Happiness is one of the keys to life, for every person desires happiness. Movies, TV shows, advertisements, and most everything else people see or hear pushes happiness. CocaCola’s slogan, “Share a Coke and a Smile” is an example of that. But, are people really supposed to be happy one hundred percent of the time? Although it is great to be happy, that is not the only emotion people need in order to live a balanced and healthy life. Other emotions, such as sadness, fear, and anger, also play a significant role in the lives of many humans.
Negative emotions are just as important as positive emotions. Though they may be quite unpleasant, negative emotions like sadness and fear play a vital role in human development. For example, in the article
…show more content…
David later in her article observes, “While it’s certainly not healthy to constantly stew in negative emotions, there are some positive things that sadness, anger, guilt, and fear can do” (David 126). She explains in detail how negative emotions can actually help you better form arguments, improve your memory, encourage perseverance, increase your generosity, and boost your ability to reason. These skills help one to better grow as a person so that one may reach success in the future. This idea is also discussed in Sharon Begley’s article “Happiness: Enough Already” when she states, “Abraham Lincoln was not hobbled by his dark moods bordering on depression and Beethoven composed his later works in a melancholic funk” (Begley 456). In this quote, the author is trying to explain that negative moods often create a better thinking environment that can aid one towards success. Some of the most successful people in history were depressed or angry, for you become more analytical, more critical when in a gloomy state. You need negative emotions, including sadness, in life so that one may be effective and successful. Though negative emotions are imperative to creating a balanced, healthy life, positive emotions such as happiness are just as beneficial. Negative emotions in excess could potentially be quite harmful to an individual; Therefore, people need positive ones as well to
Positive emotions like happiness, contentment, and joy help us develop stability and optimism, deepen social connections, and encourage a sense of purpose and meaning in life. They can give us the motivation and energy to achieve our goals, pursue our passions, and help us navigate difficult situations more quickly and confidently. Negative emotions like anger, sadness, and fear are vital. They can help us identify areas of our lives that need attention or change and motivate us to take action. Studies have shown that individuals who can acknowledge and process negative emotions in healthy and constructive ways experience greater psychological well-being and resilience.
Lastly, staying positive can not only have physical health effects but mental ones as well. There are many health benefits, such as “Lower rates of depression, lower levels of distress, better psychological well-being, better coping skills during hardships and times of stress…” (Mayo Clinic Staff). Of course, if one stays positive, that person would be able to cope with things like depression and distress. As a person could live with a negative attitude, a positive attitude helps the body function better because it produces hormones like endorphins, serotonin, and dopamine.
Positivity can affect not only one’s self, but those around them as well. In the face of responding to conflict, positivity can reduce stress and anxiety, help health, and provide a better environment. During times of conflict, positivity has been proven to reduce both stress and anxiety. In an article from the Mayo Clinic Staff, they commented that “Indeed, some studies show that personality traits such as optimism and pessimism can affect many areas of your well-being” (Mayo Clinic Staff).
When thinking of happiness, every human brain will travel down a different path. Humans seek different ways of trying to attain true happiness. Many individuals will seek pleasurable moments and things in order to reach their happy trial. Sitting on a porch Sunday morning with a cup of coffee. Going out with your loved one to see a new release in theaters.
Researchers from the Mayo Clinic have found that positivity can help lower levels of stress and depression, and help with coping skills for the individual (“How to Stop Negative Self-Talk.”). Staying positive during times of conflict is not just a way to pass the time, as it also has health benefits that can help lead people through hard times. Even without knowing it, some of these famous figures or even normal people today may stay positive in tough times because they feel better without even knowing the true effects. The Mayo Clinic staff also say, “Indeed, some studies show that personality traits such as optimism and pessimism can affect many areas of your health and well-being. The positive thinking that usually comes with optimism is a key part of effective stress management” (“How to Stop Negative Self-Talk.”).
