The evolving concept of subjective well - being: The multifaceted
nature of happiness.
I found myself really questioning what is
the nature of happiness?
When I was researching a book about
the nature of happiness, I kept coming across different versions of this statistical result.
''... This perceptive sequel offers elegant musings about
the nature of happiness combined with concrete ways to make the place where we sleep, eat, and watch TV truly a home.»
I chose to use linked, short - but - true stories to focus on the transitory
nature of both happiness and misery.
Sterritt **** A smug lawyer, a spunky cleaning woman, a cynical businessman, and other diverse characters grapple with personal and professional problems that challenge their ideas about
the nature of happiness and fulfillment.
What seemed like a light - hearted caper turns into a slightly uncomfortable evaluation of the American Dream itself, with a dash of Talmudic philosophy about
the nature of happiness.
Legalize, and educate on
the nature of happiness, and then what's to be will be.
The reading curriculum, drawn from Epictetus, Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, and Bertrand Russell, will explore
the nature of happiness and its relationship with truth, religion, the public interest, and other important concepts.
Aristotle's view on
the nature of happiness was summed up poignantly by philosopher Will Durant: «We are what we repeatedly do.»
Not exact matches
A growing stack
of scientific studies attests to the fact that even just a glimpse
of nature reduces stress and increases
happiness and creativity.
There are a million and one science - backed
happiness hacks out there, from redesigning your commute to spending more time in
nature (and no doubt you'll benefit from trying any
of these that strikes your fantasy), but one intervention might just beat them all when it comes to the size
of the well - being boost you can expect: helping others.
And I believe understanding this element
of human
nature — which I'll discuss in the next section — is key to building a life that: a) involves ambitious striving toward goals and having impact in the world, which contributes to a sense
of meaning, and b) gives you a shot at realizing true
happiness by avoiding a soul - sucking competitive rat race.
550 Vanderbilt, a condo building in the Pacific Park development in Prospect Heights, was designed by the sustainability - oriented architectural firm COOKFOX with the intention
of bringing its residents closer to
nature to «increase their
happiness and well - being,» the developer notes.
I believe that man is, by
nature, an exile and will never be self - sufficient or complete on this earth; that his chances
of happiness and virtue, here, remain more or less constant through the centuries and, generally speaking, are not much affected by the political and economic conditions in which he lives; that the balance
of good and ill tends to revert to a norm; that sudden changes
of physical condition are usually ill, and are advocated by the wrong people for the wrong reasons; that the intellectual communists
of today have personal, irrelevant grounds for their antagonism to society, which they are trying to exploit.
Far from condoning every destruction
of nature that is executed in the name
of human purposes, the maximal
happiness principle prescribes such sacrifice only when the human possibilities are thereby greater than they would otherwise be.
Other students
of liberalism have held that its view
of happiness is not only private but also preferential, i.e., that the
nature of one's self - interest is solely a matter
of preference, so that one's
happiness is defined in whatever way one pleases.
In large measure, however, these relations are not preconditions for but properly a part
of the public world, i.e., they yield
happiness beyond some minimal degree because
nature is, as it were, taken into the human community.
I should stress that the aesthetic character
of reality justifies the sacrifice
of nature (i.e., subhuman existence) for
happiness only when this maximizes
happiness.
Given these premises, I have concluded that
nature is better ordered insofar as it increases the possibilities
of happiness.
If
nature is worthless (though Locke never quite said this), then even our own bodies are worthless unless we can make them appear productive, and
nature itself offers no guidance for our pursuit
of happiness.
Thus, because the ultimate objective, the totality to which my
nature is attuned has been made manifest to me, the powers
of my being begin spontaneously to vibrate in accord with a single note
of incredible richness wherein I can distinguish the most discordant tendencies effortlessly resolved: the excitement
of action and the delight
of passivity: the joy
of possessing and the thrill
of reaching out beyond what one possesses; the pride in growing and the
happiness of being lost in what is greater than oneself.
When in the course
of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers
of the earth the separate and equal station to which the Laws
of Nature and
of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions
of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation — We hold these truths to be self - evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit
of happiness.
The true liberty
of man is, to know, obey and enjoy his Creator, and to do all the good unto, and enjoy all the
happiness with and in his fellow creatures that he is capable
of; in order to which the law
of love was written in his heart, which carries in it's
nature union and benevolence to Being in general, and to each being in particular, according to it's
nature and excellency, and to it's relation and connexion with the supreme Being, and ourselves.
Yet much can be done in the way
of making clear the understanding
of man's spiritual
nature, his high destiny which points beyond this life for its fulfillment, the meaning
of the Kingdom for this life and the next, the Christian concepts
of judgment and salvation with eternity in their span — in short, the goodness and power
of a God who, having given us this life, can give us another in which to attain to his nearer presence, enjoy a richer
happiness, and do his will more perfectly.
The ultimate object
of man wherein lies his greatest
happiness in future life is to gain knowledge
of the realities
of things so far as his
nature allows, and do what is incumbent upon him.
