Comparison of the Happiness Concept of Young and Elderly Person - Essay Example

Happiness baffles definition. Each one sees the new horizon. Happiness is also related to time and circumstances and the level of spiritual progression of an individual. Spiritual giants, philosophers, and intellectuals have written millions of pages on the subjects of ‘joy’ and ‘happiness’ that have eluded the humankind in the known history. In the final analysis, the happiness of each individual is within and one has to achieve the state of happiness for oneself and it varies from individual to individual.

The wise saying goes, ‘there is a beauty in the sunrise and also in the sunset’.The concept of happiness of a young man (Sunrise) discussed in the above interview differs much from the senior citizen mentioned in the second interview (Sunset). The young man is clear about the type of happiness that he is going to pursue and he is interested in long-term happiness. This means he has a vision in life and would like to remain away from negativities and gives importance to ethical values in life.

He has secular ambitions; desires to earn money taking up the career of his choice, and as such, this young man is going to shape into a balanced personality and will be happy in life in the real sense of the term. According to Janaro and Altshuler (2011), this youth is given to “Critical Thinking” (the faculty of rational and logical analysis; looking at subjects objectively, gathering all information, and the opposite of jumping to hasty conclusions based upon a purely emotional response) in taking decisions in life.

In the case of the senior citizen, he has come to terms with his life after a fairly long inning and has firmed up with his concept of happiness. He seems to be an introvert personality; the divorce might have contributed to his staying away from the society and not mixing freely with the people.