Happiness is... Definition of “Happiness” for an essay. The meaning of the word "happiness"

Happiness Singular, nominative case, inanimate, neuter.

1. A state of absolute satisfaction with life, a feeling of highest pleasure and joy. 2. a) Success, luck. b) A happy accident, a happy coincidence. 2. predicative 3. About the state of being very good. 4. About luck, luck accompanying someone. Dictionary by Efremova T.F.

1. The feeling and state of complete, highest satisfaction. S. creation. Pursuit of happiness. Family village 2. Success, luck. In everything s. to whom^n. There would have been no happiness, but misfortune helped (ate). * Fortunately or luckily, enter, ate. - expresses satisfaction about something. For good luck - 1) enter, eat., the same as for good luck. Luckily for me, everything ended well; 2) to have luck. Give me your hand for luck. Your (mine, his, etc.) happiness is that... (colloquial) - you (me, him, etc.) are lucky that... Your happiness is that everything turned out well. Dictionary of Ozhegov S.I.

1. Happiness, 1. A state of contentment, well-being, joy from the fullness of life, from satisfaction with life. And with the happiness of the people, joy began to bloom in villages and towns. Ryleev. Give me freedom, I will find happiness myself! Bratnsky. He sang the embodiment of people's happiness. Nekrasov. The question of personal happiness is not simple. Mayakovsky. “I have been reigning peacefully for six years now.” But there is no happiness for my soul. Pushkin. He boasts of his womanly happiness. Chekhov. Murashkina beamed with happiness. Chekhov. Live in happiness. You are obliged to make the woman you love happy. A. Ostrvsky. 2. The same as the embodiment of the feeling of love. And happiness was so possible. Pushkin. Habit has been given to us from above, it is a substitute for happiness. Pushkin. I wander around the world without love, without happiness. A. Koltsov. 2. success, luck (mostly random). The sun doesn't shine forever, happiness doesn't always shine. Nekrasov. There would be no happiness, but misfortune would help. Proverb. He has no happiness in the game. 3. Fate, share, fate (colloquial, regional). To each his own happiness. Proverb. We are so lucky to be on the bridge with a cup. Proverb. 4. Im. n. happiness used as well as the predicate of the main sentence in meaning. very good, extremely pleasant (colloquial). Yes! lucky to have a son like that. Griboyedov. I'm happy that everything worked out so well. І have happiness with inf. - see have in 6 digits. To (my, yours, etc.) happiness or fortunately (for me, you, etc.) or for (mine, yours, etc.) happiness - used. in meaning an introductory word when expressing satisfaction about something, to indicate luck, success. Where to go? Fortunately, dry oak caught my eye. Krylov. Luckily for me, the suitcase with the rest of my things remained intact. Lrmnt. The blizzard, fortunately for us, has subsided. For someone's happiness - to have luck, to be lucky (with the help of someone). Give me your hand for luck. Try to cast a net for luck on Petrovo. A. Maikov. Fortunately - the same as fortunately. Luckily, the crane happened to be close here. Krylov. My happiness (yours, his, etc.) is that... - it turned out well for me (you, him, etc.). You are lucky that you arrived on time. Dictionary by Ushakov D.N.

The concept of "HAPPINESS"

HAPPINESS
is a human state that corresponds to the greatest internal satisfaction with one’s life, a feeling of deep contentment and joy.
HAPPINESS is
a category of ethics and the concept of moral consciousness, with the help of which the feeling and state of complete, highest satisfaction with life is designated.
The content of happiness is determined by a person’s life goals, therefore, by his ideas about the meaning of life. Happiness is, first of all, the awareness and feeling of one’s own life as a life filled with meaning. What is a person's happiness? Over the centuries, many happy people have shared with us their definitions and personal understanding of happiness. For example, Nikolai Alekseevich Tolstoy gave an interesting definition of happiness. “Happiness,” he wrote, is a feeling of completeness of one’s physical and spiritual powers in their social use.”
The concept of happiness in its most general form denotes the most complete embodiment of human destiny in individual destinies. Happiness is not associated with any particular type or area of ​​activity. You cannot be happy in one respect and at the same time unhappy in some others. The concept of happiness does not simply characterize a certain position or state of a person, but expresses an idea of ​​what a person’s life should be like, what exactly is bliss for him. Therefore, this concept has a normative-value character. Depending on how the purpose and meaning of human life is interpreted, the content of happiness is also understood.