The readings offer four distinct perspectives on the
nature and attainment
of happiness, each
of which will serve as the springboard for the discussion
of a different set
of issues in relation to the search for human ful llment: participation in public life, self - control and education, the longing for God, and the confrontation
of death.
The argument from suffering reaches beyond medicine's responsibility and competence; it extends into metaphysical questions about the
nature of human
happiness and what constitutes a meaningful life.
The problem is much more radical: the modern West's rejection
of objective morality, grounded in divine wisdom and intrinsic to human
nature, the knowing and following
of which is the only path to individual
happiness and a just social order.
This system includes contextual charac - teristics such as the tendency to simplify and sensationalize events and issues and to promise and provide instant gratification, and conceptual characteristics such as particular and recurring images
of power,
happiness, meaning, and the
nature of success.
The first involves the
nature of moral judgment and the meaning
of such key evaluative words as good, right, virtue, justice, duty, and
happiness.
Show us anew that
happiness is found only in respecting the laws
of nature and
of nature's God.
And the moment we renounce the absurd notion that a thing is exploded away as soon as it is classed with others, or its origin is shown; the moment we agree to stand by experimental results and inner quality, in judging
of values — who does not see that we are likely to ascertain the distinctive significance
of religious melancholy and
happiness, or
of religious trances, far better by comparing them as conscientiously as we can with other varieties
of melancholy,
happiness, and trance, than by refusing to consider their place in any more general series, and treating them as if they were outside
of nature's order altogether?
Thee good soil represents someone who; * admits and understands that they are indebted to God because
of their sinful
nature * that sin equals eternal damnation hellfire * they turn to Jesus as our own saviour to abide in his covenant to fully repent
of sins and become holy enduring right to the end * remember Jesus said you can not serve the world and God, or money and god you can not be a master to both * the path to eternal life is very narrow and strait and only few are able to find it you have to let go
of your desires and dictates
of the flesh and always embrace and find
happiness serving god set your eyes on Jesus... crucify your desires..
This demand is a moral pressure that human
nature should be fulfilled, that human effort should be capable
of attaining the good, and that the attainment
of this good should be accompanied by
happiness.
It was Thomas Hobbes, the author
of Leviathan, who taught that since everybody desires life, liberty, and
happiness, these goals must therefore be inherent to our
nature.
There was first the great revolt
of Thomas Münzer, which aimed to establish a truly Christian state where all would be equal; for, Münzer declared, the children
of God are entitled to
happiness in this world and to full enjoyment
of all the goods
of Nature which God gives to man; and they are kept from enjoying what is rightfully theirs by the rich and powerful who have cornered the goods
of the world.
Akin to his claim for the primacy
of happiness in human motivation, then, Mill offers as yet another assertion
of psychological fact, another «principle
of human
nature,» the claim that the
happiness of others is a desire
of each person and an important part
of each person's
happiness.
They're about the pursuit
of their own
happiness in what is, by
nature, a pretty hostile environment.
The pursuit
of happiness through negating who we are according to
nature culminates in miserably unnatural alienation or isolation.
Its contemplation involves the fullest realization and hence the
happiness of creatures
of a rational
nature such as human beings.
Iberian Catholicism with its emphasis on orthodoxy, rituals and the divinely established monarchical
nature of all society conquered physically but itself was absorbed by the pre-Colombian spiritualism with its emphasis on the cosmic - earthly rituals expressing the harmonious unity
of opposing tensions: male and female, suffering and
happiness, self - annihilation and transcendence, individual and group, sacred and profane, life and death.
My prayer today is to be blessed and enjoy the celebration
of the first new blooming
of nature, lots
of delicious spring and Easter dishes lining your table, along with love and
happiness and gratitude for the celebration
of this season.
Should parents be required to limit their own
happiness for the sake
of their child's (and the
nature of parenting requires that that happens to a certain extent).
The idea is to take what
nature has given your baby and nurture him for a lifetime
of happiness.
Try these energy - boosting tips from psychologist Hendrie Weisinger, author
of The Genius
of Instinct: Reclaim Mother
Nature's Tools for Enhancing Your Health,
Happiness, Family, and Work.
Without such understandings
of the principles held by the protagonists, individuals, associations, parties, movements, and groups, along with the
nature of the injustices they would not reconcile themselves to, the articulated desire to change a wretched present «for the
happiness of all»: without reading their words, following their actions, we end up studying everything but republicanism and its revolutionary tradition.
In An Ecology
of Happiness, geographer Eric Lambin argues that experiencing
nature is a necessary part
of everyday life.
Ultimately, sustainable
happiness comes from within — from the relationship we have with ourselves, and the quality and
nature of our thoughts and actions.
We must not only create the greatest opportunity for optimum health through proper nutrition, we also need to clear our minds and emotions
of negative, toxic thought patterns, and instead discover what it means to «feed them» positive nourishment through wellness habits, such as gratitude, laughter,
happiness and connecting with
nature.