The Road to Happiness
Many of us strive to be happy. In our pursuit of happiness, we sometimes take the wrong paths that leads to unhappiness. What exactly is happiness? Are there “rules” to follow in order to live a happier life, and why there are those who seek happiness in others? In a survey conducted by The Harris Poll, results reveal that of the 2,215 randomly selected adults in the US, only 34 % say that they’re happy. In The Visible Man by Chuck Klosterman, Y tells Victoria about Valerie, a woman whom he observes during his social “experiment.” He describes Valerie as a woman in her late twenties who is addicted to smoking marijuana, has a binge-eating disorder, and is obsessed with her figure. According to him, Valerie is unhappy and unaware “how terrible her life is.” I agree with Y; I think Valerie is unhappy because she is insecure with the size of her body. with keeping She thinks that other people will like her if she’s …show more content…
She also seeks happiness through self-gratification. According to “A Balanced Psychology and a Full Life” by Seligman et al., this approach to finding happiness is called “the pursuit of gratification.” Self-gratification is an act of pleasuring oneself in order to satisfy a desire or goal. In her case, Valerie pleasures herself by engaging in activities that seem to feed her satisfaction such as smoking marijuana. She thinks that by doing these “fun” things, she will be happy and satisfied with her life. However, she does not realize that smoking pot doesn’t really make her happy even though she is enjoying whenever she does it because Seligman et al., states that “gratifications are activities that may be enjoyable” but “are not necessarily accompanied by positive emotions.” Another sign that Valerie is unhappy is that she lies to her friend Jane about her overeating problems. Y is also right for saying that Valerie is unaware that she is
Many of us strive to be happy. In our pursuit of happiness, we sometimes take the wrong paths that leads to unhappiness. What exactly is happiness? Are there “rules” to follow in order to live a happier life, and why there are those who seek happiness in others? In a survey conducted by The Harris Poll, results reveal that of the 2,215 randomly selected adults in the US, only 34 % say that they’re happy. In The Visible Man by Chuck Klosterman, Y tells Victoria about Valerie, a woman whom he observes during his social “experiment.” He describes Valerie as a woman in her late twenties who is addicted to smoking marijuana, has a binge-eating disorder, and is obsessed with her figure. According to him, Valerie is unhappy and unaware “how terrible her life is.” I agree with Y; I think Valerie is unhappy because she is insecure with the size of her body. with keeping She thinks that other people will like her if she’s …show more content…
She also seeks happiness through self-gratification. According to “A Balanced Psychology and a Full Life” by Seligman et al., this approach to finding happiness is called “the pursuit of gratification.” Self-gratification is an act of pleasuring oneself in order to satisfy a desire or goal. In her case, Valerie pleasures herself by engaging in activities that seem to feed her satisfaction such as smoking marijuana. She thinks that by doing these “fun” things, she will be happy and satisfied with her life. However, she does not realize that smoking pot doesn’t really make her happy even though she is enjoying whenever she does it because Seligman et al., states that “gratifications are activities that may be enjoyable” but “are not necessarily accompanied by positive emotions.” Another sign that Valerie is unhappy is that she lies to her friend Jane about her overeating problems. Y is also right for saying that Valerie is unaware that she is