Happiness has many aspects. Polish researcher V. Tatarkiewicz identified four main meanings of the concept of happiness:

1) favor of fate, luck, successful life, luck; 2) a state of intense joy; 3) possession of the highest benefits, an overall positive balance of life; 4) feeling of satisfaction with life.

Happiness is both objective and subjective. A person can be healthy, rich, loved, creatively successful, but still feel unhappy. Conversely, a beggar and homeless person can feel quite happy and have an easy and good-natured attitude towards reality. He can be subjectively happy, despite the objective vicissitudes of fate.

A person’s achievement of meaningful and everyday goals, unexpected joy, success, and recognition arising in his life are usually perceived by him as a state of happiness, the desire for which people have unlimited. A person’s happiness is most determined by the characteristics of his moral ideal, the values ​​of which have been achieved. Mostly, a person’s state of happiness is episodic, since achieved goals are the source of the formation of new goals, determined both by the development of a person’s ideas about the priorities of life, and by historical changes in the conditions of life itself. At the same time, some people are able to transform the state of happiness into a permanent moral quality, into the ability to always find reasons for maintaining a feeling of happiness. It should also be noted that in society there are people who under no circumstances experience a state of happiness.

In the history of ethics, three main generalized positions have emerged on the issue of defining happiness.

The first position associates happiness with the stable, long-term possession of some higher good or goods. The differences lie in what particular goods underlie happiness. In different societies at different periods of history, different types of good come to the fore. The ancient sages saw happiness in possessing the blessings of equanimity and contemplation. For people immersed in everyday life, happiness can be associated with the benefits of everyday life. Moreover, happiness, in contrast to simple satisfaction, presupposes the possession of these goods, as it were, above the average level. Happiness is measured by superlatives.

The second position connects happiness with the idea of ​​luck, fortune, and a happy coincidence of circumstances. Happiness-luck is understood as the easiest path possible, not burdened with obstacles, as a natural and favorable confluence of events.

According to the third position, happiness —

very powerful, deeply impressive positive experiences that leave an imprint on the entire subsequent life of a person (moments of creativity, love, visiting a temple, communicating with nature, etc.).
Western philosopher and psychologist Abraham Maslow called these moments “peak experiences” —states
of pure joy, complete and valuable in their own right. The world appears at such moments as a harmonious whole. Peak experiences do not last very long. This is a “situational achievement, peak, pinnacle.” They come and go, remaining in people's memory as the best.

Is it possible to achieve happiness outside of God and without God?

Man's desire for God is inherent in his nature at creation. This means that outside of His Creator, man will not be able to fully satisfy his natural and personal aspirations. It is God who is the inexhaustible Source of goods, the Source of happiness, bliss, and it is in Him that a person can find real, eternal happiness.

Living at a distance from God, a person, of course, can experience pleasure, even something similar to the highest happiness that saints experience, for example, in love. However, even in this case, satisfaction will not be exhaustive, and happiness will not be complete (see: Pleasure).

As for satisfaction with material goods or sensual pleasures, they are even less like the happiness of saints.

Thus, King Solomon, who seemed to possess all the earthly blessings that a man of his time could dream of (fame, wealth, wives, respect), nevertheless asserted: vanity of vanities, all is vanity (Eccl. 12:8).

Let us remember that during the Transfiguration of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Apostle Peter, who felt contact with God, immediately forgot about all his earthly worries and sorrows, wanting to remain on the mountain, with His God, which, in fact, was expressed in the words: “Lord! It’s good for us to be here; If you want, we will make three tabernacles (tents) here: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah” (Matthew 17:4). On Orthodox icons, the general state of eyewitnesses to the Transfiguration is expressed in the positions of their bodies (they are often written upside down, upside down), and in gestures and facial expressions.

Any worldly pleasure is incomplete (flawed, not comprehensive), short-lived (quickly satiating), selfish, and often harmful.

***

Formula for happiness according to psychologists

In a psychologist's office, the request to be happy is one of the most common. But since all people are different and their concepts of happiness are different, each work with a client is purely individual.

