Monday, March 15, 2010

Happiness

Please answer the following questions in a detailed response. You must answer on your own and also write a comment to another person's response in your own response. Please write well keeping fluency and conventions in mind. You can also post questions to others to possibly answer.

What values are most important in your life? What is true happiness? What do you need to be happy? Is there a correlation between success, money and happiness? (What defines success?)

Please end by answering the following prompts: Ten years from now I will consider myself happy if.... AND True living is...

26 comments:

  1. The values that are most important in my life are keeping a good name for my fammily by doing whats right, living a pure holy life for God, and retain self-respect in all that in all that I do. True happiness is that joy in the little things everyday, the small things that make you glad to be alive.Like one of my elderly friends that I hold dear, she told me that her greatest day is when she can go to starbucks and have a cup of coffee with her husband. The little things are true happiness. I think that all I need to be happy is faith that God will provide, evan throught the time when he seems so far away. I believe that you can be happy and have success, but money does not insure happiness or success. I will consider myself happy if I just had enough to sustain while I live. And true living is the truth that has been searched for and found, the satisfaction that you have done all you can with either the little things or the success that comes from happiness.

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  2. True happiness is being the second one to respond on this blog (son). The values that are important to my life are few but significant. They are as follows: Live to be the best person you can be, put your faith in God, and... be nobody other than you. True happiness is found through self discovery, as soon as you learn to quit trying to please everyone and just be yourself life will go uphill quickly. Yesterday, I said my dream was to publish a book and be an author. As unlikely as this is, it is our struggles that make us stronger and bring us closer to God. If you are true to yourself throughout your pursuits anything is possible. Really, I don't care if I get to write a book that gets published or not because failure is always a huge probability. As much as I would like the express my ideas to the world, the only thing that matters is that I live a good life. Ten years from now, I will consider myself happy if I can simply put food on the table and a roof over my families head. True living is pursuing your dreams, whether you obtain them or not doesn't matter, what matters is giving life your all, and enjoying the ride along the way.

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  3. The value that is most important to me would have to be integrity. The strong countenance of always being faithful, trustworthy, and reliable truly makes people stand out. To me, happiness is wanting to wake up every morning. It's smiling when times are tuff, always being yourself , and having faith in the journey ahead. It's living in and for the little moments. Living in the present, not the past nor future.
    In order for me to be happy, I need color in my life. I need family, the whom I love and love me as well as my faith and beliefs. I also need dreams and aspirations, something to always be striving for. I do also need money; not an excessive amount, but stabilized. I think that there is a correlations between success, money, and happiness, thought they don't always come together in a package deal. You can have money without happiness, success without money, and happiness without money. But, success and money may help with happiness. Living from paycheck to paycheck doesn't seem to help with life already being difficult. Also, many families spend more time together when the parent isn't having to work two jobs, or overtime. Many families spend more time together when they are able to vacate or go out to dinner all together.
    Everyone has their own definition of success, but to me, success is happiness. It's loving what you do and achieving the goals you have set for yourself.
    Ten years from not i will consider myself happy if I have completed at lease half my life of things I want to do in my life/twenties. Which includes things like; a high degree of education, a job in which i love, traveling, etc.
    True living is living for others with yourself in mind. It's having experiences that define you and that you will value and remember forever. It's doing what makes you happy.

    Courtney C: I agree with you on many things that you wrote. The little things in life are truly what matter, self-respect is a very important value for everyone. There are many things that money can't buy, like faith, beliefs in God or a higher power, little moments, love, trust, or happiness. You can buy things that make you happy, but they won't last forever.

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  4. What do humans need to be happy? In my opinion happiness is reached when you look forward to each day. Happiness is reached when you can’t wait to live life. Some people might say they need money for this. I disagree, money is not the driving force behind happiness. I believe that happiness is found in the adventure of life. When every single thing you do every day makes you happy. Unfortunately this is hard to do in the world that we live in. Competition is always driving us to be better and have the best car, T.V., house, etc… which is not necessary for happiness. When watching a football game the T.V. that you are watching the game on is irrelevant to the enjoyment of the game. The enjoyment of the game has to do with the people you are with. If you are not happy with your life then you are truly not living.

