Chad Hunkler

Dr. Jizi
UWRT-1102
9 February, 2016

Double Entry Journal

Citation:
Lyubormisky, Sonja. "How Happy Are You and Why?" 2015. Pursuing Happiness: A
Bedford Spotlight Reader. Place of Publication Not Identified: Bedford Bks St Martin'S, 2015.
179-96. Print.

Source: Quote (Page# or Paragraph #)

Responses

in this section we provide cultural and

empirical evidence of people being averse
to happiness, or believing that people
should be averse to happiness, for the
following reasons: being happy makes it
more likely that bad things will happen to
you, being happy makes you a worse
person, expressing happiness is bad for you
and others, and pursuing happiness is bad
for you and others. p.268

I had to read this paragraph multiple times to

make sure that I wasnt misunderstanding it. I
was pretty sure that I knew what averse
meant but then I had to look it up after
reading that people were averse to
happiness. Who doesnt want to be happy?
Why do they believe that being happy will
make bad things happen to you? This
paragraph is so bogus that I like it. It has
snared me into a curiosity that makes me
want to find out why this writer wrote what
they did.

A separate empirical line of research on the

concept fear of emotion has reached a
similar conclusion; some individuals are
afraid of certain affects, including positive
effects, particularly when they are strong.
Such individuals fear strong affective states
because they are concerned that they will
lose control over their emotions or their
behavioral reactions to emotions. P. 270

I can understand this quote more than the

previous one. Often times I am scared that
my emotions will take over and I will lash out
and do something that will have lasting
effects. I still dont agree with what this page
and the last page are talking about when they
claim that happiness will make bad things
happen to you. I think that people are scared
of happiness and they use blame misfortune
on why they dont want to be happy. Maybe
they cant be happy and they claim that they
really dont want to be happy.

if happiness (perhaps best understood as a

combination of worldly success, a positive
state of mind, and occasional merriment in
this context) p.270

I think there definition of happiness is wrong

for this statement. Happiness is more intricate
and thoughtful than what they have said.
They claim that happiness will draw
Christians away from God and this claim has
meaning but before they state that must
change their definition of happiness. Also on
a religious standpoint, if you are truly
following God than you will have trials and
tribulations placed in your path from Satan.
He is not going to attack a Luke-warm
christian because a Luke-warm christian does
not pose a threat to Satan.

Being happy can make someone a worse

person (both morally and otherwise). It
can make someone less creative. P. 271

Why? They better do a really good job of

describing why because this style of writing is
irking me.

Similarly, there exists a cultural myth that

portrays unhappy people as more creative
than sad people leading some aspiring
artists to fear happiness a they would fear
writers block. P. 272

I understand how someone can be more

creative when they are sad but is that worth
it? Why would somebody sacrifice happiness
so that they can express sadness to others?
Sure there is beauty in emotions but why not
find the beauty and joyfulness in happiness.

often understood as success p.272

Once again there examples are using a bad

definition of happiness from my perspective
and what I have learned through this writing
course.

in a Buddhist context pursuing personal

happiness is seen as misguided: and with
the very desire for happiness, out of
delusion they destroy their own wellbeing as
if it were their enemy p. 274

From what I have learned in this writing and

course and what I have learned from selfdiscovery, happiness is obtained through
acceptance and selflessness. To give to
others will make you happy. What this quote
says on page 274 is that pursuing
PERSONAL happiness is bad. Are they
indirectly saying that we should pursue others
happiness? Should we make other people
happy? What if making other people happy
and being selfless toward them is what
makes me happy? According to what they just
said, I cant win. But also according to this
reading, winning does not mean happiness.
This book really does a good job of making
me think.