Garnet Smith

Happiness Project
Section 1
The Key to Improving Our Happiness
Over the past 200 years, the industrial revolution has brought about a new cultural
lifestyle for most everyone in the world. This new way of living in a very simple sense is all
about stuff. Material things that we can buy to supposedly have people treat us differently,
increase our chances of further success, better our self image and make us happier. From very
early in american history people have been in pursuit of happiness. The very document that
separated our country from Great Britain, The Declaration of Independence, states it,Life,
Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. The popularity of this phrase partly stems from the
amount that people actually follow and use this right. However since the modernization of
society the way people become happy is by buying stuff. This way of living once showed
harmless, but as society progresses even further we have began to see the negative sides of
achieving happiness through consumerism. As a society of highly evolved beings we need to
learn to focus on intrinsic happiness, because as of now we are only destroying each other and
the very planet that hosts us. The pursuit of meaningful and long lasting happiness begins with
defining your meaning to others, participating in and improving your community and social
interactions which are ultimately the defining factors of our happiness.
Creating individual fulfilling happiness entails defining the meaning we can provide to
our communities and to others. When speaking about happiness it is important to understand that
there is not one set in stone definition. There are two main ways that people can achieve
happiness and hundreds of smaller ones that stem from those. The first is extrinsic happiness, this
definition of happiness is achieved through struff, social status image and money. On the other
hand is intrinsic happiness, which is obtained through relationships, helping others and
bettering/furthering ourselves. Psychologists have found that intrinsic happiness is more
fulfilling, long lasting and can even lead to finding meaning, while extrinsic happiness only lasts
for a short period of time. When we focus on extrinsic happiness we are never satisfied we are
always craving more stuff to make us happy. In the movie I am, by Tom Shadyac Mother
Teresa is quoted saying The biggest disease today is not leprosy or tuberculosis it is the lack
of love and charity; the terrible indifference towards ones neighbor. Mother Teresa is trying to
tell the world and its individuals that we should embrace our neighbors, in every community. If
we can practice understanding and commitment to our communities we can begin to find our
own inner meaning. It was a question of getting them to realize that life was still expecting
something from them; something in the future was expected of them, explains Victor Frankl
who was interviewed by Emily Esfahani Smith for her article Theres More to Life than Being
Happy. Victor Frankl documented his time in a Nazi concentration camp, where he spent some
time unintentionally as a Psychiatrist. He wrote a bestselling book in 1946 titled A Mans
Search for Meaning, which explored the ideas of meaning versus happiness. Using his book, I
have constructed the idea that if we show that we have purpose in our communities, we will
begin develop a greater sense of meaning because we feel responsible for our communitys
happiness. Meaning is so important to us because it provides us a sort of mental sustenance that
is instrumental in us feeling apart of our communities. We need to learn to search for meaning
instead of pursuing individual material happiness. If we build our communities this way, our
family, friends and we will benefit immensely.

If we can work hard to improve and help our communities prosper we can gain massive
amounts of satisfaction and will work towards complete happiness. In the words of Martin E.P.
Seligman, one of the leading psychological scientists alive today, in the meaningful life, you use
your highest strengths and talents to belong to and serve something you believe is larger than the
self, explains Emily Esfahani Smith, in an article she wrote titled Theres More to Life Than
Being Happy, for the Atlantic. If every individual, in every community in the world devoted
some of their talents and time to helping improve our communities and social interactions, we
will live happier more fulfilling and meaningful lives. Improving our communities can and will
add massive value to our lives which in turn leads to happiness. The movie Happy, released in
2011, speaks about the ideas of what the Japanese call Kareshi. Kareshi describes when a person
works so hard, they literally work themselves to death. The movie states that many Japanese
people work themselves to death to maintain finances and a steady life. As a community we need
to ensure each individual and ourselves that we will not work this hard for our communities
and/or families. However, we still need contribute to the bettering and furthering of our
communities. Improving our communities is not a spectator sport, everyone has to contribute to
see an increase in meaningful happiness.
As individuals we must also be willing to fully participate within social and community
interactions. The interactions we have with other people affect the way we feel about life. Our
close relationships keep us grounded and influence both happiness and the sense that we are part
of a larger community, explains Art Markman PHD in his article titled Why Other People are
the Key to our Happiness, from the website Psychology Today. If we can make valuable and
longstanding efforts to improve our social interactions we will find that we are happier and more
meaningful to our communities. Coinciding with this newly gained happiness, whether it be
noticeable or small, is the eventual discovering of our community and inner meaning. Why not?
Bernards an alpha plus. Besides, he asked me to go to one of the savage reservations with him.
This quote from Chapter 3 of Aldous Huxleys Brave New World, really brings to light a big
message in the book. This message being that if we do not change our social behaviors and this
destructive path, we will begin breaking down individuality. This almost completely eliminates
chances of improving social interactions and we become in a simple sense fakely happy. In the
scenario of Brave New World they must take anti-depressants because they are constantly so
focused on social class, they care not for the community or other people not in their class. As a
whole we need to stop heading down this iminate path of self destruction and dividing
individuals into categories. Instead we need to focus on each other, because other people are the
key to our happiness and finding meaning.
Our culture already highly values being happy and seeking the most pleasant, and
desirable situations for ourselves. We are completely focused on ourselves and if we are happy.
We are seeking happiness in a completely incorrect way that is unsustainable for the
environment, each other and ourselves. The amount that our society consumes mindlessly
impacts the environment in a negative way that eventually will become irreversible by humans.
In the article 10 Reasons to Escape Excessive Consumerism, author Joshua Becker explains
Our earth produces enough resources to meet all of our needs, but it does not produce enough
resources to meet all of our wants. Our material way of thinking also negatively impacts others
that we hurt in our wake of consumerism. We are buying material things to fill the void in our
lives that should be replaced by meaning and happiness for all. We need to spread consciousness

and awareness of our incorrect seeking of happiness. Learning to follow these important keys to
finding long lasting meaningful happiness can incredibly improve one's life in countless ways.