Stavenik 1 Catherine Stavenik Professor Logos ENG-1100 College Writing December 15, 2013 Sadness and Reality Imagine

the happiest moment youve ever experienced. For some, happiness is found in their favorite flavor of ice-cream, swirled with a mountain of whipped cream and drizzled with caramels and chocolates. Other people find happiness in the hug of a family member they have not seen for months. The warmth and strength of that hug rejuvenates their smile and embeds their heart with love. Happiness is defined by many emotions and is brought in different ways, but no matter what, happiness can find a way into everyones life. In a world where sadness can be found around every corner, happiness creeps in to remind us what is great in life. Although they are polar opposites, one cannot be truly known without the other, like warmth cant be felt without cold. If humans were to live with absolute happiness, our species would not know suffering or appreciation. Grief reminds us what joy feels like as sadness empowers us with the feeling of happiness. In both daily occurrences, and personal experiences, sadness is a necessary evil needed for clear thinking and appreciation. During complete happiness, the brain will often lose track of reality, and create an illusion. In Jennifer Seniors writing, Some Dark Thoughts on Happiness, she explains how the imagination is the poor mans wormhole (qtd. Senior 426). Your imagination allows you to fill desires or feelings that have not been achieved in real life. A simple example is when someone imagines their favorite food they have been craving for. The imagination picks up every detail of that food and enhances it to try and full fill the current desire. The imagination

Stavenik 2 and happiness both are alike. They both create great feelings and make reality an illusion. Despite how awful a situation, our brains can rewire, rescript, airbrush, and photo shop any situation to bring about pleasure with in that experience (Senior 426). Like an optimist believes the glass is half full, the imagination accentuates the positive in all experiences. An excessive amount of happiness hazes reality. A disconnect with reality can cause negative results Happiness is a great thing but it can cause an illusion and disconnect with reality. This disconnect is one of the major down falls of happiness. Although it is pleasant, it takes away from clear thinking. It can cause negative effects, in America, the most popular mistake among relationships is reuniting with an ex (Senior 426). The imagination recalls pleasant experiences and reminds one of how happy they were (Senior 426). The imagination gets stuck Cloud Nine, you are in a complete disconnect with reality. The imagination leads you to believe that ending the relationship was a mistake. When in actuality, the imagination skips the fighting, the hating, and negative feelings, and jumps to the honeymoon emotions. This leaves the couple confused and even worse off than before. The imagination tricks and swindles clear thinking. Fortunately, sadness negates the effects happiness causes. Sadness is needed in life to create the sense of reality, despite its negative connotations. The feeling of sorrow and glom associated with sadness allows the brain to switch to a serious state. The imagination essentially paused or turned off and can no longer air-brush or sweeten situation. Although the imagination edits a positive situation, the imagination also finds the benefit in sadness. In a time of depression, it creates coping skills (Senior 426). In the instance of relationships and Americans biggest mistake, the ending of a relationship brings clarity. The grieving mind can think clearly. Regret along with remorse cause realizations that separation is not the end the world, but rather an experience to learn from. A broken heart and torn mind

Stavenik 3 can then be transformed into a strengthen sense of what is good or bad. Not only can sadness strengthen reality during hard emotional times, but it can also strengthen clarity. Sadness creates the reality, the realizations that could not be seen when happiness was blocking the view. In Jennifer Seniors writings, she interviews Julie Normen concerning her miraculous study about what sadness and happiness does to clarity and focus (Senior 429). Two test groups received exact anagrams to solve (Senior 429). Anagrams are similar to ones found in the back of a newspaper. One group was pessimists and the other was optimists (Senior 429). Both sets listened to Mozart, and then a dirge (Senior 429). To her discovery, Normen found that the pessimist did much better when listening to a dirge (Senior 429). Considering how sadness affects clarity, the test proved that focus could be reached in a sorrow environment. The brain stimulus was low, and the mind was not excited by the dirges like it was for Mozart. Although emotions of joy and glee are wonderful, sensations of sadness are necessary for reasoning and clarity in some situations. Terrible tragedies and horrible situations are experiences that every human must have to develop characteristics of appreciation. One major tragedy that struck most every American was the Great Depression. During this era, food was scarce for every American along with employment opportunities. Children were starving and parents could no longer provide money for food or a house. After years of suffering, these families affected by the depression truly knew appreciation. Children appreciated clean clothes, hot dinner, and the occasional sweet cake. Mothers and fathers appreciated a warm home, being able to provide for their children and not watching them suffer. The great depression followed a time of deep appreciation. In todays disabled community, the same type of appreciation for life can be seen. In Jennifer Seniors findings, Gilbert studies did appreciation and emotions in the disabled and their ailments (Senior