And yet, experts identify similar criteria for happiness :

1. well-being;
2. good quality of life;
3. satisfaction.

These three components are present in the description of a person’s state when he evaluates himself as happy. A prosperous marriage, the ability to be yourself, a career, relationships - all of this in one way or another contributes to assessing your life as good and satisfactory.

True, this assessment is subjective, hence the differences in the client’s “testimonies”. For example, some women dream of their husband becoming a millionaire, while others want him to exist at all. Some men see themselves happy only if they become a big boss, while others simply want to enjoy work at any rank. It seems to be about the same thing, but in different ways.

American psychologists have developed a formula that can be used to determine how happy a person can be:

1. 50% of the ability to be happy is determined by the hereditary factor;
2. 10% depend on the outside world: people, situations, circumstances;
3. the remaining 40% of happiness comes from the activities we do daily.

Thus, it turns out that our happiness is only 40% dependent on ourselves. Oh, how! Here, willy-nilly, you will become a fatalist.

Why does happiness matter so much?

Why is happiness such an important aspect of life?
Many people believe that happiness matters but is not the primary goal. In a sense, the world of science agrees with such statements. However, life satisfaction, meaning and well-being are often closely related to happiness. Many scientists believe that people who are simply satisfied with their lives are more common than happy ones. Happiness is not a necessary goal.

However, happiness matters because it has a positive impact on many factors. June Silner, author and personal development coach, offers 14 answers to the question “What's so special about happiness?”

What can you say about happy people:

1. They are more successful in many areas of life, including marriage, friendships, income, professional life and health.
2. They are less likely to get sick and experience negative symptoms.
3. Have more friends and support from loved ones.
4. They are more likely to do charity (and those who give money to the poor or sick feel happier).
5. They are more likely to help others and become volunteers.
6. They overcome difficulties with great optimism. It eases pain, sadness and grief.
7. They have a positive influence on others, encourage, inspire and help other people become a little happier.
8. They have deeper and more serious conversations.
9. They smile more often, which has a positive effect on their health and the mood of others
10. Exercise more often and eat healthier foods.
11. They are happy with what they have and are less likely to experience envy.
12. They are healthier. They are much more likely to remain healthy in old age.
13. Happy people live longer.
14. They are more productive and creative. This effect extends to everyone who experiences positive emotions.

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What prevents us from being happy?

1. 
   What prevents a person from being happy, first of all, is his personal thinking and perception of life. After all, people think not only positively, but also negatively. Only positive thoughts can help a person find happiness and understand what it is.

2. By thinking negatively, a person can only lead himself to a dull life, where constant depression and disappointment will reign. You should know that, first of all, we create our own destiny and no thing, place or person we know can make us happy.
3. To get long-awaited happiness, you need to set yourself up in a positive way and appreciate every minute of life. Usually it does not last forever and is short-lived. Therefore, for life to be full of happiness, it is necessary to constantly fill it with warm relationships, devoted people, joyful moments and good deeds that bring pleasure and material benefits.

Principles

Having family and love are the principles of happiness

I invite you to consider what the principles of happiness are.

1. Health. A person cannot be truly happy if he has problems with well-being.
2. Presence of relatives. It is important to have someone in life with whom you can talk, consult, and receive support.
3. Love. A person must love and be loved. Without this you cannot be absolutely happy.
4. Freedom of choice, movement, decision making.
5. Your own home, family comfort. An individual will not be happy if there is no place in his life where he wants to return after work or come when he feels bad.
6. Dream. A happy person will be the one who has aspirations in life, even if now it seems unrealistic.

A number of conditions for a happy life are also considered.

1. You need to live for today, enjoying every moment. You shouldn’t think about what happened in the past, because nothing can be changed, and you also don’t need to worry about the future. Try to become better every day.
2. You need to think that you are already happy. It is unacceptable to drive yourself into negative emotions, experience stress, engage in self-criticism and self-criticism.
3. Control of mood and feelings. You need to learn to separate negative thinking from cheerful thoughts that allow you to be happy. An individual must program himself for positive emotions. Often, poor health is the result of negative thoughts, a signal from the body that it is time to change something in your inner world. Surely, many of you have noticed that if you are in a bad mood, when faced with even the smallest difficulties, a person experiences a state of extreme stress, weakness, and conviction of impending failure. When the mood is good, even serious problems seem like insignificant trifles.

