Guest Post: What Makes Me Happy

Hey guys! My friend Vicki is going to guest post on my blog today! Check out her blog at www.societalshowdown.blogspot.com <--- check it out! Her blog is about different ways societies come together and grow apart. Anyway, here is her post. Enjoy!

 "Everyone deserves, and should have, one thing or activity that makes them completely happy. For some that happiness comes in the form of prayer, perhaps playing tennis, maybe sitting and talking with your mom, or even just waking up to the smell of coffee. However, everyone should have one simple activity, which makes you completely happy. I’d like to explain something that I do that makes me completely happy, and that thing is garage sale-ing, as is the proper name for it. Garage sale-ing takes me to a nostalgic place - perhaps the reason why I’m so blissfully happy when my mom asks me when I wake up on a Saturday morning, “want to go to a garage sale?”

Let me explain.

For as long as I can remember, my mom and I wake up early every Saturday morning during the summer and go to local garage sales. Sometimes it’s just one, but on the jack-pot weekends we go to five or six. Thursday’s afterschool my mom and I scan and scrutinize the local paper for upcoming garage sales and then map out each of our stops. We decide which sales we will hit first based on its relative closeness and how good the description of its goods sounds. A garage sale ad including items like tools, furniture, car parts, etc. gets low-priority, but ads with descriptions like household goods, knickknacks, and miscellaneous are bound to get a top spot.

My mom began garage sale-ing with her mom when she was a kid, and so it was with my mom and I. Garage sale-ing has become a type of tradition, with each ritual being carried out every Saturday morning in the summer.

Garage sale-ing is more than finding a good deal on something; it’s finding the gem amongst piles of rubble and the surge of excitement you feel when you know you’ve found something good. I can’t imagine the thousands of dollars we have saved by garage sale-ing, but the best is coming home with each new good and finding a way to repurpose it in our house. As I look around my kitchen, I notice all of the things we have collected over the years and putting them all together to create a home.

Part of the happiness and joy I get from garage sale-ing comes from the fact that I get to spend so much time with my mom and doing something that we both equally love. The other part comes from the excitement of buying an old antique item with a story behind it or just finding something really unique and interesting. One of my best finds was an old, engraved jewelry box with oriental details marked at $6. It wasn’t until a few years after I bought the jewelry box, I discovered a small gold and jade ring in a hidden compartment of the box – a true deal-busting find.

Even if I were a multi-billionaire, I’d continue to garage sale, and that’s simply because I love doing it. So, readers, what’s that one simple thing that brings you happiness? Happiness can be such a complex word with so many different meanings and connotations, but it’s pretty simple to sense the joy in going to a garage sale with your mom on a summer Saturday morning."

Happiness in Helping Others = Harm?

Recently, there has been much hype about KONY 2012, especially with their awareness video, which has gone viral.

I first heard of the Invisible Children organization when they first came to my school to give the school a presentation on the LRA and the current effects of the issue. When I saw the video, I felt helpless. How can I help their predicament? However, if I could do something, I’d gladly do it. At that moment, the only solution IC had provided was donating money to the booth right outside the auditorium by buying the IC shirts, bracelets, stickers, etc. In order to feel like I at least did SOMETHING to help, I donated the ten bucks I brought for lunch that day.

Did I feel better that I helped? Well, kind of. I’ve always been frustrated with the fact that “help” somehow magically boils down to throwing money at an organization, but I felt somewhat better that I could help.

However, now that I look back at what I did, what I did was unbelievably naive.

Not that any of what I did was necessarily “bad,” but I was basically a fool to get sucked in a sappy story, get emotional, and donate everything I had that day. Sorry, that’s harsh, but in essence, it’s what happened.

I did not once reflect if indeed the proceeds are going where they are suppose to go? Are the proceeds being used to the best of its abilities? And most important question of all, can it actually HARM someone?

This is the problem that many people face. And Folks, I don’t blame you. However, I urge you to take everything with a grain of salt. Here is a letter from Ugandan Amber Ha to the Founder of IC, who gives another perspective of the issue and outlines the major flaws of IC.

She mentions things that weren’t even shown in the original KONY 2012 video! She mentions the atrocities of the Ugandan government, and how the LRA was initially a rebellion against the government. She talks about some of the progress, the lapse of time, and the relative change in events. She talks about how Ugandans feel that IC might hurt them more than help them by bringing more instability to a region of current relative peace.