Stavenik 4 427). The disabled did not mind much about their ailments, but rather still enjoy life despite their accidents (Senior 427). Gilbert writes, that they may even find some silver lining in their experience (Senior 427). One patient of Gilberts even said, I didnt appreciate others nearly as much as I do now (Senior 427). The disabled no longer neglected the fulfillment of getting the mail or going shopping, for example, but rather appreciated that they were still able to complete the task despite their disabilities. His studies showed that the disabled would pay far less to be fixed than the able would to prevent an accident (Senior 427). Without the feelings of suffering, one could not know what appreciating or enjoyment means. In personal instances, my life has had its ups and downs along with misery, enduring, and then enjoying. At the age of seven I experienced anough suffering than most adults and I risked my life three times. I was an adventurous child, to this day I am still an explorer, but my wanderings put me in danger. During a whole year of being seven, I experienced three major concussions, two of which caused brain bleeds and stitching and one that knocked me out. I broke both bones in my right arm and left leg. I knew what pain was, my little head throbbed relentlessly and my achy bones swelled. My doctors gave me strict orders. No more concussions or I would be a little vegetable forever. I despised the months I was marooned inside or was benched from my favorite dodge ball game. I loved playing rough and competitive, but my habits had to change for my health. When I finally recovered, I appreciated the feeling of being worn out after recess and my lungs and heart sore from all the activity. I loved that breeze in the air I missed so much and running after my lightening bug friends at night. I went back to climbing trees, bringing the toads I found with me. I became a careful adventurer. I knew pain, suffering, and sadness, and I loved being happy and appreciated health and life. The suffering I did as a child made me the person I am today.

Stavenik 5 In todays world of testing, happiness is one of the emotions that can be gaged. The University of Pennsylvania created a test to gage happiness level, considering the amount of sadness, fulfillment, appreciation, and enjoyment in life (Senior 422). The test asks twenty-four simple questions based on everyday life experiences and emotions. I wanted to see what my level of happiness was on the scale of 0.0 to 5.0. I believe I am a happy person in fact, voted number one in my graduating class as most friendly. According to the Authentic Happiness Inventory, I ranked at 3.79 and 89 percent higher across the board for my area, age, gender, and education level. I dont see this test as accurate, but considering my dangerous childhood I believe I appreciate the small things and worry far less yet can maintain my mental clarity. Without my past and the suffering I went through, I do believe I would not be as a happy as I am today. In my experiences and knowledge of sadness and the Authentic Happiness Inventory, I believe sadness undoubtedly decides if you are happy and achieving or whether you become a depressed person. Happiness can be defined in infinite ways; a word can mean one thousand others. Whether its described as a day of perfect event or its seen in the smile of a loved one; happiness is parsimonious. However, sadness and happiness are the foundation of humanity, clarity, and appreciation. Without one, the other cannot be possible. Through historical events and personal experience, sadness is needed to know what feeling happy is like. In a world where sadness can be found in every town, happiness drives in to remind us what is wonderful in life. In Jennifer Seniors writings of studies, she finds that sadness is sometimes necessary for clarity and focus, but also a positive outcome in generating appreciation through suffering. Sadness is a necessary evil needed for clear thinking and appreciation.