thinks about their image and about what decisions they have made, be them good ones or bad ones. Keeping a high self-esteem may prevent adolescents from becoming chronically unhappy when they