Vargas 1 Cindy Vargas Professor Ditch English 115 24 September 2019 Internal and External. Inside You and Around you. Happiness has different meanings to everyone, whether it is suecess or being surrounded by the people that you love, everyone expresses happiness using internal and external spaces. ‘There are two types of spaces, external and internal. Internal spaces are inside everyone like the way people think or process things, itis the mindset, External spaces are the environment, the surroundings around people. In the articles, “The Sources of Happiness” by Dalai Lama and NS Howard Cutler, “How Happy Are You and Why?” by Sonja Lyubomirsky, “What Suffering yx Does” by David Brooks, and “Living With Less. A Lot Less” by Graham Hill, these authors focus on one thing, happiness. They explain different ways people define happiness and describe ‘ways to find that happiness. When they are speaking about this, they talk about spaces both internal and external and express how in some ways to transform it to help them find that happiness in life. Most of the authors like, Lama and Cutler, Lyubomirsky, and Brooks focused on internal spaces like your state of mind while Hill focused on.an external space. In the articles \ where the authors who focused on internal spaces, they suggested that having the mindset of \\ being happy will help accomplish that whereas Hill explained that having less materialistic ‘objects and focusing more on the things people enjoy doing will help them reach that happiness they strive for. Ke abl. ade 7) j wo Lama and Cutler bring wr Goncepts in their article, “The Sources of Happiness” that people need to achieve to be happy. These are all internal spaces. The comparing mind is one [nr bie | Al \ (ov pao ttleVargas 2 concept that people tend to do that Lama and Cutler point out, which is the concept that people are never satisfied with anything because they are always comparing themselves and what they have to what other people have. They always tend to compare themselves to people who have more, but they would actually be happier if they were to compare themselves to those who have less. In the article, Cutler mentions an experiment at the State University of New York at Buffalo, subjects were asked to complete a sentence “I’m glad I’m not...” After five times of doing this experiment the subjects experienced an elevation in their feelings of life satisfaction (24). When the subjects answered this question, they were comparing themselves to people who have less than what they have, and this made them feel grateful for their life, So, to change their mindset, they can improve their life sat _-~ Inner contentment is another factor ot concept they need to have to be happy. but they always dk ire things they don’t need like for example, the newest car. There are two methods of achieving inner contentment: by obtaining everything they want and desire and the second (the more reasonable one) is to not get what they want but be grateful for what they have at the moment. As stated recently those who have this mindset are one step closer to being happy. we worth is another internal space of happiness, to have sense of self-worth means that they have that warm side of themselves where they are affectionate, compassionate and satisfied with who they are as a person, In the article, Lama speaks his thoughts on inner worth and states, “Because that person has another source of worth, another anchor, there is a less chance that of this person’s becoming depressed if his or her fortunes happens to disappear (29).” When a person \ with fortune but no sense of self-worth loses everything he has, he will have nothing and be unhappy because he does not even value himself, he will likely fall into depression, With someone who does have a sense of self-worth and also loses everything, they may continue to be’.a\ ( Vargas 3 happy because they found something else to be happy with, not just the fortunes, they are still satisfied with how they are as people. Transforming these internal spaces will help them find \ happiness. \ v om low Happy Are You and Why?” by Lyubomirsky, her definition of happiness A Zz Ait isa State of mind. She interviewed two people, one happy person named Angela, she went { through a traumatic childhood which included being abused emotionally and physically by her mother, she got married to a man and had a daughter, but they got divorced and then he left, She ) still managed to find something that makes her happy, her daughter. Lyubomirsky comments, “Still with all that has happened and all the challenges that have come to pass, Angela considers _ herself a very happy person. Her daughter, Ella, to whom she is extremely close, bring her endless joy (180).” Although Angela had a hard life, she pushed through because she has the ) idset to be appreciative of what you have in life at the moment, as said in the last article. The, second person Lyubomirsky interviewed was an unhappy person, Shannon, She had an f uneventful childhood: it was pretty normal and