Morales 1 Kevin Morales Rewsech English 115 Professor Ditch 11 October 2018 Source of Happiness Individuals are constantly looking for a new source of happiness to keep them content, they may look for happiness with materialistic items, new friends, or even thrills and adventures. Tin most eases people tend to not necessarily stay content with the new happiness orjoy they have | found and therefore once again seek to find happiness with objects, circumstances or even within, themselves. The Dalai Lama, Cutler, David Brooks and Sonja Lyubomirsky all argue that )/ \ happiness is primarily found and created internally, happiness is naturally inside ourselves and _/ certain circumstances and self decisions allow us to maximize that happiness. Graham Hill speaks about how happiness can increase from extemal space such as with materialistic objects of lifestyles but eventually decreases ultimately assuring that true happiness increases and may remain through intemal or personal efforts. In order to increase happiness one must first have it in themselves already and in order to \\ maximize it one must take action or actions themselves, this idea is established by Sonja Lyubomirsky. Lyubomirsky joins conversation regarding the topic of happiness when she states, “In my interviews and experiments with very happy people” and claims she has studied / “genuinely happy people systematically and intensively” (Lyubomirsky 180) therefore establishing her credibility as she has first hand research and experience with happy people to \(understand happiness. Lyubomirsky uses her research and knowledge to explain how and where blMorales 2 happiness can be increased when she states, “There is no happiness without action” (Lyubomirsky 196). She is arguing that individuals must take it into their own hands to take actions that could possibly improve or increase their personal happiness. Lyubomirsky ultimately strengthens her argument by incorporating data through a pie chart titled “what determines \ \ happiness?”. The pie chart allows her to show that 50% of happiness is already a base at every : \ individual has within themselves and the rest must be found through action strengthening her claim about happiness being primarily internal. Happiness is best achieved when an individual decides to take actions to increase the happiness that is already within their soul, penjpen and\\ actions improve one’s well being. Pe pot EE mm parr J VAX (WN Wb ji Cn the topie of happiness being increased through action, The Dalal Lama and Howard Cutler add that happiness is something we are internally familiar with and pleasure is something — \ that can be found when stating, “We know it [pleasure] it in the touch or smile of a loved one, in ab \ \ the luxury of a hot bath—But many of us also know pleasure in the frenetic rhapsody of a cocaine, rush, the ecstasy of @ heroin high- bliss of unrestrained sexual excess” (Dalai Lama & Cutler’ y 32), The two authors argue taking action to increase, improve or develop your happiness may) mean one may search for it in different environments or even trying new things such as substances, in other words the internal space may transform to extemal. They too establish that i ‘ NY happiness is first intemal and conelude by explaining that happiness and pleasure can differ and/\\ yl be costly to one’s self so one must be cautious and self aware when attempting to increase happiness with pleasure, David Brooks joins conversation about happiness when he claims he has found himself “in a bunch of conversations-[with the] assumption ~ that the main goal of life is to maximizeMorales 3 happiness” (Brooks 284) giving him the qualifying position to discuss happiness, Brooks has a unique argument in which he explains suffering is a “fearful gift” where people find happiness in the end, for example he states, “Recovering from suffering is not like recovering from a disease. Many people don’t come out healed; they come out different-- they throw themselves more mean all hope is lost in fact happiness and self improvement can come about, Brooks is telling \ 2 readers that happiness can shift within one’s self when pain transforms into greater internal confidence or happiness. Brooks tells his audience about theologian Paul Tillich who also / asserted that people realize they aren’t completely who they thought they were afler suffering to strengthen his argument. Ultimately Brooks argues that something comes from suffering, it may help one improve their well being and happiness internally. As the years go by people may not be content with themselves, the things around them or their lifestyle so they seek happiness and joy in materialistic things or luxurious living but the joy _/ that comes fom these things does often tend to fade, Author Graham Hill uses himselfas an example where in his case eventually all the luxuries that once made him happy now caused him stress and complications. Hill establishes credibility to argue about the correlation between external objects or space to happiness levels when he tells readers he had first hand experience with external space explaining, “Soon 1 was numb to it all. The new Nokia phone didn’t excite me or satisfy me” (Hill 309) also claiming his “life was unnecessarily complicated” dueto 1) \ extemal factors. Hill tres to explain that those who don’t find adequate levels of happiness within themselves internally look for joy in external space. Hill states, “Members of every