Some valid questions did come to my mind: Why wasn’t the issue being redirected to the Ugandan government? If Ha’s word’s are true, then why is IC continuing to expand its campaign? Will all things bad come to an end with the murder of Kony (which is actually pronounced Ko-en by Acholi people)?

In a discussion in my Current Events class, these questions were raised. I learned that Ugandan President Museveni is indeed responsible for the accused crimes against humanity, however, his political decisions haven’t necessarily displayed his wrong-doings to the public. It’s also interesting that the U.S. supports Museveni politically, and in fact has sent troops to help Ugandan government to get rid of LRA (which was started because of the government itself). Interesting, Huh?

Neither am I advocating Ha’s position, nor am I saying IC is good or bad: all I’m saying is knowing one side of an issue, a story, a life, or simply ANYTHING is absolutely dangerous. You don’t know the whole issue, until you get all perspectives on it. On Ha’s tumblr, I found an interesting TED talk about the danger of one story. PLEASE DO WATCH IT. Her words, her experiences, her ideas are absolutely amazing. (Btw, this is my favorite TED.) She alerts us that the knowledge of only one side of the story is the reason why judgements, stereotypes, and increasing misunderstandings are born.

Don’t fall for anything at cost value. Think twice before hearing/seeing something. Find as many sides to the argument and question reality, because things may not be as they seem.

P.S. Also, Just food for thought, Would you ever wear a shirt that said, "Hitler 1940" ? Does a criminal really need fame ? Is THAT fighting or fueling the problem ? ...

The Little Things in Life

As a high school senior looking back at my high school experience, the thing that stand out to me are people, events, and things I would have never expected to stand out. NEVER.

I expected my high school memories to consist of the biggest and most obvious parts of my life. However, this reflection was a mirror of the smallest, some of the stupidest, unexpected, unplanned and, most of all, fun-filled moments of my life. I remember the smallest things that gave me extreme happiness, which again, I never really expected.

This reflection was a bit of an "aha" moment for me and true realization of the utterly clichéed saying that happiness is in the journey, not something you get at your destination. Looking back, the smallest and most surprising moments were the ones that were filled with happiness; they're the things that stand out.

All these thoughts reminded me of a video we watched in our sophomore English class, a video that inspires me to cherish each moment we all have, no matter how insignificant it may seem, and make the most of them (because that just might be the moment we'll always remember.)

Happiness...is the background of this blog?

(Disclaimer: The background of this blog may or may not load if you're reading from an Ipad, phone, etc.)

This might be a relatively unnecessary post in relation to my other blogposts, but I spent about two hours trying to choose a better theme, layout, and background for this blog yesterday.

"Cool Story, Bro," might probably be your reaction, as was the voice of my alter ego, however, the complexity in choosing a background that might define happiness to everybody was a a bit fascinating to me.

Even though I was on a time crunch, I decided to take the time out to choose how to best represent my theme of happiness? Should it be about what I think happiness is? Or should it be about what you think happiness is? And if it should, then how am I to decide what your definition of happiness is? (How would I even know what your definitions is? Do you know your definition of happiness?)

Looking at the futility and unnecessary over-analyzation of my questions, I decided to choose something somewhat universal or something y'all might be able to relate to.

I thought of choosing a background of a person in the "Namaste" pose, doing yoga. Yoga and meditation are activities that many people find happiness in, right? But does that reflect the definition of happiness in everyone's daily life? Well, maybe. Eh. Not my fav.

What about a background picture of a candlelight with a dark maroon background? It's very peaceful, right? The single candle represents a ray of happiness in the dark maroon background color of life, right? Well, no. Life isn't (or at least shouldn't be) as black/as morbid as the picture portrayed it to be and there isn't only one ray of happiness in life (at least there shouldn't be), there are multiple things that bring us small or large moments of happiness.

How about a nice nature-y picture. A picture with delicate white flowers. It's pleasing to the eyes...but that seemed like that was it. It wasn't that bad of an option, but then I asked myself, why not the current background I had chosen?