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  5. I believe that true happiness is based on a person's personal sucess in the goals they set for themselves. THe se goals don't necessarily need to be about money. Money is not what makes people happy. For me to be happy I really like to suceed at the goals that I set for my self. They aren't always about school. My personalgoal right now is to get at least a four for this semsters gpa. I also believe that we don't need material things to be happy. I know the memories I remeber best aren't the times I am watching T.V. alone or playing a video game alone. It was the times where I was out with a friend or playing a video game with a friend. The simple things that people use every day that they don't think about are usually some of the best things as well. True happiness never comes from material things. It comes from the realtionships and the people around a person. Families that don't have a lot of money are still happy because they act as a family. People that are rich aren't always happy just because they have the money to get whatever they want. My personal values are to always help a friend, spend time with both your family and your friends, and do the best that you can to get to your goals in life. Ten years from now I will consider myself happy if I make it into a college and graduate with a good degree as well as having my own house and my own living. True living is making goals for yourself to make it to your dream and always keep trying to fulfill that dream.

    Senor Hiler: I definitely agree failure is goiong to happen and a person sould not be discouraged to keep pursuing their dream. With writing a book sure it might not get published but a person could say that they have done something that very few other people have done, and they cann always write another one that might get published.

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  6. I think happiness is what you make of it. If you make bank, but spend all your time working, then i wouldnt consider that happiness. Also happiness cannot be bought. Just because you have tons of money, doesnt mean you have fun. Happiness can be achieved through living life one day at a time. Its not nessicary to save all your money for retirement. What the hell are you going to do with that money when you get old anyway? Have fun with your youth before it leaves you. And in ten years, I will consider myself a happy person if I am doing something I love and am surrounded by the people I love.

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  7. In life the most important value, to me, is freedom of expression, making myself happy, making my friends and family happy, and doing my best to be my best. True happiness is when these values drive your life. It’s when you’re confident and happy about every decision you make. Success is when you are at ease with the outcome of your life’s endeavors. As far as I am concerned there is no correlation between success and money, unless money is the main focus in ones life. Basically if you do what you want with your life and you do it the way you want to, you are successful. You dictate your own success.

    In ten years I will consider myself happy if I have found an occupation that I love to do, I’m making enough money to buy all my needs and a few of my wants , if I’m surrounded by people that love me and that I love, and if I’m confident and happy. In ten years if I am taking the advantage to learn something new everyday, enlightening myself, and I’m doing everything I can to be a well-rounded and better person without any regrets then I will be truly living.

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  8. The values in my life, that are most important are to be respectful to everyone just as I would respect myself, the great freedoms that I am given by living in the United States. Also, I really value having a personal relationship with God, and honoring God. I really value having the opportunity to be given a good education. I think that true happiness is attained when you are doing what you love, and what you are good at. For me riding horses and team roping is what makes me very happy and content with life. Also, being on a ranch working is something that makes me happy to. When it comes to being happy and successful I think that money plays a part in being happy because sometimes you need money for the things that make you happy. On the other hand I don’t believe that money goes along with success, in my eyes someone is successful when they are doing what makes them happy as their profession. Some people think that if you have a nice expensive car and a huge house and alot of money you are successful, but I disagree. You don’t need nice cars and big houses to be successful. Following a passion and doing what you are good at is success in my eyes. Ten years from now I will consider myself happy if I am following my dreams and doing what I love and am good at. I believe that true living is really living to do better each and every day, following every dream you may have no matter how UN real it seems, and most importantly living for yourself.

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  9. In my day to day life, I would have to say that my friends and my family are the most important things. I spend my life for them and just trying to have a good time with them. Making new memories that I can look back on and be happy about is what I think are important. Is anybody ever truly, completely happy? I don’t think that anybody is ever completely happy. People can be extremely happy, but being human beings, there will always be something else that is wanted. Although, I think the most happiness can be found paying attention to the small things in daily life. Happiness does not depend on success or money, but I do think that success depends on happiness. Success is accomplishing something that you personally are proud of and can feel good about sharing with the world. In order to be proud of something, you have to be happy. Money is not apart of happiness, but more of what is needed in order to survive. Money can buy some things that can make you happy, like a vacation, but happiness does not depend on money. Ten years from now I will consider myself happy if I have gotten through college, am doing what I love, and am able to spend it with people that I enjoy being around. True living is being able to appreciate the people around you and learn to love the little things that make you happy in life.

