Toledo Jada Toledo Prof. S. Lago College Writing 1100 September 26, 2013 Is Sadness a Necessity?

Without sadness, happiness cannot exist. We need one, to have the other, almost like Yin and Yang; its the rules of logic. Without light, we do not have dark. Can a ball fall back down to earth if it has not tossed it into the air? If you could not see, how would you know there was a difference between Black and White? You wouldnt, because to you, there is no difference. The same thing applies for happiness and sadness; without being down, you cannot go up. In our lives, we need sadness, exactly like we need happiness. Sadness can change the world, just like happiness can. Many famous people have had very sad lives, Oprah Winfrey for example. She was abused and molested during her early life, and eventually ended up running away from her home and being sent to a juvenile detention home, only to be turned away. (Americas Beloved Best Friend) Oprah took her hard childhood and used it to her advantage; now being one of the richest and most successful women on earth, she tries to help out others that are/were in the same position she once was in. Without her past and the pain and despair she once endured, she would not be as successful and kind as she is today. She spreads her happiness to anyone she possibly can reach, and I believe this is due to her past sadness. Now that shes known sadness, she knows how great happiness feels.

TOLEDO Another great example of sadness bringing along happiness is Hurricane Sandy.

Hurricane sandy was a category 3 hurricane that made its debut to the eastern north American coastline on October 29th, 2012. This storm was one of the worst natural disasters to hit the United States since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Andy Newman reports the storm left 8.51 million homes and businesses without power, destroyed about 380,000 homes and buildings, and accumulated $71 billion in damage, from New York and New Jersey alone, and $360 million in Connecticut. (Hurricane Sandy vs. Hurricane Katrina) The aftermath of the storm was treacherous, and the worst damage was on the coastal towns of New Jersey. Seaside Heights, Seaside Park, Sandy Hook, and Cape May, New Jersey, commonly and affectionately referred to simply as The Jersey Shore, were a few of the areas under the microscope, having been the hardest hit area of Hurricane Sandy. The most beloved area in New Jersey was completely destroyed, its residents displaced, and the deep roots of The Jersey Shore were shattered. Shortly after the Storm, hundreds of thousands of non-profit organizations, church congregations, school clubs, celebrities, politicians and others of the sort rushed to the aid of the victims of the hurricane and came together for a single cause. There was an immediate call to action, and many people answered. Many families opened their homes to displaced families. Businesses and churches began taking up collections of money, clothes, toiletries and toys to send to the victims of Sandy. T-shirts were made, benefit concerts were held, and The Jersey Shore was filled with whole-hearted people trying to clean up the rubble left by Sandy. The amount of love and sacrifice accumulated by hundreds upon thousands of people for this cause was astounding. America came together to help The Jersey Shore. The happiness and love that was given to theses

Toledo victims was truly amazing. Through the emotional pain, financial hardship, and physical damage done by this storm, happiness reared its beautiful face to those who were affected, once again. At the end of my senior year in high school, just 4 short days before my senior prom, I was burned badly on my right hand while on the job, waitressing, and was sent to the hospital with 2nd and 3rd degree burns from my thumb to my forearm. I had to go to my senior prom with painful burns on my wrist, hand, and arm. I was miserable. To make matters worse, I had to cut my senior week (the 7 days following senior prom) short to come home for a scholarship interview that I was notified about 20 minutes before I left for prom. I thought my life was ruined. I was incredibly stressed, sad, and in an ungodly amount of pain. Prom was on Friday, and my interview was on Monday. After driving 3 hours to attend this interview, I arrived on time and when it was over, I thought I had done pretty well. I had gotten a call 2 hours after the interview commenced and was informed that I was awarded the scholarship. I was over-the-moon; I couldnt contain the happiness I was feeling. I had almost completely forgotten about my arm, and totally focused on the excitement I was experiencing. Without the sadness I was dealing with, I wouldnt have been so happy about my scholarship. Just like the laws of physics, I went from being down, to being up. After taking the Authentic Happiness Quiz, developed by Martin Seligman of The University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), I found that Im happier than just about 46% of my gender, all web users, and my age group, 56% of people in my profession, (which I noted as Secretary, because it was the closest to office assistant), 50% of the people in my

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education level, and 49% of people from my hometown. (Seligman) So according to my assessment, Im happier than just about half of the people who took the quiz. Jennifer Senior, in her essay, mentioned that Midtown Manhattan, and Staten Island are two of the saddest places on earth. (Some Dark Thoughts 423) This may be due, in part, to the stress of the high profile jobs in the area. Is it possible that the locals (or workers of the area) use their sadness to propel the further to get a higher ranking job, hoping that the better job will bring them happiness? Possibly. In that case, sadness is propelling them to try to become happier, whether or not it truly does. Sadness is needed in every walk of life to appreciate the happiness when it is occurring, and to propel individuals towards the goal of happiness. From Monks in China, to small school aged children in Canada, sadness and happiness go hand-in-hand. These are the building blocks for all emotions, motives, and ideals in society. Happiness is a feeling that would not exist without sadness. The necessity of sadness is as real and true as the yearning for happiness.

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Works Cited [Americas Beloved Best Friend Achievement.org. Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation, 12 Aug. 2013. Web. 20 Sept. 2013.] [Newman, Andy. Hurricane Sandy vs. Hurricane Katrina. Cityroom. NyTimes.com. 27 Nov 2013. Web. 20 Sept. 2013] [Seligman, Martin. Authentic Happiness. Quiz Results. Authentic Happiness. UPenn.edu. Abstract. Web. 20 Sept 2013.] [Senior, Jennifer. Some Dark Thoughts On Happiness. Reading and Writing Across the Curriculum. Laurence Behrens and Leonard J. Rosen. Santa Barbara; Boston. Pearson. 2013. 422-430. Print.]