Catherine O. Aluba BSA 1 6159 TTH 1:30-3:00PM The Good Life 5 Things/Non-things That Make Me Happy A. Winning Games and Contests Winning makes me feel happy because I somehow get a satisfaction out from it especially when I am very determined and aiming for victory. B. Spending Time with my Family Spending time with my family always makes me happy because when I am with them, I feel at home, peaceful and comfortable and all my worries seems to disappear. C. Getting High Grades Getting high grades makes me feel happy because I feel proud of myself as it somehow reflects all the hard work I have done and it makes me feel happy knowing that I achieved something great. D. Going to New Places Discovering something new and going to new places makes me happy because I love exploring and I’m excited when I learn or experience something new. E. Buying New Books I always love getting new books because I am an avid fan of books especially sci-fi, romance, documentaries, action and fantasy thus I am happy when I get to buy books because I get excited especially when I use my imagination and I am able to learn a lot of interesting facts and new ideas. Ranking of the 5 Things/Non-things that Make me Happy 1st: Spending Time with Family 2nd: Getting High Grades 3rd: Going to New Places 4th: Buying Books 5th: Winning Games or Contests What makes one higher than the other? I ranked the things that make me happy according to the level of impact, meaning and importance they manifest in my life. What I ranked first and ranked the highest is spending time with my family. Bonding with them, make me feel protected, reassured and feels like I am home. I feel complete when I am with them and it makes my heart full and happy. Even if I don’t have any luxuries but as long as I am with them, I can go through with anything. The second in rank getting high grades because this focuses primarily on myself and my abilities. Getting a high grade is an achievement, but for me, family is still more important than getting high grades. I can always try again when I don’t get the grades I want. But being away from my family is more devastating than getting a failing grade. What I rank in third is going to new places because discovering new things gives me the thrill and excitement. I rank it higher than getting new books because setting out in new areas and making adventures give me more hype than getting new books. Fourth is buying new books. It also gives me happiness as it provides me meaningful contributions as it gives me more knowledge and for that reasons, books makes me happy. Trying out new books enhances my intellectual ability and creative side. But I ranked it lower than going to new places because I find it more fun to go out in person rather than just staying at home. Last in rank is winning games I find this the least thing that gives a meaningful impact and contribution to my well-being. Winning gives me happiness because it’s a reward for my efforts of doing my best but the satisfaction or joy that I feel only lasts a short while and does not linger on as time goes. Besides, I know that winning is not everything, but I am still happy when I win at some things, even if it only gives me a momentary satisfaction. I listed all the things and non-things where I find joy and happiness in achieving or getting all of these. One of the basis for my rankings of such things that give me happiness is how they give my life more meaning and how they contribute to my well-being as I continue to grow and develop. Feeling emotions of happiness should not be a momentary feeling rather, it should be something of which experiencing such happiness would give a positive impact and contribute to the development and well-being of a person. That is why, spending time with my family was ranked first because the feeling of comfort and happiness is not just momentary but stays in the heart. This is followed by the getting of high grades as for me, this is an achievement and I can also make my parents proud when I get these high grades. Making my parents proud also means happiness to me. Getting high grades also motivates me to do more and thus contributes positively to my will and determination. Then lastly, it is followed by the leisure things which are going to new places, buying books and winning games. All these things also give me happiness but I ranked this in the lower part because these things only provide me with happiness at the time when I actually do them or buy them. Happiness for me means fulfillment. Thus, feeling happy should not just be a simple goal or should not only be treated as a simple emotion quenched by leisure and material things. It should be of meaning, contributes to development and finding comfort in simple little things. Spending time with families, achieving something and doing what we love, those things drive us forward as we reach our goals. Therefore, happiness is not just found anywhere. Happiness comes to us when we see the actual value of things and find fulfillment in it.
