Ways To Happy Americans

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Life can be a roller-coaster of emotions, but some people experience more lows than highs; as a result, people have tried to find ways to increase the number of happy moments in their life. While many paths to happiness have been proposed, one of the earliest is a philosophy, based off the writing Tao Te Ching, known as Taoism. Those that follow Taoism (also known as Taoists) say they experience less stress and live a happier life. In modern American society, it is believed that a person must constantly try to live a happy life; while this may be true for some people, constantly trying to be happy can take considerable effort and can cause stress for others. One method that could result in more happy Americans is Taoism. Following Taoism could be beneficial to modern Americans because it could make them calm, content, and peaceful. The Tao Te Ching says a Taoist can be calm by being open minded. Being open minded means that a Taoist does not need to worry about past and future events because they will accept whatever happens. …show more content…
A Taoist is content with his or her belongings which results in less stress and happiness. The Tao Te Ching explains that “if your happiness depends on money, you will never be happy with yourself” (Mitchell 44). Someone who is dependent on material things for happiness cannot be happy, so the Tao Te Ching recommends to “be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are” (Mitchell 44). A Taoist does not desire material things to be happy; a Taoist realizes that they lack nothing and are happy with what they have. Modern Americans are constantly bombarded with new products that make them want more than what they have. This constant need to upgrade their belongings makes them unhappy. If Americans followed the Tao Te Ching, they would be happy with what they have and would not feel the constant pressure to buy the newest

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