Well, there's...uh...uhm....well...there's...I guess there's really nothing... wrong, in my opinion. Take a look at it. Happiness, indeed, is as abstract as the canvas of my blog. The strokes of happiness in our lives are as unexpectedly abstract, some more heavy (dark) with happiness, some small and light, and some mixed with random similar colors in order to achieve what we thought would make that pink color of happiness, but it wasn't quite what we imagined. We all want to get a pretty pink canvas full of happiness, but our tragedies, our mistakes, our successes, our stupidities, our relations, our being human never really allows us to do so. But at the end, it turns out to be a unique piece of art, regardless of the fact whether you appreciate it or not.

I mean I could go on. Or I could be wrong, to you. Maybe you don't see it. Maybe you see it a different way. Maybe it's just an abstract background. Whatever it is, IT is now the reflection of my theme: happiness.

It’s true folks: Money can’t buy happiness

An interesting study was conducted, showing a correlation between income and the rate of depression. It's actually quite interesting, as I initially guessed that a person in a third-world country would be more depressed due to the lack of financial security than the wealthier person living in western countries. However, my hypothesis completely contradicted a survey, which was completed July 27, 2011.

Of the 18 countries that were surveyed, about 15% of the population in the top ten wealthiest countries were suffering from or had been diagnosed in the past with depression. On the other hand, only about 11% of the population in the developing countries suffered from depression.

The following is a breakdown of the surveyed countries:

From High-income:

• Japan: 6.6 percent
• Germany: 9.9 percent
• Italy: 9.9 percent
• Israel: 10.2 percent
• Spain: 10.6 percent
• Belgium: 14.1 percent
• New Zealand: 17.8 percent
• Netherlands: 17.9 percent
• United States: 19.2 percent
• France: 21 percent

From Low- and middle-income:

• China: 6.5 percent
• Mexico: 8 percent
• India: 9 percent
• South Africa: 9.8 percent
• Lebanon: 10.9 percent
• Colombia: 13.3 percent
• Ukraine: 14.6 percent
• Brazil: 18.4 percent

These statistics definitely caught me by surprise. How are richer countries trending towards depression? Shouldn’t they be happier because of all the comfort money can buy? According to the Huffington Post, the reason for this depression is.... jealousy! Yes, jealousy! In richer societies, there seems to be a level of competition to be rich, while in the developing countries, that sort of pressure isn’t as prevalent as everyone around seems to be going through the same financial circumstances.

In addition to the wealthier being more prone to depression, women are generally twice as likely than men to be prone to depression. There is a direct relation between gender inequality and women’s depression, as shown below in a 2010 chart projecting the percentages of women depression.

Living in the western world, I can definitely see the effect of competition: everybody wants to be THE best. However, this is obviously taking a toll on people's mental health, and even physical health. While being the best might be important, it's also important to realize when competition is taking over your life and happiness.

Here's my two-cents: Even if you believe in reincarnation, you're going to live THIS life once: YOLO! So don't make it miserable. Re-evaluate your decisions in life. Is what you're doing making you happy? If not, then friends, you're doing life wrong. Change your thinking. Do YOUR best. Someone is ALWAYS going to be smarter than you, prettier than you, [insert adj here] than you, but no one is going to be YOU. As my grandma tells me, "You don't have to be THE best, just do your best, and be happy with what you have." That doesn't mean don't stop trying. It just means the only person you should compare yourself and try to be better than is the person who you are today, and be happy with your best.

P.S: If you truly are the Western person described in the study, and the above doesn't convince you, then the following quote might: "The best revenge is happiness, because nothing drives people more crazy than seeing someone actually living a good life."

When your world seems to end...

The topic I’m going to talk about is a topic I hate, but many of my readers have asked me to write on heart-breaks, as they feel that there’s no chance for happiness after it. Well, my friends, to start off, you’re definitely wrong.

When it comes to two people really liking each other, I’ll literally be the first person rooting for the couple-even if I don’t like them very much, or even if they're fictional characters-but I feel like there’s nothing more wonderful than when two people have that mutual feeling. On the other end, there’s also nothing more painful, even for me to watch as a spectator, for those two to break up. (I’m not even kidding-I seriously won’t want to watch a movie with that plot line.) For me to watch the loss of something that was so special and intimate, it’s just painful.

