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Christine Deodanes

Professor Ditch

English 115

September 28, 2019

Defining Happiness: External and Internal Space

There are four readings within the Pursuing Happiness book by Matthew Parfitt and

Dawn Skorczewski, that touch on what truly defines happiness, externally and internally, and

how to achieve it. External and internal space are the things inside of us and the forces around us

that can bring happiness. The articles: “The Sources of Happiness” by His Holiness the Dalai

Lama and Howard Cutler, “How Happy Are You and Why?” By Sonja Lyubomirsky, and “What

Suffering Does” by David Brooks, all focus on the internal space. The fourth article, “Living

with Less. A Lot Less.” By Graham Hill, focuses on the external space. The Dalai Lama and

Cutler argue that external items will not bring us constant happiness. It is our mindset that can

shift our perspective on situations. The second article by Sonja Lyubomirsky, claims that our

happiness is genetically preset but that our level of happiness can fluctuate. She believes that the

key to happiness begins internally. The third article by David Brooks, argues that suffering can

be a blessing in disguise. You come out of suffering as a different person, perhaps, for the better.

In the fourth article by Graham Hill, he argues that the more material items you have, the more

cluttered your life will be. Owning less items is the way to go in order to better your life. The

book Pursuing Happiness includes many readings that explore both external and internal space

when defining what truly brings us happiness.

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Happiness is determined more than just by one’s possession of materialistic items, but

more so their mindset and perspective on life. In the first article, “The Sources of Happiness” by

His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler, they both argue that your mind set is the key to

happiness. One of Cutler’s friends explains that she went to go work for a small health-care

company that was later bought out. She retired young and bought a new home (21). She didn’t

find herself to be more content than before she had the extra amount of wealth. While one friend

has everything that one might consider bringing happiness, it clearly doesn't make her any

happier. The other friend of Cutler was diagnosed with HIV and of course it was very hard to

deal with. After coming to terms with his diagnosis, he has been in a better state of mind saying,

“I feel happier than I ever have. I just seem to appreciate everyday things more…” (21-22). He

realizes that life is not forever and that no one is immortal. Instead of viewing the virus as an

obstacle, he views it as an opportunity. It’s something that most people would have trouble

coping with, but in turn, it is something that ultimately has made a positive effect on his life.

There’s a clear distinction between obtaining things we think will make us happy, compared to

having a positive mindset. One brings us temporary contentment, meanwhile the other brings us

to be more appreciative and grateful. The Dalai Lama explains that trying to obtain a home,

money, cars, etc. will lead us to greed and eventually sink us. We think we will find satisfaction

through these possessions but afterwards we will find ourselves wanting to obtain something we

can’t have (26). It’s about changing your outlook and perspective on things because it is not only

about striving for more but rather about reflecting on what you already have. Change your

perspective, it’s not about what you can’t do but rather what you can do. Cutler and Brooke both

stress the importance of internally changing our mindset to increase our satisfaction with our

own life.
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Genuine happiness is obtainable through health-boosting strategies that correlate to one’s

interests and goals. The second article, “How Happy Are You and Why?” By Sonja

Lyubomirsky, claims that our happiness is genetically preset from birth but that we could still

determine our own happiness levels to an extent by internally changing our outlook. She says

that happiness ranges on a continuum, numerical scale called the Subjective Happiness scale.

The only person who could truly know how happy you are is yourself, which is why the scale is

completely “defined from the perspective of the person” (184). Our genetic makeup accounts for

fifty percent of our happiness. This is known as our set point. Another ten percent is affected by

our own circumstances such as money, family and friends. Forty percent is defined by intentional

activity that, by the end of the day, is left for us to mold (184). It is determined by what we do,

but it starts internally. Lyubomirsky interviewed a thirty-four-year-old woman named Angela.

