In many cases, negative events in life make people more appreciative of the happy times when they come around. If people are all happy all the time, they might not truly treasure happiness. Ultimately, a balance of all emotions, including negative emotions, will result in a full and best life experience for
The truth is that happiness is a complex emotion and is nearly impossible to measure by what happens in a person’s life. Many would think that the ideal situation for a human would be to be happy and cheerful all the time. Happy emotions are good and healthy in their own right, but it is also helpful for a person to have sad and gloomy emotions. Robert BiswasDiener quotes in Sharon Begley’s essay “Happiness: Enough Already” that “If you’re totally satisfied with your life and with how things are going in the world, you
Although the feelings are not desirable, feelings can mold a person into a better version of him or herself. Feeling angry can actually help one form arguments of higher quality to get a certain point across. Experiencing sadness can boost memory, making things easier to recall. Negative feelings can encourage perseverance and cause an individual to push him or herself to be greater and better. It is proven by Sarah David that on exams a happy and cheerful individual is not as likely to strive for answering most of the questions and answering correctly as a student in a more dreadful mood.
Correspondingly, the excessive amount of happiness may suppress the appreciation for other feelings. Many people hide their true emotions with a facade of happiness. They feel as though being happy is better than letting any other feelings come to the surface. This is not to say that all positive emotions or happiness is to be omitted from your feelings. According to Susan David, she wants people to keep “the pursuit of happiness in perspective,” but she also wants people to see “negative emotions in a new and more accepting light,” (Don’t Worry Be Gloomy).
Positive stress is a short term stress that is conscious and leads to better life. Better life is when you find your way of health and creativity. Whenever people have bet against me I've actually found that far more motivating. Even when people placed additional obstacles in my way or tried to prevent something from happening I was more determined to do well just to prove them wrong. Sometimes a negative change forces you to think more creatively and in such circumstances you feel compelled to find a solution.
It is important to experience other emotions aside from happiness because negative emotions can stimulate the mind just as well as happiness. If a person manages to live their life without experiencing any negative emotions, there may never be a genuine appreciation for happiness. When someone lacks happiness, happiness is strived and worked for greatly. As previously stated, happiness is the key to a long and healthy life; so, the ultimate goal is to eliminate anything that interferes with the goal of happiness. Marin E.D.
While happiness is a key to living a long, healthy life, people should not be happy 100% of the time. Many will argue that happiness is all a person should ever experience. Although it is just as important for people to experience other emotions, such as sadness, fear, and anger because they help people think more critically, promotes creativity, and allows people to make safe decisions, which will ultimately result in one’s happiness.
It is important to note that it is the way that people interpret these regrets that influence their well-being. Those who feel that they have made mistakes, wasted their time, and have no time to make changes may be left feeling bitter. There are also numerous factors that can influence feelings of generativity versus feelings of stagnation at this point in life. People who have positive relationships with others, good quality health and a sense of control over their lives will feel more productive and satisfied. Those who suffer from poor health, poor relationships and feel that they have no control over their fate are more likely to experience feelings of stagnation.
Maybe celebrating a good grade would put someone in the happiest state he or she have ever been in, but for another person it might give them a spur of happiness that he or she quickly loses. Either way, most strive for a constant state of happiness, but “experience the wrong types of happiness, and go about trying to find happiness in the wrong ways and at the wrong time” (David, PhD). While happiness may be a key to living a long, healthy life, people are not supposed to feel happy 100% of the time. Other emotions that are deemed as negative, like sadness and anger, are beneficial and are of as much importance as happiness. While being happy is an amazing state, experiencing other emotions are just as important.
These ideas are irrelevant though, for feelings of sadness are virtually inevitable. All people experience these emotions at some point in their life whether they want to or not, and for that reason, society must learn to accept these gloomy states. As mentioned in the article “Don’t Worry, Be Gloomy,” many people believe that positive emotions are linked to a lower risk of illnesses, depression, anxiety, and other personality disorders (David 124). But, though this may be true, excessive feelings of positivity also are accompanied by many detrimental side effects. The article “Happiness: Enough Already” explains this idea more thoroughly by stating, “Being ‘up’ all the time can cause you to play down very real threats” (Begley 456).