The situation is grim and depressing, so when you say you’ll never be happy again or you feel your world is ending-I feel ya, but as Rick Ross put it,”Regardless of how it goes down, Life goes on.” Okay, I know what you’re thinking. Honestly, I hate clicheed quotes thrown at me like this also; I don’t feel they help at the moment, but they do have some value when you take a few minutes to analyze it.

You can choose to mope, be sad, or simply wait patiently, in remembrance of a person, but if happiness is your goal, that most probably won’t be the best way to achieve it. Also, it helps to take life a day at a time. Let's say today was the last day to live, would you want to spend it happy or sad?

The path to your goal of happiness is strength. It takes strength to overcome grief. It takes strength to acknowledge your feelings from any type of loss:unrequited love, death, heart break, etc. Some people don’t want to find that strength.

For those who think this is the end-that is not true, in fact, it’s time to write the next and most beautiful chapter in your life yet. It might take time to realize you want that strength and finding that strength may be difficult, but the best thing you could do for yourself is learn to grow from your experiences. Think of things that might have gone wrong. Acknowledge that you and your significant other are human. There might have been mistakes made and it’s OKAY to make mistakes; it’s the only way you’ll learn not to repeat them in the future. This will only make for a better future for you! :) Strength also comes faster when you have a great support system. To get out of your low mood, get out there and enjoy a great time with your friends and family. Take up dancing or painting classes, read, give yourself a treat to the spa-Take care of yourself, improve yourself and have fun! Keep yourself surrounded and busy! Do things you love! Focus on yourself rather than anyone else, because you can do that best. Most importantly-Carry yourself with confident swag. Find your style and don’t be afraid to be who you are. Smile and let your confidence radiate and shine! Let everyone know, including yourself, that you’re happy no matter what and your happiness is not dependent on anybody, but you!

Valentine's Day: Hallmark Creating the False Definition of Happiness

You could count me in on the bandwagon: To a certain extent, I, too, believe that Valentine’Day has become a “Hallmark Holiday”.

Don’t get me wrong, I guess it’s a great day for couples to rejoice and go through the ritualistic motions of giving flowers, candy, presents, and going on a romantic date. Besides the fact that such emotions, sentiments, and expressions of love shouldn’t just be an annual event, I don’t think it’s that bad of a day for couples necessarily, but the over-excessive bombardment of the idea of “being with your significant other” makes the day almost blind to the many other lovely people in your life for many people.

One of the most complaints I hear of this day, is how especially aware people are of their relationship status if they’re not in a relationship-resulting in joke of a day, “anti-valentine” sentiments, or a straight-up “kick-it” night for those who can’t handle the idea of being single on this day or are made especially lonely by this hallmark holiday. This money makin’ scheme might have succeeded, but it seems to me that this holiday has become depressing for those who aren’t in a blossoming relationships-and no, I’m not only talking about “the single ladies.”

Besides funny statuses like, “RIP to all the virginities to be lost tonight LOL” and “hopeful” statuses like, “God looked down on you and said I’m saving this one for a special someone,” it was interesting to hear a different perspective. My mother, a nurse, works at a nursing home and told me how she found one of her geriatric patients crying on Valentine’s Day. She was crying in remembrance of the past and how she used to spend every Valentine’s Day together with their children, always planning something special for the six children. Today, it’s been years since her husband passed away and her six kids have dumped her at a nursing home, rarely calling-even on annual events like Valentine’s Day, which was a special family event for her.

Stories like these are what makes me think that Valentine’s Day has turned into more of a selfish event than the selfless day of expressing your love. It’s become more about the “significant other,” than your family, your friends-and when the day gives single people to really care for those other loved people in their lives, they feel especially depressed and lonely about not being “loved,” blind to all the love that truly surrounds them.

Some, who can’t deal with the fact of being single, go on and decide to get themselves into some bad…sh-tuff. For those souls, I’d recommend watching this video. Actually, it's a good one for everybody-watch it.

So folks, I urge you to be thankful of what you have. Imagine those friends, those family members, those people around you and evaluate the impact of their existence in your life. Now imagine if they were not in your life….Exactly, you most probably can’t. So, go on and appreciate the people around you. Just send a card or you can even by them flowers, like a nice member of our class did for the whole class. It’s just a wonderful thing to do and it will make you feel nice too.