She has been through some hardships such as enduring emotional and physical abuse from her

mother, growing up with a neglectful father, suffered with being overweight and bullied. Despite

her struggles, she continues to live happily with her child, Ella, and seeks support through her

friends (180). She also finds satisfaction in healing others as well. Lyubomirsky compares her to

another women named Shannon, who has had a pretty stable and an uneventful upbringing. She

grew up in a nice home and had many friends. Today, Shannon has a stable career, boyfriend,

family and dog; things that most people would consider an ideal life (182). Although, she seems

to be relatively unsatisfied with her life. Despite her being unable to change her happiness set

point, she is still able to determine her happiness level by first, changing her outlook. Only then

is she be able to change her external events. Angela formed a support group and chose to help

others. She looked internally and set goals for herself that ultimately made an impact in her life.
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Unfortunately, pain also accompanies happiness. Therefore, to experience one is to

experience the other. The third article, “What Suffering Does” by David Brooks focuses on the

internal space. Brooks claims that suffering is not as detrimental to us as we think. In fact, out of

our own suffering can be something positive to ourselves and others. Brooks mentions that we all

strive to be happy but really, we should consider the effects suffering has on our life and how it

is just as important. Sometimes suffering could be destructive and harmful to us, but other times

it could carve a pavement for change. He gave this example, “Think of the way Franklin

Roosevelt came back deeper and more empathetic after being struck with polio” (284). Roosevelt

gained this awareness of suffering that other people are enduring by experiencing it himself.

Suffering can encourage us to be better by placing us in a difficult situation. We, as humans, are

very complex and when we suffer, we realize just how many layers there are to ourselves. The

more pain we experience, the more we start to understand our own limitations. Brook believes

that even though we sometimes can’t control our suffering, we still act out on it and some people

respond to it positively. He mentions, “Parents who’ve lost a child start foundations. Lincoln

sacrificed himself for the Union” (286). Suffering doesn’t necessarily heal us, but it internally

changes us and sometimes for the better. It makes us more vulnerable, which isn’t always a bad

thing and moves us deeper into what we love, and closer to who we love. In other words,

suffering is a blessing in disguise (287). There’s a gift in suffering and out of your suffering can

be something great.

There could also be a shift in a person’s happiness due to their external circumstances.

The fourth article, “Living with Less. A Lot Less.” By Graham Hill focuses on the external

space. Hill claims, as the title suggests, that having less materialistic items in your life is a key

asset to happiness because the less you have, the less exhausting your life will be, physically and
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mentally. Hill lives a very minimalistic life today; he lives in a studio with barely any items. He

used to own a huge house that he bought in Seattle that was full of things like expensive cars,

new electronics and gadgets. He explains, “Somehow this stuff ended up running my life, or a lot

of it; the things I consumed ended up consuming me” (308). His life is cluttered with stuff he

doesn’t need, and this is making him discontent with his life. To hill, his wealth doesn’t bring

long lasting happiness, none of his purchases does. He has grown numb to purchasing new items

that once brought him excitement and instant happiness (309). The items and appliances that he

was buying took more time and energy to upkeep and own. Studies have shown that owning

more is a contributing factor to someone’s stress. The reason why people buy more is because

they feel obligated to. The average square feet of an American home more than doubles from

1950 to 2011. Also, the average amount of people living in each home decreased from those

years. Not only has the space increased but the amount of people living in these homes have

decreased, leaving a lot more room for items (310). We live in a consumerism society that not

only harms us but our environment as well. Less is more and in Hill’s case, the less he has the

more content he is with his choices and lifestyle.

Each author had their own interpretation of defining what truly brings one happiness.

According to Hill, in order to achieve happiness, externally, a person has to declutter their life.

Having less items around would statistically make a person happier. Internally, Lyubomirsky

mentions that a person’s happiness is pre-determined genetically, but that they still have control

over their own happiness and that it is subjective to the person. Internally, having a positive

mindset is really the key to becoming content according to Brook, Cutler, and the Dalai Lama.

Even if there are certain external factors that we want to change, the real change has to begin

inside. It starts with a person’s mindset and perspective on their own life.
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Works Cited

Brooks, David. “What Suffering Does.” Pursuing Happiness: a Bedford Spotlight Reader, Bedford/St.

Martins, a Macmillan Education Imprint, 2016, pp. 284–287.

Hill, Graham. “Living with Less. A Lot Less.” Pursuing Happiness: a Bedford Spotlight Reader,

Bedford/St. Martins, a Macmillan Education Imprint, 2016, pp. 308–310.

Lyubomirsky, Sonja. “How Happy Are You and Why?” Pursuing Happiness: a Bedford Spotlight Reader,

Bedford/St. Martins, a Macmillan Education Imprint, 2016, pp. 180–184.

The Dalai Lama, His Holiness, and Howard Cutler. “The Sources of Happiness.” Pursuing Happiness: a

Bedford Spotlight Reader, Bedford/St. Martins, a Macmillan Education Imprint, 2016, pp. 21-26.