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Lozza Abaineh

Professor Beadle

ENGL 114A

10 Dec 2021

The Strength of our Mindsets

The feelings of butterflies, comfortability, success, is that happiness? On this earth alone, you

may receive 7 billion different answers when asking the very broad question of “What is

happiness?” This is because, with every different person, there is a different feeling of

contentment (Cherry 1). In many cases, people perceive happiness as perfection, when in fact it

is just how we see the world and specifically life. As a reader, it can be seen in the variety of

interviews done by Lyubomirsky in “How Happy Are You and Why? Every person cultivated a

different answer, due to their dissimilar experiences in what we call life. In the July 8th, 2013

Cover of Time Magazine featuring The Pursuit of Happiness, we can see a very detailed image of a

woman and the thoughts that circulate her mind. Like almost every human to walk this earth, with a smile

on her face we can see her everyday worries that she is constantly pondering on. The more we

understand the power of our thoughts, we will make them into more positive ones. Happiness in

fact isn’t something that is gained but is the outcome of how we think.

Life is a fluctuating course, it hits us with dead ends, speed bumps, and sometimes stops us

from getting any further to what we believe we are destined to receive. Which is what we

identify as happiness. Everyone strives for that feeling of warmth and a final state of

contentment. In the blog post cover of Time Magazine, The July 8th, 2013 Cover of Time Magazine of

The Pursuit of Happiness we can envision all of her thoughts, and similar conceptions we think about

daily. We see thoughts of social media, work, responsibilities, and ideas. Through all that is going
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through her mind, she can’t help but sit there and laugh. This visualization is an exact representation of

how almost every person thinks. In everyone’s life, it is safe to say there is something on every mind at

almost every second. And the very response we have creates our attitude, and this is where we began to

differ as humans individually. It is a huge belief that happiness is in fact gained by what happens to us in

life rather than how we respond to the things that occur in our lives. In connection to this optical

illustration, we can see how our very mindset can hold us back from this feeling of contentment.

In Lyubomirsky’s “How Happy Are You and Why?'' We can see this superbly in the difference in

responses from the various interviews done by the author. In Randy’s questioning, we learn that he has

endured horrific obstacles. As a young boy, Randy lost of the closest people to him to suicide

(Lyubomirsky 181). Additionally experiencing a very difficult upbringing, it is safe to say Randy has

undergone a lot that most people can say they have. Though he had his hurdles, today he is a very happy

man. He is “one of those happy people who make everyone around them smile and laugh (Lyubomirsky

181).” He takes his struggles and uses them for good, to help those around him. In opposition, we can see

an entirely different worldview in the eyes of Shannon. A young woman with much success, who has and

is still being affected by self-esteem issues and can't say that she has reached the idea of happiness

(Lyubomirsky 182). With one of much success and great life moments, she doesn’t see much to be happy

for (Lyubomirsky 182). Comparing these two people, one thing is for certain they have a strong

dissimilarity in how they perceive life. Though there is so much to be happy for, Shannon can't help to see

the small cracks of life holding her back to what that tenderness understanding of what peace could be.

Randy has seen the ins and outs of how low life can bring you and cherishes the small aspects of good

and focuses on them.

It is seen that the more one is negatively impacted in their entity, in the years to come they are surely

found to realize what that state of positivity is. In David Brooks’, “What Suffering Does” it is visible in

our forefront presidents, like Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt. After Franklin D. Roosevelt

was diagnosed with polio, it is said to have seen a huge change in his personality and outlook (Brooks

286). From the words of Brooks, Roosevelt was more empathetic and loving. Similarly, Lincoln suffered
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through the civil war. In that with an outcome of more understanding for others and people as a whole

(Brooks 286). Many believe that when people suffer they come out more “healed” and “different.” This is

because they are allowed to touch deeper into who they are and what really matters in life. Randy, a man

that had many sufferings in his existence is now a man of happiness. This is because he knows the feeling

of being neglected, and hurt. So he doesn’t look over the good things in life but makes it what’s most

important. Everyone encounters life with different survival tactics, in Shannon’s case she’s too hard on

herself that she tends to ignore all the great things that come her way. In comparison, she lives a good life

but can’t see it because she doesn’t really know what suffering is. For this reason, I don't see the great

moments as good.

In the 2013 “Pursuit of happiness” magazine cover, we can see that the lady can’t do anything but

help herself to laugh in the midst of her thoughts and confusion. Life is hard, that’s just the minimum.

Our focuses, attitudes, and outlook are what create life satisfaction. So the idea that happiness is gained

by the things that happen to us in life, simply is false. The more we suffer, the greater understanding we

receive of how hard things can actually get. Allowing us to come to never diminish the times that are

beautiful. If we see both the good and bad moments at an equal scale we will never be happy. But if we

begin to value the times that deserve to be valued, we won’t be unhappy but will see the exceptional

things life has to offer. As thoughts cloud our mind, memories come to lessen our optimistic strides,

happiness is at our hands and waiting for us to notice it. As the advertisement evoked nine hundred and

ninety-nine thoughts to the viewer, just like her, don’t stop yourself from letting a laugh be the last one.
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Work Cited

Brooks, Davis. “What Suffering Does.” Pursuing Happiness, edited by Mtthew parfit and

Dawn SKorczewski, Bedford St. MArtins 2016, pp. 284-287.

Cherry, Kendra. “How Do Psychologists Define Happiness?” Verywell Mind,

https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-happiness-4869755.

Lyubomirsky, Sonda. “How Happy Are You and Wgy?” Pursuing Happiness, edited by

Matthew Parfit and Dawn Skorczewski, Bedford St. Martins 2016, pp. 179-197.