The relationship between mental health and happiness

Based on this list, it's safe to say that happiness is directly related to mental health.
If happy people lead a healthy lifestyle, build good relationships with others, and achieve success in life, it becomes clear why mental health and happiness are so connected. Moreover, this relationship does not depend on a person’s gender, age or nationality.

The list of sources that will help increase the level of satisfaction with your own life includes everything that helps overcome mental illness and eliminate the negative consequences of all kinds of nervous disorders.

How to measure happiness: what residents of different countries say

Researchers studying the level of happiness annually conduct surveys of residents of countries with different levels of economic development. The survey results refute the common misconception that links happiness with economic stability. Residents of European countries occupy middle positions, with Costa Rica, Mexico, and Colombia taking first place. In these countries, the majority of residents live below the poverty line, but thanks to their specific worldview they know how to enjoy little things and remain positive. And this is precisely the main guarantee of happiness.

In Russia and other post-Soviet countries, residents lack money, stability, and love to feel happy. Correcting the first two indicators is very difficult, but the ability to love is available to everyone. The feeling of being in love, admiration, approval helps to increase the level of life satisfaction.

Sources of a happy life

Favorite job, friends - long-term sources of happiness

1. Base joys. For example, a situation when a person feels a surge of positive emotions after appropriating someone else’s thing. Also here we can consider cases when people set up their colleagues in order to obtain personal gain.
2. Instant sources. For example, when a certain individual is given a gift or flowers for no reason, a bonus is given. He is happy, but this state does not last long.
3. Long-term. These include good friends, a strong family, the opportunity to communicate with other people, having a job you love, and a hobby.
4. Eternal springs. This is self-respect, the presence of love, friendships.

To become happy you need to look inside yourself

Having agreed that happiness is within each of us, a person no longer needs to look for it outside. This state of affairs makes life much easier :

1. no one can take away your happiness, because it is within you;
2. only you decide whether you are happy or not, the world around you does not affect this in any way;
3. at any moment you can create within yourself any state that makes you happy;
4. you don’t have to go far, because the source is you.

How can happiness be discovered: what should I feel, feel and know in order to firmly say: “This is it”?

A happy person thinks something like this: “I am happy because:

1. Today I woke up and can see, hear, speak;
2. I accept myself with all my shortcomings and merits, because I have the right to be who I am;
3. I also have the right to any of my feelings and emotions - I am honest with myself and others;
4. I have the opportunity to take care of my body - the temple of the soul: I can feed it deliciously, dress it beautifully and take care of it;
5. I don’t have to be perfect: others may not like me, because they have the right to do so;
6. I am surrounded by good, decent people, because I can choose my environment.”

If you can try the above reasoning while feeling comfortable and calm, most likely you are a happy person . After all, then you don’t need to run for the tenth fur coat or a new brand of car to prove your importance to the world - you value and accept the real you.

Wrong paths to happiness

If we adhere to the interpretation of Plato and Aristotle, which states that happiness is within us, then the following things clearly are not:

1. Materialism - a car, an apartment, fur coats, gold and other material values ​​cannot make a person happy if he is dissatisfied with himself personally and therefore emits only negative energy.
   Imagine that you bought an expensive thing that you have been dreaming about for a long time. The pleasure of purchasing it will last relatively short time. When the emotions subside, you will become unhappy again until you buy something else.

   This will happen ad infinitum until a person understands that harmony can only be found within oneself;

2. Feelings also cannot be called happiness. The pleasure of sexual pleasures, delicious food, and a pleasant massage is temporary. The concept of situational joy is more suitable here;
3. Knowledge — constantly filling your brain with various information, no matter how useful it may be, will also not bring the desired happiness.
   The Internet is overloaded with books, articles, online trainings, webinars with flashy titles “How to become happy”, “10 steps to become happy”, “Only 3 things you need to be happy”, etc.

   But none of this will give you the desired result, because there is no equal sign between knowledge and happiness. There are millions of truly smart, well-read individuals, geniuses in the world who are deeply unhappy within themselves.