My Inspiration: The Pursuit of Happyness

Hello all, and hope you all had a great New Years!

To start off this year, I thought it would be a great idea to discuss the source of my inspiration for creating this blog-The Pursuit of Happyness. This is autobiography, by Chris Gardener, is about a his struggle in single-handedly raising a child from homeless conditions to eventually becoming rich as a wildly popular stockbroker, without any college education.

Granted this book is a classic “rags-to-riches” story and a rather simple book, but nonetheless, it shows unwavering determination to better his and his child’s future, no matter what the circumstance. The book is very captivating and makes the reader want to turn the page to find out how he plans to fend for himself. His struggle in a first-world society with third-world problems is what captivates me, but perhaps the most admirable moral of all is that he never gives up hope.

As a reader, it makes me realize "that struggle is the meaning of life," truly. No matter how big or small, we all fight a unique war in life and it affects us all differently, but the most important thing is to have the determination to keep the strength, hope and courage to face and get through the problems. It also makes me realize to appreciate what I have, rather than complain for what I do not, and to continue to aspire to make a better life.

Starting the New Year off− in the wrong direction

New Years is just around the corner and almost everybody is excited about a new, fresh start to their lives. Many use New Years as an excuse to start the year improving themselves through resolutions. Before the New Year begins though, we choose to get in all our last whims or wishes that aren’t necessarily good for us. Of course, there is nothing wrong with that− unless this last-minute pursuit of happiness can kill someone.

For people of age, and unfortunately people underage, drinking happens. Knowing that alcohol is dangerous for their bodies, many tend to use it as the last unhealthy way to enjoy themselves before starting a saintly new year. More likely than not, many will abuse alcohol in thinking that this is their “last” time, which potentially can result in endangering themselves or someone else.

In order to minimize car accidents caused by drivers under the influence, CTA will be offering penny rides from late New Year’s Eve to early morning New Year’s Day. There will also be a Tipsy Tow service, where when you call 800-AAA-HELP, AAA service will give you a free ride.

All these initiatives are in place due to the high rate of deaths caused from being under the influence. It’s especially terrifying, since car crashes are the leading cause of death for teens and one out of three of those is alcohol-related.

Thinking that New Years is the LAST day in their lives to be as bad as they want, people try to do too much in the last day, usually drink more. Media and Hallmarking is largely to blame for this “last” day psychology. While sometimes that feeling is unavoidable, we don’t realize how much we’re expecting from this one day, which is also largely why some people find it useless to make resolutions in the first place. Relying on changing overnight is, frankly, a bit unpractical and unrealistic. If, throughout the year, you think of everyday as a new, fresh start, you’ll be able to really improve on your short-term and long-term goals, even if you do make a mistake in the process or forget your goal one day. If you fit in a guilty pleasure more responsibly the whole year, you’ll most likely be able to do the same on New Year’s Eve.

Don’t bank on the New Year’s as the Armageddon of All-Wishes-Unhealthy, because a good chance is that you might end up hurting yourself or hurting someone else, breaking any type of resolution you formulated. While it may be a bit burdensome on New Year’s, when you want to forget everything and enjoy yourself, you have to be responsible or consequences can go to another person’s family starting their year with painful tears. Please, if not for your own sake, for others, act responsibly by following these tips.

Happy New Year to All, and May This New Year bring in Happiness For All!

Misconception of the Spiritual Pursuit of Happiness

You've probably heard of the time when an ardent atheist or agnostic person receives news that he/she has terminal cancer and suddenly resorts to remembering God or are found reading the Bible in their hospital room. Why the sudden change?

Well, maybe because many such people, if not everyone, try to find comfort, relaxation, satisfaction, or happiness in believing that some greater force is out there that is going to take care of them, no matter what. Religion might mean something different for everyone, but usually, followers of any faith follow it because they find those characteristics listed above in their faiths, whether that faith is represented through idols, through the Trinity, through the Noble Eight Fold Path etc.

Yet, even in our spiritual pursuit of happiness, tensions exist. There has always been great tension between religions. Because of our relations with the Middle East and events around the Arab Spring, the crusade of this century seems to deal mostly with Islam.