uneventful. Although nothing bad or traumatie + happened in her life she still feels unhappy and she depends on others to bring her happiness and a sense of self-worth, She's in a dark place when she feels insecure and just dives deeper into. |»! \ those feelings. If she were to have inner worth and contentment like how Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler explained in their article, then she could be a happier person. By gaining this mindset she is transforming her internal space to help her find happiness. In Brooks’ article ) ; good because it can help people become satisfied and happy. this means that it changes their mindset which is an internal space. When péople go through something traumatic or tra “What Suffering Does”, his concept is that sometimes suffering is something good may come out of oy may learn to see the world in a different way which can) \Vargas 4 possibly be good. They have a better mindset about the world they live in and how they want to live it, Brooks references a historical figure and states, “Think of the way Franklin Roosevelt came back deeper and more empathetic after being struck with polio (284).” This person experienced something traumatic and he became a better person because of it, he changed his ways as his person by becoming more empathetic. This also relates to people who experience trauma, they became more empathetic and appreciate life more. People can change more with the way they take suffering, Brooks mentions article, “They hurl themselves deeper and gratefully into their art, loved ones, and commitments (287).” Sometimes the suffering is too much for people to bare, so they drown themselves in it, causing them to be more dependent on. \ other people or other things they do to bring them this happiness that they are seeking for. — In the article, “Living With Less. A Lot Less.” By Hill, he explains his own life experiences to relate to how other people think that you will be happy if you have all these expensive things, but they don’t need all these materialistic things to be happy, he expresses the external space, surroundings and environment, He compares how much houses have grown | \ because of all the unnecessary things people want to have and fit in their homes. Hill states *The average size of a new American home in 1950 was 983 square feet, by 2011, the average new home was 2,480 square feet (310).” The size has grown rapidly because people tend to desire many things and these things require space. People think having a bigger house will give you more space for anything they want but these are all materialistic objects. At the end of the day they have no value. He realized when he got into a relationship with someone and started traveling that they don’t need all the most expensive things, all they need is to live their life without those materials holding them back, living with less helps people to achieve that happiness because they learn to live without it.His Holiness The Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler, David Brooks and Sonja Lyubomirsky \ focused on internal spaces while Graham Hill focused on an external space. In these articles, the, authors that focus on an internal space explain that happiness is found within the person's mind, inside them, and they can transform this space to make them have that mindset that they can be happy with what they have and how they are living life. With the author that focuses on more of he explains that all people need is themselves and the things they enjoy doin, an external space, they do not need all the materialistic things they all desire, that will not bring them happiness.Vargas 6 Works Cited f Brooks, David. “What suffering Does”. Pursuing Happiness: A Bedford Spotlight Reader. Edited by Matthew Parfitt and Dawn Skorezewski. Bedford/St. Martin's, 2016, pp. 284-287. Cutler, Howard and Dalai Lama. “The Sources of Happiness”. Pursuing Happiness: A Bedford Spotlight Reader. Edited by Matthew Parfitt and Dawn Skorezewski. Bedford/St. Martin's, 2016, pp. 21-33, Hill, Graham. “Living With Less. A Lot Less.”. Pursuing Happiness: a Bedford Spotlight reader. Edited by Matthew Parfitt and Dawn Skorezewski. Bedford/St. Martin's, 2016, pp. 308-313. Lyubomirsky, Sonja. “How Happy Are You and Why?”, Pursuing Happiness: a Bedford Spotlight reader. Edited by Matthew Parfitt and Dawn Skorezewski. Bedford/St, Martin’s, 2016, pp. 179-197,(CSUN Ada Rare ss |The essay shou cnecty lanswer te prompt and crouse [Response to Assignment: Tho papr responds tote hero fn Jeng te top {tvoughou he essay. ‘aasteses the oie andthe Jorounout the essay s ie s | Sudertaidnot twmmn anes, Jermpes ldermonste tat me tues Nhe sin hy and from requ snuces lor required so "he thesis aeoquaioly eveoped unsorted wih ‘Tate retveny Jorgantzation: 15% ute, Coherence, Unity, "The papas wer snocued Isto eanibute tots [pupose. Peagrais re wal [rganaed and careful ince) form canbeutas toe Fomat 10% Preset, seuces, lsocumentson MLA. supper ts puree. 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