How does someone know if they are truly happy? Much of society have come to associate happiness with the pursuits of personal pleasures or that which makes us “feels good”. When we feel good we display positive expression of emotions such as joy, laughter, kindness and fewer negative emotions such as anger, hate, and sadness. To some people our happiness is already determined through our genes. Some people seek happiness through money and material possessions. However, many would argue that true happiness comes from within and gratifies a state of well-being. In my opinion, the understanding of true happiness is a personal experience and will vary among us. It's what makes us as individuals satisfied and content.
The term “happy” was originated from 1520s Old English. It was first known in the late 14th century as being “greatly pleased and content”. For the Greek and Irish, the meaning of happy was originally linked as being “lucky”. The Welsh language associated the meaning as “wise”. For the
…show more content…
A collection of philosophical, religious, psychological and biological approaches had attempted to define happiness and analyze its connections. Researchers have found that about 50% of people happiness depends on our genes, based on studies of identical twins, whose happiness was 50% correlated even when growing up in different houses. About 10% to 15% is a result of various measurable life circumstances variables, such as socioeconomic status, marital status, health, income, and others. The remaining 40% is a combination of intentional factors and the results of actions that individuals deliberately engage in to become happier. Studies have also found that most of us are born with a fixed “set point” of happiness that we fall in throughout our lives. We will tend to return to our set point despite whether good or bad things happen to