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Isaiah Green

Mrs. Ochoa

AP English Language & Composition

15 February, 2024

What is True Happiness?

The question on “What is Happiness?” has been a question that’s plagued humanity

throughout history. From some of the most renowned philosophers like Plato, Socrates, and

Aristotle, to even many of us pondering the answer to that question. Although it is something

that can be incredibly difficult to define, there is a general understanding that is overall a positive

emotion. On a scientific level, the feeling of happiness comes from chemicals like serotonin,

dopamine, and endorphins, which send the “happy” signals to the brain. But for many people, it’s

not uncommon to feel these emotions but not truly be happy. For example, individuals who

struggle with drug addiction could be happy in the moment, but in reality they are not truly

happy with the lives that they live. In a world in which we are surrounded by consumerism, our

society falls victim to equating happiness with the monetary or physical things that we have. It’s

popular for us to want the newest iphone, designer clothing, etc, because we believe that it would

make us happy. For a select few of people these physical objects could really make them happy

but it often brings us little to no happiness. Throughout our lives, lots of the things that we value

bring us happiness. Friends, family, and helping others can all be avenues for happiness. What

we value changes from person to person but others can argue that happiness is not just being

joyful and having positive experiences with the people around you but is also a mindset.

Individuals can be surrounded by things that would make them happy, but they do not have the

mindset in doing so. For example, there are many incredibly wealthy individuals who you would
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think would be happy due to the fact they have lots of money, cars, and are surrounded with

friends and family, but contrary to popular belief they may not be happy due to their lack of

mindset to appreciate not just what they have, but to feel the purpose and meaning behind their

life.

In summary, happiness looks very different from person to person. Some would find

happiness when they are surrounded by their loved ones, others would argue that the experiences

that they had like traveling their world or graduating high school, and lastly, my definition of

happiness is having the mindset to be content with my state of being and giving my life both

purpose and meaning.