10 Reasons Why You Should Pay Attention to Your Happiness Project What is a happiness project? We can call the happiness project an approach to bring a significant change to your life. It starts with the preparation stage where you identify with the things which bring satisfaction and joy, and also those which cause you resentment and anger. Keeping in mind these things, you make resolutions and comply with them to benefit from your happiness project. Some people deviate from this approach but if you have the following traits in your personality, you have strong enough reasons to stick to the project.
Stress provokes the fight-or-flight response that allows us to protect ourselves from danger, including feelings. Therefore, whenever we are feeling bad, the brain will try to find ways way that will make us happy. According to Kelly McGonigal, the author of The Willpower Instinct, McGonigal states that negative emotions shift the brain into a reward-seeking state(136). Our brains become convinced that the only way we will feel better is with the "promise of reward" which eventually leads to giving in. Similarily, Mihaly Csikzentmihaly, the author of Finding Flow also discusses the effects of negative emotions, stating that "psychic entropy" makes it harder for us to focus.(22)
In “Don’t Worry, Be Gloomy,” David wirtes, “When we’re overly cheerful, we tend to neglect important threats and dangers. It’s not too big a stretch to suggest that being excessively happy could kill you” (David 124). This example explains how being overly happy can cloud people’s judgement, which will result in making poor decisions. When an individual is happy, that individual is less likely to notice important details, think critically, or focus on negative outcomes than an individual in a negative mood. Negative emotions keep people safe from making poor decisions because they grant people the ability to notice important details, think critically, and focus more on negative outcomes which will ultimately bring happiness upon an
Life is complicated and everyone goes through stress no matter who you are and what you do some things will catch you off garde in life. Yet not matter what you should never let the challenges of life consume you or interfere with your life goals. The pursuit of happiness was directed by Gabriele Muccino this movie depicts the real life events of of Chris Gardner and the struggles he went through in life to pursue happiness. In my essay I will be talk about how Chris work hard to pursue his dream jobs also how his stress affected his identity and how without stress u can not find happiness. Viewers need to understand that when a person is in a stressful situation they need to reflect on their identity and their values because they need to
In fact, positive emotions are not completely ignored by other psychologists; they are just not standing under the spotlight among everything else crucial to us. For example, Folkman (2008) incorporated the element of positive emotion in her stress and coping theory, alongside with appraisal, coping, and event outcome. Positive psychologists are being self-contradicting if one takes their ontological perspective into account too. Proposing an objective human nature in general, they are adopting their own subjective perception on the world, in which everything is polarized and biased, failing to see the more holistic picture on human strengths, weaknesses, and genuine
Choosing to Live Happily Does it ever appear to you as if people live their lives trying to attain happiness? The decisions people make every day seem to revolve around what will make them the happiest. No one knows the true meaning of happiness but we all want to have it. Many people try to attain happiness through actions or things. Some people buy everything that they want to try and make themselves happy.
In addition, a study of Fredrickson (1998) also revealed that positive emotions are conceptually different compared to negative emotions. Negative emotions should not conceived as opposite of positive emotions because both function in a different way. Thereby, when experiencing positive emotions, negative feelings are almost not noticeable. Effects Diener et al.
Happiness is a Choice There is no greater feeling in the world than being happy. Believe it or not, happiness is a choice that comes from within. According to a theory in Psychology, all humans have a happiness “set- point” that determines their overall well-being. When something positive happens to a person, he becomes happy. On the other hand, when something negative happens to him, he becomes miserable.
If you ask someone who has a sports car, you’d ask him to go out for racing, and he’d be as excited as you. But if you ask someone who is depressed he’ll be trying to delay this as much as he can. So happy people are more passionate, motivated and
A collection of philosophical, religious, psychological and biological approaches had attempted to define happiness and analyze its connections. Researchers have found that about 50% of people happiness depends on our genes, based on studies of identical twins, whose happiness was 50% correlated even when growing up in different houses. About 10% to 15% is a result of various measurable life circumstances variables, such as socioeconomic status, marital status, health, income, and others. The remaining 40% is a combination of intentional factors and the results of actions that individuals deliberately engage in to become happier. Studies have also found that most of us are born with a fixed “set point” of happiness that we fall in throughout our lives.