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Devin Perea

Professor Beadle

ESW113A

24 June 2019

The Pursuit of Happiness

Individuals perceive happiness by imagining themselves as being successful and

wealthy,​ yet happiness is not guaranteed through having materialistic goods and lavish

experiences. The average upper class individual would find it easy to say that wealth is not

the key to happiness, a contrary statement to someone of a lower income background or

someone who is less fortunate. However, some argue that living a simple and minimal life

will guide you to direct happiness. ​David Brooks, Graham Hill, and Sonja Lyubomirsky

argue and analyze how to achieve happiness. However​, their ​contrary​ statements reach the same

basis of the fundamental root to happiness. Although Brooks, Hill, and Lyubomirsky are contrary

with each others ideas, they conclude that happiness is determined by ​an individual’s​ behavior

and the events that happen in a character’s life because they have gone through these

experiences.

To begin with, happiness is the state of a person’s well-being and contentment

(Merriam-Webster.com). There are numerous possibilities to achieve happiness and a

positive mental state, but how does an individual achieve this? Happiness can be gained

through physical or emotional occurrences. For example, Graham Hill, a Canadian

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journalist and entrepreneur, is a multimillionaire who learned his lesson about gaining

happiness through physical events such as making his wealth and spending it on

materialistic goods he did not need. Hill had bought a massive mansion, expensive home

interior items, the latest technology gadgets, and a luxurious automobile; Hill then came to

the realization ​that​ he had no use for these objects. Hill stated, “My success and the things

it bought quickly changed from novel to normal​” (Hill 309)​. Hill is saying his unnecessary

purchases did not satisfy him and his inessential commodities made him less and less

happy because he felt that they were a waste of time and space. Present day, Hill lives in a

small studio apartment and does not own many things, his root to happiness is “less is

more” and that “money cannot buy you happiness.”

On the other hand, people also gain and lose happiness through emotional events. Sonja

Lyubomirsky, a psychology professor at the University of California, Riverside and Stanford

graduate, conducted a study indicating how happy a person is and why they are happy. In her

research, she interviewed a few people to see how they compare against each other on a

happiness continuum scale. The happiness continuum is a scale that measures your happiness on

a numerical basis. Moreover, Lyubomirsky first interviewed Angela, a financially struggling

single mother who grew up dealing with abusive parents. However, Angela was one of the

happiest interviewees, she persevered through her challenges and has a strong and joyful

relationship with her daughter. Next off, Randy, another happy person who had to deal with

adversity growing up. Randy lost two of his closest peers to suicide, his best friend and his
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father; he also dealt with a personal divorce. However, Randy is genuine and happy person who

makes everyone around him smile and laugh, Randy is also an eternal optimist and claims that

“seeing the “silver lining in the cloud” has always been his key to survival​” (Lyubomirsky 181).

Lyubomirsky stated, “...to study genuinely happy people systematically and intensively. By

closely observing them, we can learn a great deal not just about them but about ourselves.”

(Lyubomirsky, 180) Lyubomirsky is saying through listening through others, the

listener can learn and build character from someone else is experience. Lyubomirsky’s route to

happiness from her studies ​and interviews​ is to think on the ​bright side and remain positive.

Furthermore, unlike Hill and Lyubomirsky, David Brooks takes his audience on an

emotionally detailed approach of what suffering can do to an individual’s mindset. “Happiness

wants you to think about maximizing your benefits. Difficulty and suffering sends you on a

different course​” (Brooks 284).​ Brooks is telling the audience that suffering can be used as a

mechanism to find out someone’s “true colors”, finding a deeper sense in one’s self. As

mentioned previously, Hill became deprived because he had too much and started to develop a

positive attitude when he had less; when Hill realized this, he started to control his act and

became more aware through his suffering. “Suffering gives people a more accurate sense of their

own limitations, what they can control and cannot control.” (Brooks, 285) Brooks believes

people should think of the trials and errors in the short run before talking about the good

experiences they hope to have in the near future. Similar to the past, “When people remember the

past, they don’t only talk about happiness. It is often the ordeals that seem most significant.
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People shoot for happiness but feel formed through suffering.” (Brooks, 284) In brief, Brooks

wants his audience to find the good in the bad, to let your suffering shape an individual into a

mentally stronger and brighter self. However, the three authors have similar ways to obtain

happiness or techniques to avoid suffering, in which their procedures are unorthodox. Hill,

Lyubomirsky, and Brooks wants their audience to get a grasp of their subject and apply it to their

everyday lives.

In similarity​, although the authors have different methods and reasonings, the common

end goal is to reach happiness. First off, Hill stated, “It didn’t take long before I started to

wonder why my theoretically upgraded life didn’t feel any better and why I felt more

anxious than before.” (Hill, 309) Hill is explaining that his “upgraded life” was

unnecessary, his method to happiness is less is more and living a simple life will avoid

suffering, His statement may be contrary to the other authors, but his experience has proven

that money cannot buy you happiness. On the other hand, Lyubomirsky believes the way a

person carries ​his or her​ self will lead them into their next emotional state. “Happiness,

more than anything is a state of mind, a way of perceiving and approaching ourselves and

the world in which we reside.” (Lyubomirsky, 185) Lyubomirsky ​came up with​ a couple of

myths through her studies and research. The first myth is happiness must be “found” and

secondly, happiness lies in changing our circumstances. Lyubomirsky also believes an

individual’s surroundings put an impact on someone’s mental and emotional state. Lastly,

Brooks believes that happiness can only be achieved if one is not suffering. “Recovering
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from suffering is not like recovering from a disease. Many people don’t come out healed;

they come out different.” (Brooks, 287) The similarities between the authors is the

fundamentals root to happiness, which is ​making your end goal happen and essentially

remaining positive.​ However, their differences are their methods and opinions to achieve

happiness.

In conclusion, happiness is not easy to achieve if one is not in the right mindset.

Happiness also is not granted if one is negative and is deprived by suffering, suffering drags one

deeper into themselves and forces them to confront the fact they cannot determine what is going

on. Theologian Paul Tillich wrote that people who endure suffering are taken beneath the

routines of of life and find they are not who they believe themselves to be. In a nutshell, the

fountain of happiness can be found in how you behave, what you think, and what goals you set

everyday of your life. “There is no happiness without action” ​(Lyubomirsky 196).

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Works Cited

Brooks, David. “What Suffering Does.” ​Pursuing Happiness,​ edited by Matthew Parfitt and

Dawn Skorczewski, Bedford St. Martin’s, 2016, pp. 284-287

Hill, Graham. “Living with Less. A Lot Less.”​ Pursuing Happiness​, edited by Matthew Parfitt

and Dawn Skorczewski, Bedford St. Martin’s, 2016, pp. 308-313

Lyubomirsky, Sonja. “How Happy Are You and Why?” ​Pursuing Happiness​, edited by Matthew

Parfitt and Dawn Skorczewski, Bedford St. Martin’s, 2016, pp. 179-197