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Bruce Camacho

Professor Ditch

English 115

September 24, 2018

What is in your Happiness?

There are different perspectives on what happiness is and how people obtain it easier than

others. Whether it is internal or external happiness that drives the personal fire within people

going through their own individual troubles. According to four different authors happiness is

within everyone but the way they unlock it, may vary depending on every specific individual.

Although, there are different views on what drives happiness and what truly brings it out to a

person, all authors have great evidence, that support their claims as to why happiness can be

acquired internally or externally. The Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler, David Brooks, and Sonja

Lyubomirsky believe that happiness truly comes to a person internally. The Dalai Lama argues

throughout the article “The Source of Happiness”, if they look hard enough for their happiness

they can find it naturally within themselves and not in materialistic objects. Following this belief

Brooks argues that suffering is something that isn’t as bad as it seems because people recover

and are molded to appreciate and become happier with their inner self. Lyubomirsky also argues

“it is a function of how we perceive our situation, how satisfied we are with what we have”

(Lyubomirsky 23). That their state of mind is what evidently controls personal happiness, and

that the person can control how they feel. While on the other hand, Graham Hill believes that

something like happiness comes to people externally, through what individuals decide to include

in their lifestyle and how they live their daily lives and not so much from the internal part of the
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person. Happiness altogether, comes through the way they decide to live their life, luxurious or

simple; people evidentially choose what they want in life and control what is around them

helping them transform the space of happiness and the way they choose to live their life while

making themselves truly happy.

The Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler Article “The Source of Happiness” gives various of

perspectives on internal happiness throughout the article and gives personal stories as evidence

the internal happiness. These stories furthermore show how people have different struggles to

overcome and still manage to show their internal happiness. A great example of this is their

friend they mention that explains, “I just seem to appreciate everyday things more, and I’m

grateful that so far that I haven’t developed any severe AIDS symptoms and I can really enjoy

the things I have.” (The Dalai Lama 22). Happiness does not always come from good things like

in this case, this man was diagnosed with AIDS and this helped him transform his happiness, he

learned how to accept it and be grateful for what he has despite the virus. Accepting this helped

him grow as a person and learned how live his best life despite his difference. While other people

are blinded by the idea of materialistic items or by their annual gross income increasing yearly.

Many people become dissatisfied soon after reaching their goals and set new ones like mentioned

“This Happens, for instance, when our income suddenly jumps from 20k-30k a year, but it’s not

the absolute amount of income, and discover that we won’t be happy again unless we’re making

40k a year.” (The Dalai Lama 23). When you begin to have a steady income, you forget what

you have, and you adjust to it no matter what it is and begin to want more of it. Soon money

doesn’t motivate you and you begin to set higher goals and it becomes a chain affect, leading you

to not settle down and always keep at your feet, it’s all a mindset. The way they begin the

transformation stages is by first accepting their differences and making the most of the it.
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This goes along with David Brooks who also agrees, Happiness comes through the

internal power of the individual. Similar but different, Brooks argues that people often chase

happiness but do get it and through suffering they get to know themselves truly as a person.

Brooks believes that when someone goes through a time and suffers greatly they benefit from it

just like he said, “Recovering from suffering is not like recovering from a disease. Many people

don’t come out healed; they come out different” (Brooks 286). Not all good outcomes are created

from good things happening to you, sometimes you must experience a setback so that you can

transform temporary happiness into true happiness. Sometimes to become happy you have to go

through a dark stage for you to be molded into your happy self, “People shoot for happiness but

feel formed through suffering” (Brooks 284). As a person you should live your life from

experience, and how at a point throughout your life remember what it feels like to suffer before,

to gain full experience of the happiness after.