    Senor Hiler- I completely agree that happiness comes when you only try to be yourself and stop trying to live up to other people’s expectations. Different things make different people happy. Just being yourself and loving life is what will bring happiness.

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  10. I think the most important value for me bliss. I chose bliss because here I am just listening to Betterman by Pearl Jam and I just feel so content and pleased with my life. When I think of true happiness I think of just spending my time with my friends and family and just spending time together, nothing extravagant, just talking. So I would have to disagree with Chloe, I do believe that there is true happiness. I believe I am truly happy when I am hanging out with my friends or bonding with my family. I do not believe that you need anything to be happy. You shouldn’t have to depend on anything in order to be happy. I do not think that there is any correlation between success and happiness. You do not need to be happy to be successful. There are many people in the world who are displeased with their job but continue because it pays the bills. Yes, of course there are those people who have become very successful because they are truly happy with their lives but I do not believe that there is any correlation. You also do not need to be successful to be happy, money does not but happiness. Ten years from now I will consider myself happy if I have found something I am truly passionate about. True living is to make the most of the time you have and to take chances you never believed you would have been able to.


    Brett R. I would agree with you when you said, “If you are not happy with your life then you are truly not living.” If you are truly happy you should never have to worry about not being happy. You should live for the experiences, and with those experiences comes happiness.

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  11. The values that are most important in my life are most definitely my family and friends. Without them I would be lost, lonely and unknowing about the world. My family has helped me prepare for the real world in so many ways and my friends have given me an outlet for when my family gets to be too much to handle. True happiness is a feeling of accomplishment. If someone has accomplished every single goal in their life and is proud of the way they did it, they should be very happy with themselves. Happiness is obtained by living a simplistic life with few distractions. I think success, money, and happiness are related because if someone has a successful career, they make a lot of money. Most people are very happy when they have a lot of money. Ten years from now I will consider myself happy if I have a job in mathematics and have a good family. True living is being very simplistic and loving what you do.

    Senor Hiler, if you find joy in being the second one to post, I don't know how you would react if you won the Nobel Peace Prize!

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  12. The most important value in life for me is true happiness. True happiness can mean anything for anyone. For myself, all I need is music, love, (in every way, shape, and position) a guitar (including an endless supply of strings and a built in tuner, [along with batteries to power this tuner] a pick, a roof over my head, chipotle, and a fast car. Side note: (and no, not family, cause I'm thoroughly pissed off at my family right now...probably not the best time to be writing a responce on happyness)
    -Sure there is a correlation to success, money and happiness. Have you ever seen those commercials about the little children in Africa who look so sad? -Their parents probably don't have much money. BUT! if you change the channel to National Geographic you'll see the kids smiling whilst singing. My case and point...all you need in life to be happy is music and love...and a Ferrari.
    Success is your own definition, to me, success would be becoming a well known guitarist, but to rich boy over there, success is if daddy brings home the bacon.

    -Sean H, I agree that it's the simple things in life that make us happy, like laughing with friends, indeed.

    -True living is watching the sun set with a guitar in your hand..."jeez guitar is kind of taking over my life..huh?"

    -Ten years from now I will consider myself happy if I've moved out by then! No, I'm kidding, I'm still just pissed at my parents.

