Ruiz 1

Amanda Ruiz
Mrs. Thomas
UWRT 1102-017
30 September 2015

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Reflection
2* According to my peers, my proposal required only minor changes here and there. The
feedback was very helpful and caused me to debate whether or not I wanted to include a more
biological approach to my inquiry. While I do intend to touch on the biological/chemical aspect,
I would like to focus more on mans quest for happiness in general.
1* Writing this proposal was more challenging than I anticipated. I found that my inquiry
question opened up something of a pandoras box. There are now a plethora of additional
questions and Im concerned about how to tackle all of them in the space of ten pages. I need to
decide which questions are the most essential to answering my colossal question of the
achievement of happiness. Im hoping that this inquiry is not too far reaching and that I can
adequately cover all of my bases while still keeping the reader engaged.

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Pursuit of Happiness
Happiness is a choice. You are the only person that can make you happy. Youre as
happy as you choose to be.- Rick Warren

Ruiz 2
The word happy is derived from the Icelandic word happ, meaning luck and chance.
So, is that what happiness comes down to? Luck? Chance? According to Pastor Rick Warren, no.
He believes it is not by chance that one becomes happy, it is by choice. Modern science defines
happiness as the positive range of emotions that we feel when we are content and full of joy but
if I were to ask you to define happiness, what would you say? It is undoubtedly a difficult task. I
feel as though I, along with much of the population, am constantly searching for happiness. But
how do you find something that you cannot define? This leads me to my inquiry question, what
is, and how can one achieve true happiness?
According to the Dalai Lama, the very notion of our life is towards happiness. How to
get there, however, has always been the question. What makes us happy? Are some people
genetically predisposed to being happier than others? If this idea is true, can this baseline of
happiness be adjusted? How? The objective of my paper will be to determine what causes this
positive range of emotion? Is it health, wealth, outlook, relationships etc? Is it different for
everyone?
While I have my own ideas and opinions on the subject, I intend to use a variety of
sources for my research spanning back to the B.C. era with the works of Socrates. The Art of
Happiness by the Dalai Lama, which takes a more Buddhist approach to happiness, will also be
included. I have been reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin which is a chronicle of
one womans attempt to test drive every tip, principle and scientific study that promotes
happiness, as well. In addition, I plan to take advantage of the countless psychological journals
and studies available.

Ruiz 2
There have definitely been advances in the scientific approach to this inquiry, however,
there is nothing novel about the quest for happiness. As far as we know, the philosophical pursuit
of happiness began 2,500 years ago in China, India and Greece with Confucius, Buddha,
Socrates and Aristotle. Confucianism concluded that following the Dao, or the way would
bring happiness. This idea was based on having a deep connection with nature and that joy was
an ethical response to features of the world. For Buddha, the path to happiness began with
understanding the root causes of suffering and to train the mind not to dwell on the past or the
future, but to live in the here and now, the realm where we can most readily experience peace
and happiness. Socrates was the first known figure in the West to argue that happiness is
obtainable by human effort by taking rational control over your desires and harmonizing the
different parts of your soul. Aristotle used the term eudaimonia to describe happiness as
experiencing a good life through virtuous action. He insisted one should strike a balance or a
mean between excess and deficiency. After all of this time, we as humans are still trying to
figure it out, still searching for more answers on acquiring this seemingly elusive state of being.
How does comparing our situation with that of others affect our happiness? GermanAmerican journalist and cultural critic, H.L Menckens' definition of a wealthy man is one whose
income is $100 more than his wifes sisters husband. There is no doubt that our feelings of
contentment are strongly influenced by our own tendency to compare. So, what shapes our
perceived level of satisfaction? Does it matter with whom we are comparing our situation to?
As you can see, I have many questions concerning this topic. It is one that has always
been of particular interest to me. Initially, after I posed my question I thought, can happiness be
measured? How was I going to research such a subjective matter? The topic of happiness used to

Ruiz 2
lie solely in the hands of philosophers. Now, we employ the works of psychologists, economists
and neurologists. The study of happiness now examines both the cognitive evaluations of life and
the affective enjoyment of life. Researchers use Magnetic Resonance Imagery to measure
cerebral blood flow while conducting happiness studies. Electromyography can measure the
activity of the smile muscles in the face and simply asking someone to rate their perceived
happiness on a scale serves as a form of measurement. The idea of happiness has long been a
subject of curiosity. There are an abundance of studies, journals, books and even movies
regarding the matter. There is even an app, Tracking your Happiness, which follows more than
15,000 people by iPhone, posing questions several times per day about their activities and
emotional states.
Is happiness determined by ones state of mind more so than external events? For
example, I suffer from a sometimes debilitating auto-immune disease, yet I am happier than most
healthy people I know. I have had a few close calls with death and once faced with my own
mortality, I realized I was actually happier than before. I feel more grateful for every minute I am
given and am less distracted by unimportant things. It caused me to rethink the meaning of my
life. So, do we need more than pleasure to live the best possible life and obtain happiness? Are
most people transformed by tribulations, or is this a fluke?
Simply stated, I want to know if attaining genuine and long lasting happiness can be
done. What if there was a way to teach happiness and contentment rather than prescribe a pill for
it? I feel as though learning how to maximize your happiness is important to everyone. It benefits
not only the individual but their family and society, as well. I hope to prove that one can indeed
develop and sustain happiness by not only training the mind but transforming the attitude,

Ruiz 2
outlook and approach to living as a whole. John Lennon once told a story about an assignment he
had in school. The teacher told him to write what he wanted to be when he grows up. He wrote
happy. She said he didn't understand the assignment. He said she didnt understand life. If
happiness is our main goal, shouldnt we all know how to achieve it?