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Nanci Pascual
Professor: Ditch
English 114A
February 14, 2019

Essay 1

Happiness refers to the state of being satisfied and at peace with oneself and the world around.

By reading the Jane McGonigal’s text The Four Ways To Making Our Own Happiness has

quotes “Happiness is the consequence of personal effort… You have to participate relentlessly in

the manifestations of your own blessings (371) With that being said happiness comes when you

let people into your life and build a bond with them. With the motivation to try, the reward will

be a companionship. A friend-base of friendship is a chosen option; everyone has the decision to

pick who he or she would like to have as friends. Friendship is different between girls and guys

because girls talk and act more dramatically and emotionally. Whereas, men are more straight to

the point when it comes to expressing. For example in the book, Juliet talks to Sophie about

more personal topics than what she would write to Dawsey Adams, and Sidney. Juliet considers

Sidney as family since they tell one another every detail in their lives. Stated in the text “My fate

rests with Sidney” (Shalfer and Barrows 9). On the other hand, people may argue that you

cannot have a friendship with family members, family is family. Some family members might

not be comfortable enough with sharing their secrets and deep feelings that they might tell their

close friend. The family bond might not be tight as they wished compared to some others. And

also, While searching about what and who to write about she received as a letter from dawsey

Happiness is described as a complex concept in Matthew Parfitt’s Pursuing Happiness, which

makes it necessary to adopt multidimensional approaches towards the investigation of happiness

through the various articles included in the book. She receives letter for mall the members and
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falls in love with all the members of the ey and find our that not just certain people War affected

by the war, but everyone was in different ways. She lost most of her items in the war while many

of the people actually most lost their freedom during the war. Happiness isn’t the consequence of

bouncing with one delight then onto the next, analysts find that accomplishing happiness

ordinarily includes times of extensive distress. Due to the multiple fields such as philosophy,

psychology and economics which are included in the text, the principles of happiness are

comprised of various actions, thoughts and attitudes which form the basis of the abstract

experience. On the other hand, Sonja Lyubomirsky defines happiness in the context of being

positive even in the most negative situations. Lyubomirsky asserts that the expectations placed

upon us by society serve to weigh us down from time to time. According to the author, people

have been fed the wrong idea of what happiness should look like. As we grow up, we are taught

that true happiness comes from success. Most people, therefore, spend most of their lives seeking

to be successful in the knowledge that happiness will ensue. However, this is a fallacious and

misleading point of view. Instead of being the best version of ourselves, societal pressures and

expectations cause an individual to question his/her direction and well-being in life (Flora).

When an individual is fully content with where he/she is in life, happiness will tend to follow

that person. Moreover, finding the right balance in life requires finding inner peace within one’s

heart and soul. In his article, Hill focuses on the importance of happiness for all individuals. The

key factor is whether one chooses to view life as a gift or a curse. In the case where one sees the

positive aspect of life, it is easier to find happiness (Lambert). However, a negative mentality

towards life is described as the first step towards unhappiness. Hill maintains that anyone can be

happy at any time regardless of how long they have been chasing happiness. Happiness is further

explained to be a process rather than a situation. True happiness lies in understanding oneself and

how the world works. However, life must be appreciated in order to understand its meaning and
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purpose. In the book shows that Juliet went on vacation she grew a firm relationship to Kit,

Elizabeth McKenna’s daughter. Juliet didn’t expect herself to grow close to her. The book club

was something just happened but a world of friendship and connections developed. Since that

day on, some of friendships grew in time from one stage to another, until members became

closer and closer. Along with friendships, Juliet learns about the German Occupation of the small

island with the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society.

The main difference between the authors is that Brooks believes happiness is found in the pursuit

of one’s true purpose while Lyubomirsky considers bad moments to be the catalysts for

happiness. Although both views are right about happiness, they fail to point out that happiness is

a product of many factors. Although happiness comes from within, one has to ride the good and

bad moments in life while actively following one’s dreams. Therefore, many virtues are needed

to unlock happiness; patience, gratitude, humility and passion. Furthermore, it is virtually

impossible to be happy without love; one must love oneself, family and friends (Stein). It is often

said that no man is an island in reference to the support system that we need as human beings to

function. Happiness and all forms of friendship are apart of social connections. “We crave social

connection. Humans are extremely social creatures, and even the most introverted among us

derive a large percentage of our happiness from spending time with the people we care about.

We want to share experience and build bonds, and we most often accomplish that by doing

things that matter together (McGonigal 371) We all learn something from others and each

relationship we encounter, whether we gain wisdom or knowledge, uplifted spirits, common

goals or guidelines. In conclusion, the subject of happiness breeds a lot of confusion and

questions for everyone. Happiness is described as the state of contentment and peace with

oneself and everything around the individual. Texts from Brooks and Lyubomirsky provide
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varying insights into the world of happiness. Brooks believes that happiness is discovered by

those who boldly chase after their dreams. Lyubomirsky, on the other hand, considers happiness

to be forged from learning through bad experiences in life. Hill considers happiness to be a

product of positivity and appreciation of one’s life. All authors concur that happiness is the most

important thing in life.