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Alejandro Lemus

Professor Ditch

English 113B

23 February 2020

What Way Do you Find Happiness?

There are many ways to look at happiness and understand its true meaning because it’s

unique to every person that is asked. Many people look at happiness and think it may be obtained

in an external manner, such as having everything in the world, namely money, materialistic

items, and owning property. Many other people believe it may be attained internally, meaning all

those materialistic items are not need to find joy and is possible to find satisfaction with much

less. According to the readings from the Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler , David Brooks, Graham

Hill, and Sonja Lyubomirsky, there is no one way to achieve happiness. Contentedness can

come in many different forms, such as changing your mind to thinking positively, understanding

suffering may help you to understand what you truly want, taking action to find joy, and getting

rid of unnecessary items. This means happiness can be reached by the way you want to look at

life or a curtain situation.

Firstly, the reading, “The Sources of Happiness” by his Holiness the Dalai Lama and

Howard Cutler share very interesting insight on how happiness comes internally and can be

achieved by having a positive mindset. Cutler starts off by sharing his story when running into an

old friend who started a small health-care company and after eighteen months her company was

bought out by a large conglomerate. After selling her company, she was able to retire at a young

age and had a large amount of money. She didn’t seem generally happy because when asked if
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she enjoying retirement, she replied, “I mean things are different-I bought a new house and stuff-

but overall I don’t think I’m much happier than I was before” (Lama and Cutler 15). Many

people think they would be overjoyed for being able to be successful with lots of money at a

young age, but it doesn’t guarantee anyone’s happiness. Contentment is determined more often

than not, by ones state of mind, rather than by external events. Cutler also talked about a friend

that found out he was HIV positive and was devastated at first, but in an odd way it helped him

to feel happier and appreciate everyday things more. As he shared how he is dealing with his

status he said, “… over the past year things have changed. I seem to get more out of each day

than I ever did before, and on a moment to moment basis, I feel happier than I ever have” ( Lama

and Cutler 16). This situation should have easily affect his friend in a negative way by simply

being mad at the fact that he has AIDS, but still found the strength and will power to change his

mind set to not let it affect his happiness. After Cutler heard both of his friends story, he said,

“Both these people illustrate the essential point that happiness is determined more by one’s state

of mind than by external events” (Lama and Cutler 16). Happiness is not determined by

someone’s success or status in society because it may result in a temporary feeling that will

subside. Being upset, going through a negative situation, or a tragedy, may resolve in depression

or put someone in a foul mood, but contentedness will come back to a certain baseline. Cutler

believes happiness can be reached by the way you think about your situation in a positive

manner.

Secondly, unlike Howard Cutler’s beliefs on how happiness is received; the second

reading, “What Suffering Does” by David Brooks has a different view point on how internal

happiness can be obtained. People tend to only be worried about the good times and good

experiences but they don’t want to come across and understand the benefits that come with
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suffering. Suffering is avoided because of the pain and discomfort may be too much for some

people to bare. Brook’s belief is that hardships forces people to look deeper within themselves.

Paul Tillich who is a German-American Christian theologian and philosopher, he supports

Brooks by saying, “… people who endure suffering are taken beneath the routines of life and

find they are not who they believe themselves to be” (Brooks 227). This means that even though

people do not want to come across suffering and pain, it will help people look deep within

themselves to figuring out what they truly want and will make them happy. By doing so, it will

also give people a sense of their own limitations and what is in their control and what is not. It

will allow people to understand happiness in achieved by an internal matter rather then turning to

external items. Suffering is a Vidal component in attaining happiness because it allows people to

figure out for themselves what will make them satisfied and content.