According to Lyubomirsky through research she shows us how happiness is acquired

through genetics and what people make happiness out of. According to the pie chart by

Lyubomirsky uses, there are three major components that in our makeup of happiness. These

consists of ten percent circumstances, fifty percent set point, and finally forty percent intentional

activity (Lyubomirsky 184). This is how Lyubomirsky explains the transformation of happiness

that we all have control over. The Forty percent represents the actions that you take to help you

find your happiness within yourself. Then it’s the ten percent circumstances that defines what

variables affect your happiness “The reality is that the elements that determine our happiness, in

the past, and can make for future happiness, are with us right now and are right here waiting to

be taken advantage of.” (Lyubomirsky 185). The third portion is their set point, and this

describes that aspect of how people believe they are born with happiness or not at all. There are
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various things that play a part, but each person has their main pursuit of happiness present with

them. Just like in Angela’s instance who is a single mother, is financially unstable, divorced, was

fired from her last job, filed for bankruptcy, is on welfare, and is now back in school full time

pursing a degree in nursing still manages to stay happy. This is ignited through, “Her daughter

Ella, to whom she is extremely close, brings her endless joy.” (Lyubomirsky 180). This shows us

that even without money or lavish lifestyle that is struggle free she still considers herself a happy

person, because she realizes and is grateful for what she has. Having the right state of mind is a

great way to start but there is more, “Happiness, more than anything is a state of mind, a way of

perceiving and approaching ourselves and the world in which we reside” (Lyubomirsky 185).

Happiness is something that we have within us physically and mentally. You can’t be truly

happy if you can’t think positive and learn to accept and grow knowing that forty percent of your

happiness is made up of intentional activity.

In the article “Living With Less A Lot Less”, Graham Hill believes there is also that

feeling of enjoying life at a greater state not in a lavish way rather, enjoying it by being happy

eliminating as much materialistic items as possible. This allows them to see life through a

different perspective other than being temporarily happy because of what money can buy.

Sometimes it takes finding your significant other or a close individual to help realize what

happiness they have been overseeing. “But I was just going along, starting some start-ups that

never quite started up when I met Olga, an Andorran beauty, and fell hard.” “My relationship

quickly came apart.” (Hill 311). Before Hill connected with Olga he was in love with the

materialistic side of things that had no real meaning and when he met his girlfriend he was

transformed and different, realizing all that didn’t matter and was preventing him from being as

happy as he could to be. After years of minimizing getting rid of unnecessary items with no real
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meaning to them and gave only temporary happiness Hill finally reached the point he wanted. He

came to realize “My space is small. My life is big” (Hill 312). After years of becoming a more

conservative person Hill finally realized that majority of the things he owned that Money bought

him only offered him temporary Happiness. Taking a step back and down grading, minimalizing

the Lavish that was supposed to bring happiness but didn’t helped transform his life and living

on a strict budget helped him feel formed through the bigger picture to life.

All four authors contain a piece of the truth to unlocking and transforming this happiness

they all have within themselves one way or another, whether it’s through their state of mind that

helps us transform our happiness like stated by The Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler. Maybe even

experiencing suffering to a point that you realize the true meaning to your purpose with life and

come to peace with yourself as the way to becoming a happier person just like David Brooks

believes. Possibly even realizing that happiness truly comes within you genetically and doing

what it takes to spark the flame to your internal happiness helps with becoming the best version

of yourself like Lyubomirsky’s research states. While externally speaking Hill believes that

finding true happiness lies beyond the temporary happiness that you get from the materialistic

items. Instead exploring and finding your peace of mind in more meaningful things is what will

get you to the happiness you are seeking for. Every person is definitely different when it comes

to levels of Happiness, some may be happy from the start others have to try and transform their

own space of happiness to be happy, and few may even be convinced they aren’t as happy as

they can be. This is what all four authors do a great job in demonstrating in their articles that

everyone has their own version of happiness. The only difference that makes every person

unique is that they all have their own special something that burns the flame for happiness and it
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is just a matter of realizing, understanding, and transforming your space of happiness to fit your

type of lifestyle.
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Works Cited

Brooks, David “What Suffering Does” Pursuing Happiness, edited by

Matthew Parfitt and Dawn Skorczewski Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2016, pp. 284-287

His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler “The Source of Happiness”

Pursuing Happiness, edited by Matthew Parfitt and Dawn Skorczewski Bedford/St.

Martin’s, 2016, pp. 21-33

Hill, Graham “Living With Less A Lot Less” Pursuing Happiness, edited by

Matthew Parfitt and Dawn Skorczewski Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2016, pp. 308-313

Lyubomirsky, Sonja “How Happy Are You and Why?” Pursuing Happiness, edited by

Matthew Parfitt and Dawn Skorczewski Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2016, pp. 179-196