On the other hand, experiencing a lack of funds to provide yourself with minimal comfort, it is difficult to experience harmony. Without receiving pleasant sensations (from food, good weather, a beautiful picture, a partner), it is also difficult to feel completely satisfied with life.

However, when you exceed the threshold of what is necessary in all this, you will not see a qualitative difference from further growth (your well-being, a bouquet of sensations or new knowledge). More likely, satiety will set in . Therefore, everything described above is needed only in the necessary quantities for a comfortable existence (without looking at how others live around).

Happy is not the one who has a lot, but the one who has enough.

The path to happiness

Saint Nektarios of Aegina

How mistaken are those people who seek happiness outside themselves - in foreign countries and travels, in wealth and fame, in great possessions and pleasures, in pleasures and excess and in empty things that end in bitterness! Building a tower of happiness outside our heart is like building a house in a place that is subject to constant earthquakes. Very soon such a building will collapse...

Brothers and sisters! Happiness lies within ourselves, and blessed is the one who understands this. Test your heart and observe its spiritual state. Perhaps you have lost your boldness before the Lord? Perhaps conscience denounces the transgression of His commandments? Maybe she denounces you for injustice, for lies, for failure to fulfill our duties to God and neighbor? Experience, perhaps, evil and passions have filled your heart; perhaps it has deviated onto crooked and impassable paths...

Unfortunately, the one who neglected his heart was deprived of all blessings and fell into many evils. He expelled joy and was filled with bitterness, sadness and spiritual distress. Banished the world and acquired depression, anxiety and horror. He expelled love and found hatred. And finally, he expelled all the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit that he acquired at his baptism, and became akin to all the atrocities that make a person miserable and damned.

Brothers and sisters! The most merciful God wants happiness for all of us both in this life and in the next. For this purpose, He founded His holy Church, so that it would cleanse us from sin, so that it would sanctify us, reconcile us with Him and give us heavenly blessing.

The Church always has open arms for us. Let us all, whose conscience is burdened, hurry into them quickly. Let us hurry, and the Church will lift the weight of our burden, give us boldness towards God, and fill our hearts with happiness and bliss.

***

“We are used to calling something external happiness... But it is not outside, but within us, in a state of spirit that is gratifying, joyful, and well-dissolved.” “If it pleases the Lord and is not harmful to a person, then external happiness is given.” St. Feofan the Recluse

“Such is the human race, such is human happiness: it is like the most inconspicuous traces of a ship, which cut in front and disappear behind!” “Love-wisdom knows how to do both—to use happiness in moderation, and to maintain decency in adversity.” St. Gregory the Theologian

“Beloved Christian! May people prosper in the happiness of this world. You will be quite happy when you have happiness within yourself. This is true, immovable and inalienable happiness!” “Happiness for people is to have strong people as protectors and helpers. For a Christian, happiness is to have God as your Protector and Helper. “Blessed is the man whose protection is with You, O God!” “This is true happiness and true bliss, which neither fire, nor water, nor prison, nor exile, nor captivity, nor cunning, nor human malice, nor death can take away. “If God is for us, who can be against us” (Rom. 8:31)? St. Tikhon Zadonsky

“Man, having confessed himself to be a slave and a creation of God, having surrendered himself entirely to the will of God, immediately enters with his whole being into the realm of holy Truth. Truth brings the right mood to the spirit and life. He who has ascended to the realm of Truth, who has submitted to the Truth, receives moral and spiritual freedom, receives moral and spiritual happiness. This freedom and this happiness do not depend on people and circumstances.” St. Ignatiy Brianchaninov

“If the mere contemplation of (Divine) glory (at the Transfiguration of the Lord) filled the disciples (Jesus) with bliss, then what should be the happiness of a person who has achieved close and sincere unity with God to such a degree that the Lord dwells in him, permeating his entire being with His rays unfading glory, which seems to flow from a person sanctified and enlightened by His presence! This is the highest happiness: in unity with God, which makes a person a partaker of the Divine glory.” Ep. Vasily Kineshemsky