    -For real this time: Ten years from now I will consider myself happy if I have performed on stage, and if I still have money in my pocket. And as cheesy as it sounds....I'll consider myself happy If I'm still together with my girlfriend. "Awww"

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  13. Values drive my life and my everyday existense. To me, the most important value in my life is faith. I have to have faith in myself, faith in my family and friends, and most importantly faith in God. Everyone always says "everything happens for a reason" and I can't say that I disagree. I believe that God has a plan for everything and though some actions may not be an exact part of His plan, they will add up to fulfill His plan in the end. So yes, everything happens for a reason, but you are in control of the way things happen. I have faith that I am watched out for and I have faith that I am saved. There are some things you cannot change, but to have faith is to trust that you may not know what tomorrow holds, but you know who holds tomorrow. What is true happiness? True happiness is to be at peace with your life. To take it as it comes and to choose to make the most of what comes your way. To me, to be happy you need to have faith. Faith in what you believe and faith that you can do anything, that is when you are at peace and you are finally happy. Happiness doesn't have to inclued money or success. Happiness is simple. Live the life you love. Ten years from now I will consider myself happy if I have graduated from grad-school and I am fulfilling my dreams. I will be happy if I have done the things I have always wanted to do and I have lived the life I choose. True living is to dream and to have happiness. When you are truely living you are happy.

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  14. The values that are most important in my life are hard work, keeping active, doing things that make you happy. True happiness is being able to wake up everyday and love what your doing. Whats the point in doing things that you hate? In order to be happy, you need to love what your doing, and love what your coming home to. I think there is a corrolation between succes, money and happiness because that has to be some money so you can provide the basic necessities in order to live. To get money you need to be somewhat successfull. Money provides food, water, shelter, and security. Without money, it would be a lot harder to be happy. Ten years from now I will consider myself happy if i have a steady paying job, a place to live, and love what i'm doing. True living is looking forward to the next day and next adventure, and doing something that makes you happy.

    Senor Hiler I agree that true living is pursuing your dreams whether you obtain them or not. What is life if you don't try to make it the best it can be?

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  15. The values that are most important in my life are integrity and respect for myself and others. True happiness is having a positive attitude about life no matter the circumstance. Love is the center of happiness. A person can never be truly content until they understand what love is.I believe that there is not a direct correlation between success, money and happiness. If a person needed to be successful in order to be happy who would ever be happy? The only way this could be true is if money and success was measured differently for every person, because one person could say they're happy because they make millions. Another person could say they are happy because they make enough money to provide for their family. No one can dictate for someone else is they should be happy or not. Happiness is an attitude that is all based on person perspective.
    I totally agree with what Sam said. I think faith plays a huge part in how someone looks at life.

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  16. My values in life are to be only Emily and not be influenced by other people, to keep true to my faith, to live my life to the fullest, and to live life with as minimum of regrets as possible. True happiness, however, would a miracle for humans. I believe we as humans can be happy, but no true happiness is ever attained. I haven't heard of a single person who has lived their life with out any sorrows, worries, or fears. True happiness, to me, is a person who can not be sad, lonely, and well as Monty Python puts it "always look on the bright side of life" kind of people.
    I agree with most all of these posts: Live simply are the messages I’m getting. And I like that :)
    Ten years from now I will consider myself happy if I have performed on a stage (other than Arapahoe's) like Stefan and if I’m with someone who makes me happy and loves me for who I am.
    True living to me is living as simply and as happy as possible.

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  17. Happiness to me is the thought of mind that you have done the best that you can do, which is also how I feel about success. Everybody defines success differently. So people may think that the only way to be successful is if they make a bunch of money or have a big house, when success to someone else can be that they are a good parent, or just a good person. I have gone through life doing things at the bear minimum just so I can skate by, but I also haven't felt happy about those moments, and it wasn’t until very recently that I have started to put the effort I know I have into the things I do. I still give up to easily on assignments and projects that I find to be to hard, but i'm working on it and it’s making me happy. The harder I push myself to get things done, the happier I am, the happier my teachers and coaches are and ultimately it leads to me being more successful in my life. Happiness derives from hard work; the trick is actually working hard for the happiness. With hard work in ten years I will be happy if I played football through college and followed anything to do with sports as a career. Also, true living in my mind is truly living, that means loving life and everything about it.



    To comment on somebody else’s post, Matt hit it right on the head. If you can’t be who you are, it probably means your’e not happy with who you are or you’re trying to make others happy by being different. We were all made the way we are for a reason and I think we should embrace it.

