In one of the accounting positions that I held we were given a book; it was a philosophy book- it had to do with one's career and the category of the type of person that they are in nature. It listed lots of different descriptions of one's behaviors that were categorized, and you were supposed to narrow them down to five main things that resemble you closest, and then from there narrow it down to the two that resemble you best. My top two categories were developer and achiever.
That being said, I can relate to Aristotle's view that he mentions in chapter 5, that the most pleasant life is a life of virtuous or excellent activity. I am somebody who tries to get as much meaningful things done during a day as possible. The more meaningful things that I can achieve in a day, the better I feel about my day. And I guess it's good that I don't really watch TV, seeing as though there wasn't very much fulfillment, as he described, found from doing so. Lol.
I also relate very much to his discussion on autonomy- a sense of control over ones life he says "is an important source of happiness." I would have to agree with that full-heartedly! It's very important to me, that whatever decisions I make with my life, are mine alone to make. That who I choose to have in it, is my decision to make as well.
Which brings me to another one of his points- that relationships are very beneficial to one's happiness- a significant other, children, friends, family, neighbors, the community- are all vital to one's happiness. I do believe this to be true, but also as I said above, that autonomy in choosing who you want to be in your life (as well as how you spend your life,) I believe is equally as important.
He says that there are "four kinds of outlooks that seem to be especially productive of happiness": positivity, acceptance, caring for others, and intrinsic motivation.
By intrinsic motivation he is not referring to money, but to the things that drive us to work harder/ do well (for example, for me, my son has always been my intrinsic motivation.) The first two years I was enrolled at MTSU, I barely got anywhere towards completing my degree. When my son was born, I gained the motivation and inspiration, that I had previously been lacking. I decided that I needed to finish my bachelor's degree in accounting, so that one day I could be able to tell him that he could achieve the same. I ended up fitting 4 years of college into 2 years, and making almost all A's and B's, while also taking care of him. I discovered a willpower that I never knew I had. Since we are avid superhero fans, in our home, we would refer to this as "the superpower I never knew I had!" Lol!
And of course it's undeniable that caring for others creates happiness. That has been researched for some time (not just in philosophy.) It feels good to do things for other people. Giving to others is a virtuous act. And even caring for others, I believe, such as in taking care of our children, etc. also serves as fuel to our happiness.
Haybron says that the sources of happiness are security, outlook, autonomy, relationships, and skilled and meaningful activity. I feel like on the discussion of Outlook though he kind of contradicts himself- on one hand he says that assuming that someone "can perfectly well be happy if only he's so chooses is foolish and cruel;" however, goes on to say that Outlook does play a large role in determining how happy we are. I feel like he is saying that happiness is a choice we make by our outlook, but on the other hand he is saying that it's cruel to just presume that a person could be happy should they choose to be.
However I very much like how in his discussion of relationships he tells the story of his father who is raised by his grandmother. And that his main recollection of her parenting style was that she simply paid attention to him. That whenever he has something to say to her she would drop what she was doing; or lower her glass, and give to him her full attention which made him feel a sense of self-worth. This made me personally feel very good to read as I have always done the same with my son; I have always even from a young age, tried to make him feel that his thoughts were important.
The ultimate intrinsic motivators are those activities we undertake for their own sake and not for any extrinsic or instrumental goal beyond themselves. Most of us could use a few more of those in our lives, and fewer things done for the sake of something ulterior.
ReplyDeleteAnd, we should certainly treat friends and family with the kind of focused attention and interest that communicates our regard and affection for them as intrinsic.
I also agree that living a virtuous life, striving for meaningful and impactful encounters each day leads to overall happiness. I would agree that I strive to have/do meaningful things each day. Meaningful of course is subjective, however, I would say something outside of one's own self has the most meaningful effect on creating a life of joy and happiness.
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned having control over your thoughts and actions as a component to happiness. This is something I never really considered as I got older and would have to thoroughly agree. Making decisions and taking action from a place of personal security and knowledge of self is extremely important. When I made decisions or acted in accordance with someone else's viewpoint or perception of me I was never fully satisfied, or happy. Something was never quite right. However, once I realized this fact and began to work on moving in a way that was genuine to me, Typically, I have been able to conclude each day with a sense of happiness knowing I have done all I could to be true to myself and to others around me.
I can relate to having children as how they/someone outside of ourselves can provide that sense of motivation and inspiration needed to push ourselves forward. The birth of my sons inspired me to finish my Bachelor’s as well and continue on with my Master’s. I also want them to know that it is possible to achieve personal goals, even after experiencing challenges and obstacles. I want them to understand that achieving the goals they set is for their own personal joy and not for the benefits of others. Creating a sense of happiness, I believe, starts within ourselves and can be amplified when we work towards meaningful interactions, goals, and move with purpose.