Happiness as an Accompaniment to Self Growth - Essay Example

of the English of the Teacher 20 November Happiness- An Accompaniment to Self Growth In a general context, people tend to perceive happiness as a state of mind marked by emotions and feelings of joy and elation. In other words, happiness is taken to be something that happens to a person and not something that one creates through personal choices and decisions (Annas 429). People get so carried away by such immature notions of happiness that they totally miss the point that any happy and meaningful life cannot be devoid of pain and suffering. Yet, great seers, philosophers and wise men from all ages, cultures and times did lay stress on the human capacity for dealing with suffering as a basic requirement for achieving happiness. Buddha began his teachings by mentioning a basic fact that, “there is suffering (Gowans 81).” The road to genuine happiness passes through the basic human willingness to accept the realities of life with all the joys and pains that underlie them (Sherwin 38). Only when a person accepts this fact that one can go on to develop the necessary discipline, self control and will power to make the right choices in life that lead to happiness (Sherwin 38). Certainly this journey to happiness involves its bit of suffering. However, through discipline, wisdom and self control, successful people do develop the capacity to meet the hardships of life with a measure of mental balance and restraint, and not to give in to momentary impulses, discouragements and emotional outbursts. One simply cannot underestimate the role of society in achieving such a state of happiness. Actually the duties of all the major social institutions are they parents, neighborhoods, schools and colleges, social organizations and groups, governments, etc. is to extend the required emotional, financial and political support, so that individuals could grow up and develop the required discipline, maturity, self control and wisdom to make the right choices which eventually lead to happiness. Hence, to put it simply, happiness is the direct outcome of the responsible and mature decisions taken by individuals in their life journey, while exercising self discipline, self control and self restraint, and it is the responsibility of the society to create an environment that supports and aids such self growth and development. One really cannot help admiring the psychological maturity and wisdom of Jefferson, when one considers his definition of the essential rights of any citizen as to have access to, “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” Indeed, this recipe for happiness does have both individual and social angles (Rezek, Cano & Evans 36). To begin with, being a statesman, Jefferson in this definition does recognize the basic fact that there are certain things that are more important than happiness. ‘Life’ and ‘Liberty’ top this list. It is a commonsensical fact that people cannot be happy at a place where life is cheap or where their physical and intellectual mobility and freedom are utterly compromised. One needs to be alive and free before one could be happy. Dead men do not laugh. Also slaves seldom dream. In fact it is really heartening to find that this definition of human rights does tally with the Hierarchy of Human Needs proposed by famous sociologist and researcher, Abraham Maslow (Moss 336). Maslow in his Hierarchy of Needs put the need for security and safety just above the basic physiological needs like nutrition, sex, sleep and excretion. (Najemy 40) Hence, society is indeed responsible for nurturing human happiness at a very basic level, by assuring the safety of life, property, freedom, sustenance, health, etc. It is often observed that in societies vulnerable to political uncertainty and warfare like the modern day Iraq or Afghanistan, it is not possible for most of the people to seek happiness. People are so scared about their safety and basic human needs like food, health and housing that they do not afford to think about any other thing or joy. Also, in autocratic states, like the erstwhile Soviet Union, people were not allowed to maintain a freedom of belief and faith. Any attempt to not to conform to the set ideology was often met by incarceration or a threat to life. No wonder, most of the people were not happy there and they stood up in revolt against the authorities to do away with such repression. Thereby, it is the duty of the society and the state to assure the safety of life, freedom and property at a minimal, so that people could think about happiness (Volokh 399). At a more liberal and democratic level, it is the duty of the society and the state to create an environment, where people could grow up to develop well rounded personalities, self-discipline and wisdom, through access to opportunities for education, engagement with arts and sports, political participation, travel, etc (Martin 56). The sad thing is that many people in liberal and capitalist societies where many of the citizens have access to a better quality of life and political and ideological freedom; miss the personal stake in quest for happiness. Jefferson in his definition of the rights of a citizen does not identify ‘happiness, but rather ‘the pursuit of happiness’ as a major human goal. In other words Jefferson considered happiness as not a one time achievement, but rather a process or a journey, which an individual does need to take. So, every individual does have a personal responsibility to make one happy (Covey 75). This happiness is not to be mistaken for some sort of situational emotional or mental high, but rather a state of mind that is self disciplined, enlightened and willing to avoid shallow temptations to achieve some larger and noble goal (Covey 75). The humanity does need to recognize the fact that the human evolution is still incomplete. Most of the people do know and see that children grow up to be teenagers, and teenagers grow up to be young adults, and young adults evolve to become wise old people. Each and every stage of growing up does has its share of challenges, pains and temptations. Yet, we do see that some individuals do manage to develop a measure of self discipline, restraint and wisdom to avoid the temporary setbacks and temptations to become achievers (Goleman 62). There are others who simply give in to the challenges, pains and temptations that life poses, and end up in crime, corruption, mental instability, violence, drugs, etc (Goleman 62). Hence, people achieve happiness when they accept the external and internal pains and suffering that life brings their way. This pain is managed and channelized by developing tools and aids like discipline, maturity, self control and wisdom (Goleman 65). It is not that happy people do not feel the pain they have to bear with while growing up to be responsible leaders. However, through self reflection, education and experience, they do develop the emotional and mental stability to deal with life in a pragmatic and poised manner. Thereby, they go on to build up on their reserves of wisdom, emotional stability, capacity to accept responsibility and potential for understanding and empathizing with others. Hence, first and foremost, happiness is not a state that is devoid of pain or challenges, but rather the capacity to deal with realities of life through self discipline, self control and education. People committed to self growth keep on gaining on these abilities as they move ahead in life. Thereby, they continually better their ability and capacity to achieve a stable and lasting happy state of mind. This “pursuit of happiness” does has social and political dimensions, as societies and states which provide their citizens with the fundamental needs and liberties do create an environment that better nurtures self growth and leadership. Works Cited Annas, Julia. The Morality of Happiness. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995. Print. Covey, Stephen R. The 7Habits of Highly Effective People. New York: Pocket Books, 2004. Print. Goleman, Daniel. Emotional Intelligence. New York: Bantam Books, 1996. Print. Gowans, Christopher W. Philosophy of the Buddha. New York: Routledge, 2005. Print. Martin, Mike W. Happiness and the Good Life. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. Print. Moss, Donald. Humanistic and Transpersonal Psychology. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999. Print. Najemy, Robert Elias. The Psychology of Happiness. Worcester, MA: Holistic Harmony Publishers, 1985. Print. Rezek, Jon, Graham Cano & Brent Evans. “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness: A Jeffersonian Approach to Development Indicators”. American Economist 56.2 (2011): 35-43. Print. Sherwin, Michael S. “Happiness and its Discontents”. Logos: A Journal of Catholic Thought And Culture 13.4 (2010): 35-40. Print. Volokh, Eugene. “State Constitutional Rights of Self-Defense and Defense of Property” Texas Review of Law and Politics 11.2 (2007): 399-404. Print. Read More