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Johana Baskin
Professor: Ditch
English 114A
28 February 2019
The Start of A Smile
Happiness is not only based on good news or good moments in our lives. Most people
want to have happiness, but they see it as something to work for. David Brooks has written for
the New York Times and his job as a journalist lead him to the National Review, The Washington
Times, and The Wall Street Journal. Sonja Lyubomirsky, professor of psychology, has a Ph. D in
social psychology from Stanford University. Graham Hill is the owner of LifeEdited, a company
that creates small design strategies for a better living “with less stuff, space and energy” (Parfitt
& Skorczewski 308). Their three articles and expertise on the subject, reveal that happiness
comes to each person in different ways. Each piece talks about happiness, but each article
features people who handle the situation of happiness differently and have their own method of
being content. According to the authors, Brooks, Lyubomisky and Hill, each author happiness
state a way of finding happiness. For example; through suffering, through the capability of not
letting the past affect the future, and by focusing on the fact that when we have less we are more
free.
For some people it is hard to overcome pain, however suffering can show them that they
are not the only ones struggling. Pain can make you aware that you are not alone. Brooks’ article
shows that suffering can change people. It is normal for some people to be self-observing after
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suffering while others overcome the pain, but change in some type of way. Some people start
exploring more without limitations, while others try to protect themselves from any emotional
and physical harm. Everyone knows that pain is different from happiness but also pain can lead
to happiness. Happiness just makes you keep thinking bigger while “difficulty and suffering
sends you on a different course” (284). Due to the hard times that we go through, we may change
as a person but also make changes in our lives for a better outcome. Challenges and suffering
usually change the way we see things or approach them. One of Brooks’ evidences was about
Abraham Lincoln having a hard time “conducting a Civil War,” yet by the end he had a Second
Inauguration (286). At the moment, suffering is seen as a failure but later it helps you become
more aware. Most people cannot understand another’s hardship until it actually happens to them.
There are times when we are so focused on our pain and we may not realize that someone else
may be going through the same thing. It is good to keep in mind that while we are having a tough
time someone else is trying to recover from pain too. Sometimes we experience similar situations
than others at a different point of our lives. This experiences can lead us to take a new path or to
make different decisions than others.
Although our past makes us unique, in order to be happy we must not let our past control
us. We are not born with happiness, we determine our happiness. Lyubomirsky interviewed two
people who had struggled a lot at an early age and he described them as the “happiest people” he
met (180). One of these happy people was Angela, a single mom with some financial problems
and no child support from her ex husband. At the age of seven, her mother was diagnosed with
breast cancer. Yet, despite some many negative challenges, Angela did not let that determine her
happiness. Rather than focusing on the past, Angela now focuses on her daughter. After her
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struggles, with time, she discovered that “happiness, more than anything, is a state of mind”
(184). Angela put the past behind her and focus on the present on the people who are important
for her; her daughter. Many of us do not let go of the past and that is what keeps us from being
happy. Happiness is not something to reach or search for. Happiness is the mentality of letting go
and overcoming changes in our lives. Being able to smile based on the decisions we have made
and focus on the present or the future, helps us stay in control what can make us happier.
Aside from emotional decisions, we also make decisions about material things. The more
we have the happier we are, but what if that is not the case. What if the less we have, the more
we are free. Having less than others does not mean that we are not happy. In Hill’s case, he
enjoys not having a big house to take care off. He would rather travel to different places. Most
people cannot afford to travel and others do not like moving from place to place. Living with less
is living with what is necessary. It feels nice to be upgraded but that is temporary, there is always
something to replace. Moreover, the more we have, the more work we give ourselves. For
example, some people have a big home with a lot of rooms but only a couple of those rooms are
being used. According to Hill, “We know that best stuff in life isn’t stuff at all,” however people
still base their happiness on material things (311). All the objects-- like televisions, iphones,
cars, and purses-- that we acquire, impossibly satisfy us for only so long. The memories we
create and friendships we build stay with us forever. Hill had an enormous house, yet after
traveling all over the world he decided to design a smaller house for him and his partner. He
describes his current home as small with less stuff in it, but most importantly he has a small
home that supports his life, “not the other way around” (312). Smaller things can make life easier
without taking over happiness. There are a lot of things that people get just for fun or to show
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off. This is a way a person can hurt themselves because instead of getting something that they
need, they get something that they did not need just for satisfaction. Life is easier and we can be
more present if we only have what we need without hurting ourselves emotionally or financially.
In “How Happy Are You and Why?”, “What Suffering Does” and “Living With Less A
Lot Less” the authors explain that happiness can be found in a variety of ways. All three authors
have strong arguments to backup their claims and evidence that made each article credible. The
main point of each article is that happiness can be achieved through changing one’s state of
mind. With different scenarios and data, the authors inform the audience about happiness.
Additionally, each author attracts a different audience. For instance, most people think happiness
is just a one way thing without taking in consideration that happiness can be found, get in many
ways. On the other hand these three authors, have their own way of analogy happiness. Hill
believe that leaving with less materialistic things can lead to our happiness. Brooks mention how
bad experiences can help us find happiness and lyubomirsky what we think it makes us happy
and why.
The word happy has a lot of different meanings for people, but is important to know that
happiness is achievable because it in us. We ourselves determine our battles and when to smile
and for what. Not accomplishing a goal is not a reason to not smile, rather failure is a chance to
learn. The past does not make us weaker it makes as happier and there is a perfect amount of
material stuff that makes us happy.
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Work Cited
hat Suffering Does.” Pursuing Happiness. Ed. Bedford /St. Martin’s.
Brooks, David. “ W
2016. 284-287.
Hill, Graham. “ Living with Less A lot Less.” Pursuing Happiness. Ed. Bedford / St.
Marin’s. 2016. 308-312.
Lyubomirsky,Sonja. “ How Happy Are You and Why.” Pursuing Happiness. Ed. Bedford/
St. Martin’s. 2016. 179-190.