The third reading, “Living with Less A Lot Less” by Graham Hill also had a different

perspective on how happiness can be conceived, but looked at it in an external way by believing

people will be happier with less items. He begins by sharing his story of his successful frim,

which is an Internet startup sale. He had a huge house that was filled with many unnecessary

things such as electronics, cars, and appliances. After realizing that all the items in his house do

not have any meaning and bring no joy to him what so ever, he decide to make a radical change

and live with less. Be began by moving into a 420 square foot studio; sleep’s in a bed that folds

down, had very little amount of cloth and appliances. Hill said, “It took 15 years, a great love and

a lot of travel to get rid of all the inessential things I had collected and live a bigger, better,

richer, life with less” (Hill 254), meaning that people believe that having and owning many

possessions, they will be much happier and fine joy in life through those objects. Hill thinks

otherwise, he believes that isn’t the case and is the complete opposite; happiness does not comes
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from materialistic items and can be sincerely content with much less. Hill moved out his huge

home and left all the needless items he had because he felt having all that was making his life

unnecessarily complicated. He then decided to travel as much as he can because doing so,

brought meaning and joy to him. Hill also said, “I sleep better knowing I’m not using more

resources than I need. I have less-and enjoy more. My space is small. My life is big” (Hill 258).

By downsizing and living with less items, it will help people understand that materialistic items

won’t bring anyone joy, but most likely do the opposite. Hill figured out what made him happy

by understanding that he doesn’t need external items to find joy in life and did so by living with

much less.

Thirdly, the reading, “How Happy Are You and Why?” by Sonja Lyubomirsky had a

similar perspective on happiness as Howard Cutler, in the sense of happiness is internal.

Lyubomirsky believes effort and taking action should be incorporated into wanting to be happy

and finding a way to have joy in life. Lyubomirsky interviewed and experimented with people

that found happiness in life such as Angela and Randy. Angela grew up in a tough situation by

her mother emotionally and physically abused her. Her family members did not do much to help

her in that situation and as soon as she couldn’t handle anymore, she moved out and married a

man she knew for three months. After the birth of her daughter she divorced her husband and

moved back to southern California. Adding to her difficultly in raising a child as a single mother,

she got fired by her dream job and filed for bankruptcy and is going to school full time and

working towards her degree in nursing. Even after so much struggle she went through with her

rough pass she still considered herself a happy person. She found happiness by her daughter and

finds genuine satisfaction by helping other heal in trauma and tough situations. Randy also had

similar struggles growing up. He lost two people growing up to suicide which were his father
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and a close friend. His mother moved the family out of state to live with her boyfriend, but her

boyfriend did not treat him so well. He also married young and divorced after a short period of

time. After a couple year he found a great job and remarried with three step sons. Even after so

many bitter moments throughout his life, he still is extremely happy. After interacting with the

people she interviewed, Lyubomirsky believes happiness is a mind set and is achieved through

action and not letting the bitter moments in life tie people down. Lyubomirsky said, “… your

happiness set point or to your circumstances, you must know that a genuine and abiding

happiness is indeed within your reach…” (Lyubomirsky 157). Randy and Angela did not let their

negative and tough moments affect them and didn’t reminisce on those times. They understood

that happiness is internal and is conceived by having a positive mindset, despite their difficult

past. They set their mind to be positive and their actions followed by finding ways to make them

cheerful.

As each one of the reading shared, there are many different perspectives to finding

happiness. People believe seeking external items will bring them joy and meaning to their lives.

As other believe internal space will be the way happiness will be reached. Cutler, Brooks, and

Lyubomirsky suggest contentment may be reached internally, which is changing your mind set to

what will truly make a person happy. Hill sees happiness from an external stand point and

believes getting rid of unnecessary things that keep you from finding joy. Ultimately, there are

many different out puts that will allow someone to be happy, so there is no one clear way to

feeling and finding contentedness in life.

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Works Cited

Brooks, David. “What Suffering Does.” A Bedford Spotlight Reader, edited by Matthew Parfitt

and Dawn Skorczewski, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2020, pp.226-228.

Cutler, Howard and Dalai Lama. “The Source of Happiness.” A Bedford Spotlight Reader, edited

by Matthew Parfitt and Dawn Skorczewski, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2020, pp. 15-27.

Hill, Graham. “Living with Less. A Lot Less. A Lot Less.” A Bedford Spotlight Reader, edited

by Matthew Parfitt and Dawn Skorczewski, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2020, pp. 254-258.

Lyubomirsky, Sonja. “How Are You and Why?” A Bedford Spotlight Reader, edited by Matthew

Parfitt and Dawn Skorczewski, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2020, pp. 141-157.