All cultures can be divided into soteriological (from the Greek - salvation) and hedonistic (from the Greek - pleasure). Happiness is usually chosen by people at three ascending levels: bodily pleasure, mental well-being or involvement in the highest, the Absolute. Happiness is in love for God and for man... Love is a synonym for happiness, and since we all strive for happiness, we must strive to cultivate love in ourselves. While we are choked by dullness, despondency, loneliness, hostility, hatred. But He Who is Love can teach us. prot. Alexander Men

The root of the word happiness is “part.” Happiness. A happy person is a person who lives with a part of something, has some part. Part of some Good. The good is common to all. Universal. Worldwide. Immeasurable. Inexhaustible Good. And this Good is God! Truly happy - having a common part with God. Living in God. And the closer a person is to God, the happier he is. In Orthodoxy, instead of the concept of happiness, the more specific concept of bliss is used. Through communion and acquisition of the Holy Spirit, a Christian becomes a partaker of God: “Abide in Me, and I in you” (John 15:4). This is real, timeless, eternal happiness, which begins in this world, but is fully achieved in the Kingdom of Heaven. It has nothing to do with the philistine concept of “happiness.” In the Bible there are reflections on the search for happiness “under the sun”, i.e. in our world are contained in the book of Ecclesiastes or Preacher. See details.

The Lord sets us a task: to be happy. Happy in this life and in the next. It is clear to everyone that current happiness is nothing if it does not continue. The Savior opens His Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5) with the “beatitudes”, “makarisms”: each verse begins with the word Blessed, in Greek makarii, which exactly translated into Russian means happy . But what is happiness? Continue reading the Sermon on the Mount, and you will see that Christ refutes the usual stereotypes. He calls happy not the proud, but the poor in spirit, that is, the humble, not satisfied, but hungry and thirsty for truth, not winners, but peacemakers... Happiness, of course, is subjective, that is, it ultimately depends on what is in me, in my soul. However, we understand well that “the search for happiness within ourselves” is an absolutely rotten and disastrous business: after all, our soul is not free from sin... Hence the conclusion is very simple and definite: happiness is possible and achievable only with Christ, on the path to Him and beyond Nim. Hieromonk Macarius (Markish)

Do you know what the biggest cause of unhappiness is? It is a constant search for happiness. Happiness is life with God. Everything else is as God wills. Because our life after the Fall in this sinful, sin-soaked world is not a place of rest, but a place of achievement. Archimandrite Melchizedek (Artyukhin)

How to increase your personal happiness

Happiness is understood as a complex of important life components:

• absence of intrapersonal and interpersonal conflicts;
• the presence of harmonious relationships;
• improving professional qualities;
• expanding your social circle;
• achieving your goals.

Happiness is both a situational state and an enduring feeling. Its definition is always subjective: a person names his own definition of happiness, based on individual desires. Conventionally, it can be defined as a balance between all areas of life.

There is no universal recipe for achieving balance that suits everyone. But psychologists and personal growth coaches agree that altruism helps you get closer to a sense of inner harmony. Selflessly caring for others helps you feel a sense of belonging. How an individual sees his role in society depends on the sense of belonging and necessity: whether he has a chance to start a family, make close friends, and realize himself in society.

Personal happiness is not a process, but a feeling. Happy individuals say that to realize happiness, it is enough to accept it as a constant internal state. But this simple understanding is often preceded by a long path of self-development.

Definition of happiness in the Oxford Dictionary

First, we need to understand the term “happiness.”
The Oxford Dictionary offers the following definition: “The state in which a person feels happy.” This definition doesn't fully explain the main point, so it's worth digging a little deeper.

The Oxford Dictionary's definition of "happy" is a little more specific: "The feeling or display of pleasure or joy."

That is, happiness is a state in which a person experiences joy or pleasure.

Several main points can be highlighted from this definition:

1. Happiness is a state, not a character trait. In other words, this is not a long-term, unchanging personality characteristic, but a fleeting, changing state.
2. Happiness is equated with a feeling of pleasure and joy. It should not be confused with fun, ecstasy, bliss or other stronger feelings.
3. Happiness can be felt or demonstrated. However, this does not mean that happiness is necessarily an internal or external experience; it can cover both sides: experience and expression.

By analyzing it, we can better understand the concept of happiness, or at least the explanation provided in the Oxford Dictionary.
However, this definition cannot be called exhaustive. The discussion about the essence of this concept can be continued. Earning directly affects happiness