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  18. True happiness to me is an ever changing unreachable aspiration. As we grow older and mature who we are changes as well what you may consider being truly important now might not be so important in the future. Right now my vision of true happiness, like many people in this blog, have said is to live simply, to the fullest, and like Audrey said to be without any regrets, but years from now if- or when- I get married and have kids my idea of happiness will most certainly change. I will probably view the happiness of my family as my own happiness and making sure they succeed as opposed to me, will probably become my top priority. So my question is how can one attain true happiness if the idea of happiness is always changing? That’s why I believe true happiness is unattainable but while we live in the moment and time we can be content taking all the hits and achievements of life.

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  19. Happiness doesn’t always mean to wear a smile all the time or to be cheery every second of the day; to me being truly happy means being content with your life. Waking up every day knowing you have people who love you is happiness to me. It can be as easy as finding the simple things in life to enjoy to being surrounded by friends and family. You have to be comfortable with who you are and set goals for yourself to achieve in the future to find happiness. Money is not equivalent to being happy, in fact I think it is the opposite. Money is helpful to provide you with what you need but too much money can take over your happiness. Money tends to lead to greed and the want for more, fancy cars and enormous houses aren’t the answer to being happy. Instead most the things that can make us happy are the things that go unnoticed, like a family trip to visit relatives or a Friday nights with your best friends. I find a correlation between my values in life to what brings me the most happiness. I value friends, family, and my goals, which often give me the most happiness. Being successful with all your goals doesn’t always grant you happiness; sometimes our failures guide us to more happiness.

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  20. In my life moral values are extremely important. I believe that family is also a value I hold strong in my life. I believe that true happiness is following ones dreams and completing the tasks leading up to being able to accomplishing those dreams. True happiness may be one being in love with their husband/wife boyfriend/girlfriend. True happiness is one living their own life to the fullest and enjoying everything about life and themselves. I believe we need family and friends and possibly an education in the career we are passionate for to be truly happy. For some there may be a correlation between success, money and happiness, but not for everybody. Some people may be happy making large amounts of money, but most likely they won’t be truly happy with their lives. Happiness doesn’t have a monetary value and therefore cannot be bought. To be happy one has to accept what they have and what money they have to their name.
    “True happiness to me is an ever changing unreachable aspiration.” (Hillary Evans)
    I agree with Hillary because as human begins we have a natural want to be better than the man/woman next to us. To say that true happiness for one will not alter or become greater is untrue due to human nature. I will disagree with Hillary though when she says that happiness is “unreachable” because I do think that happiness for some people can be easily reached. Whether or not happiness is attained is ones personal judgment, therefore it is possible to reach happiness.

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  21. The values that are most important in my life are the ones that i hold to daily. The main values that i stick to and try to apply every day are my Christian values. I think that these are very important to stick to because I think that what defines a person is what values they stick to and I would like to try to please god in any way I can. I think that true happiness is something that can only come from yourself. I don't think that someone can be truly happy until they are happy with where they are in their lives and what they have accomplished. In your life you need security, a good mind set and a positive outlook on your life. I think that if someone has those qualities they can be happy in life no matter what. I think for some people there is a correlation between success, money and happiness. I think that some people have the mind set that they will never be happy or feel accomplished until they have made a boat load of money or succeeded at something great in their life, but i also think that there are people that just enjoy life and they don't need success or money to be happy. Also I think that everyone has their own definition of success. My definition is to accomplish whatever i set my mind to and if i can do that, then i consider myself successful. I will consider myself happy if I am enjoying life and living it to its fullest and true living is living a fun and successful life.

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  22. True happiness to me is to be what I want to be. To have not regrets. To enjoy myself as a person and my life. Like Emily said, I want to be my own person. Not someone who has been influenced by others in a way that is not natural to my up-bringing. To be happy would mean I am with someone I care about, care for, and admire. Happiness is taking that extra step on the wild side (Passing curfew with your siblings, jumping in a pool with your clothes on) and not regretting the fun time you actually had. Some of my values in life go along with what I believe makes my life happy. I value my family, staying true to who I am, and to stay strong in any circumstance. To achieve all of these things, I need to know how to never give up. I need to remember that everything comes with a price; nothing is just handed to you.
    Of course I think money can bring have a little effect for happiness. I know I don’t have the most well off family there is, but I know that we are all still happy because we are living and have each other. If we had money I’m sure there would be more of a chance that we could go and do things together, not have the stress about costs, not worry about if we can afford dinner for the week. All of these things would make a life easier which I think could make a life happy. After awhile I would get board. You can only get so far with money. The other part comes from what you would do without money. It’s the people you spend time with, the free fun activities you do with them. So I don’t think you could buy totally happiness with money.

