"Happiness?" by Chinh Vong

"Happiness is a journey, not just a destination?"

A slanted small fire-eye, slightly smiling with white-milk-teeth on a lovable face, holding an ice cream stick in little hands which is the picture of a happy child. An image of slanted eyes which is accompanied with tears rolling down cheeks. They are not tears of the pain of losing something; instead, they are tears of happiness when a mother greets her son who just came back from the battlefield. There are two different kinds of emotion. To children, happiness is very simple in a moment they are satisfied by a demand such as ice cream stick or toys, etc... On the other hand, the happiness of a mother is spirit passion satisfied after many days looking forward to her son. Therefore, we have many ways to perform our emotion, but what are happiness and its quality in our life? When do people feel happy? How does it play a role in daily life?

Happiness is a state of emotion or feeling of humans when they satisfy a demand that carries abstract features. It is a high form of emotion in humans only. Happiness and satisfaction are two synonym words that imply comfortable feelings once you have achieved a goal, or a favorable outcome. However, the difference lies in the tangible or intangible result of achieving a purpose. For example, love, fame, freedom, success bring happiness; luxury, comfortable, and wealth living bring satisfaction. Thus, happiness is much related to mental state, and satisfaction is highly related to human instinct.
According to biology, recent research of German scientists and professors, Bruce Headey from Melbourne Institute of Melbourne University, showed genetic factors affect about 50% of happiness; the external factors influence it at equivalent levels. In addition, the evolution of perspective offers an alternative approach to understand what happiness in life is about.

In social approach, people in wealthy countries often identify that they are happier than do people in poorer countries; nonetheless, in a certain society, a rich man usually feels happy, yet this society may not be delighted if everybody is rich. Moreover, happiness contributes a significant role to define the character and culture of a society. Happy index (HI) is the key to assessing the satisfaction of a group of people in a certain society. It substantially contributes to economists in building the proper business strategies. Besides, since happiness has congenital factors, economists worry that the macro- and micro-economic policies will not be able to impact on the individual in the long term. However in some aspects, this will help economists evaluate the subjective satisfaction of the consumers without relying on the rate of consumption.

At different ages, the satisfaction level of happiness is different. Normally, kids are easy to make happy by meeting a specific demand. For those of working-age, the index of happiness is quite low because they concentrate more on substance and desired factors than the happiness factors. Furthermore, they rarely realize happiness because the elements of work, lifestyle, and working time have taken away their feeling of happiness. Meanwhile, elderly people simply are fulfilled with happiness. They are concerned with spiritual elements rather than substance ones. They feel happy, for instance, if their grandchildren come to visit frequently. Besides, happiness depends on other important factors such as lifestyle, hobbies, or personal choice. For example, people who always laugh or play sports will feel happier and pass life peacefully because when you laugh or do some positive activities, your stress and depression will be blown away.

Even me, I usually “ask” myself “what is happiness?” and try to figure out an answer. “Happiness is a journey, not just a destination.” “Happiness is beloved.” “Happiness is giving up, not keeping tight…..” There are many, many thousands of responses that already answer this question. However, I did not find an answer for myself until a day in an unexpected moment; I have “discovered” the meaning of the word “happiness.” That was the day I left Vietnam to immigrate to The United States (US). I realized I was really sorry for missing the happy time with my family and friends which I didn’t notice in my life. In the moment of saying “good bye,” I knew “happiness is respecting what you have.” Let do the good things and remember the lucky moments in life which makes you will feel happier.