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  23. There is no greater value in my life than happiness. That does not mean that happiness is achieved, just that in an ideal sense, the values in my life would be centered around that. As explanation to why this is a central value, it is best to ask why it shouldn't be, to which there is no good answer. To not live life based upon happiness is not only illogical but also unpleasant. Assuming every person has the same definition of happiness and strives for it similarly, it would be a near perfect world. This of course is not the case, but it could demonstrate that happiness is a value all people should hold in high esteem. This might make more sense knowing what I consider happiness to be. Happiness is the state of mind achieved through being satisfied with all of one's situations and living a virtuous life. Because it is an emotion that we feel, it is part of our thoughts that are not inherently linked to anything material in the world. Therefore, happiness is not derived from money or success but from our own mental state. In my opinion, there are no prerequisites to be happy; it does not require anything more than the individual's desire to be so. Because happiness is the greatest value in my life, it is my measure of success. Happiness measures how close you are to living the perfect, or most successful, life. "Ten years from now I will consider myself happy if" I am able to get beyond the material world to focus on being content. "True living is" doing whatever will ultimately make you happy. I am such a hypocrite.

    @Spencer - I completely agree. Life is wasted if you spend all of it saving up money just to die rich. If you don't enjoy life now, it's just going to be gone.

    @Taylor - I like everything you said, but one question I had was if all you had was your family, would you still be happy, even without money?

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  24. Happiness to me is something that makes you enjoy life and take what it gives you. For example, regrets, I don't have any. If you go on with your life with regrets, it's only going to bring you down and it wouldn't make you happy. I take it, learn from it and move on without crying about something. You need to enjoy life. It's too short and you don't want to spend it on crying over things or trying to fix stupid problems. Life needs to be lived to the fullest. You don't need money or presents to make you happy. You can be happy by just being with the ones you care about and going out to play games or something. Yeah money can buy you things and actually make you happy, but it's not the most important thing and you can't have money all the time. So you need to find alternatives. Happiness is what you make it and things like high school drama get to you. Ten years from now, I will consider myself happy if everyone around me is happy such as my mom, sister and other friends. True living is just living life to the fullest and do what you do.

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  25. I can only define true happiness for myself because everyone has a different idea of what happiness is to them. Some people directly relate their happiness to how much stuff they have, and other measure it with the people they surround themselves with and the experiences they have. I must say for me, happiness is measured on a day to day basis. Some days, I wish I were a millionaire and I could buy and do whatever I’d like. I mean who wouldn’t like that? The fact of the matter is, however, that’s not going to happen. The chances of me being a millionaire are just as good as me winning the lottery. I do have control over the parts that make happy. That being, the people I hang out with, what I do when I hang out with them, seeing my family and other things like that. Essentially, happiness comes from how content I am with my life, and I have to say that I am pretty content.

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  26. The most important values in my life are very simple. Be yourself. Do not try to act like anyone else except your own. Life everyday to the fullest and hold no regrets. I hold these values high up because the world is developing at a rapid pace and if everyone acts the same how are you unique? What makes you special? True happiness has an infinite amount of possibilities. I know many people who find happiness in different categories. Sports, family, love, places in the world. I would define true happiness as, whenever your feel lifted from all your worries and troubles. Once you can feel yourself is full of fun and life, whatever you are doing at that moment is your true happiness. In order to be happy you only need one thing. A distress-or, something that helps you relax and feel good bout yourself. Success is anything you do, that reaches a goal you have previously made. It doesn’t have to be money or fame, but if you say, “I want to be this, or do this” and reach it, you have succeeded.

    Ten years from now I will consider myself happy if I am living in my own house, with a wife/ girlfriend and have a puppy. True living is when you live your life to the fullest on a daily basis.

    Commenting on Hiler’s response, I fully agree on living your life full everyday and having a great life being happy.

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