Being a Muslim, I get asked many questions: To name a few recent ones - “How come you don’t wear the veil?”, “If you got a chance to go to Hajj, would you?”, “People who aren’t in your sect, do you believe they’re going to hell?”, “Do you pray 5 times a day?”

I’m not at all annoyed with these questions, especially since they’re asked by well-informed, nice and bright people. In fact, I love people who are curious, but I actually find it a bit funny that there is even a need to ask me such questions. Chances are that your answer to the question is probably what my religion teaches me too, because they're basically the same belief. Granted, specifics cause the nuanced differences, but I hope people grasp the overall big picture. Let’s just take one question for example, “How come you don’t wear the veil?”, a specific detail of the religion. I mean, I could tell you straight up, "No, I don't," but, again, let's also not forget the big picture. When I say "No," I don't undermine the emphasis of modesty, which is a key virtue in Islam, and in most religions I know (Nuns wear a veil, Many Jews wear the Yarmulke, etc.). Wearing the veil is one's choice; some might feel they're being modest with it, some might feel modest without it. But the virtue that religion teaches is modesty: that's the big picture that connects all of us, in this particular case.

I feel like sometimes, in the midst of small details of each religion, we forget that ALL faiths are literally the SAME. There is really no other way to put it. Each religion, especially the Abrahamic faiths, puts emphasis on the same values. The gist of any faith is to 1) remember God, 2) Live Morally, and 3) be happy and make others happy. No religion teaches any different than the gist above; the subtle nuisances categorize us and blind us from seeing the overarching unity of all faiths.

I'd argue that even if you categorize yourself as un-religious or atheist; if you lead your life morally, you're also very similar to me and other religious beings because leading an ethical life is, I believe, a way of remembering God's words, therefore, remembering God, in my opinion.

So why the constant tension....?

Being Thankful

Last week, Mr. Whipple left off on an interesting note. He told the class honestly that he, like the most of us, forgets to reflect on holidays we have off from school, like Veteran’s Day. Before Thanksgiving Break, he ended his class by saying that he was thankful for us, his students.

‘Tis a kind thought indeed. Thanksgiving is an important day to reflect all that we have and give thanks for the abundance we have in life. For me, Thanksgiving is also an important occasion to reflect how you yourself have impacted others. If, even for a second, you think that you haven’t influenced anything in this world, you are sadly mistaken, my friend, because your existence on this earth makes a difference. Think of your impact on your family, your friends, your community, and the Earth, and be thankful for it! Sometimes- a lot of the time- we tend to drown in life’s problems. We tend to thank God for all the wonderful things in our life, but we don’t appreciate and thank God for making us who we are today. Even if you’re not happy with who you are today, realizing your roles in life and the positive impact you’ve made on people and the Earth is a great way and being thankful that you could mark such a presence in people’s lives is a great way to bring positivity in your life.

In addition to being thankful for who I am, I am thankful for my intellect, my education, and ability to take action with it. I am thankful that I have the opportunity to learn about different literature and different issues freely and be able to take action in my community, therefore, make an impact on others. In class, we are reading Reading Lolita in Tehran , a story about Iranian women who secretly gather to discuss different banned literature. In some places, women don’t have the freedom and opportunities. The professor in the book has to organize these meetings in the house because the university forbids talking about such books. Realizing things we take for granted shines positivity in our lives and is a great way to remind ourselves all the things we have to be happy for.

The Immigrant’s Pursuit of Happiness

Immigration is the epitome of the Pursuit of Happiness. Immigrants leave their motherland behind to find a place of opportunity, a place of Happiness. But wait-Does immigrating to a place with freedom mean achieving Happiness?

In an English and Social Studies collaboration, the class watched an animated movie-based on the book- about life during the Iranian Revolution, called Persepolis. In the movie, due to the restriction of freedom of speech, the parents of a growing girl in Iran, Marjane, send her to Vienna, Italy after she gets in trouble for speaking against the biased curriculum taught in school. Her parents wanted a better life for their daughter and sent her to a place where she will be free to do whatever she wants.

Sounds like a good plan, doesn’t it?

Well, probably, it was, for a pair of helpless parents. While at a boarding school in Vienna, Marjane gets thrown out of a covenant for insulting the nuns and ends up moving to various houses. She meets a group of friends, and boys, who introduce her to the freedom and culture of smoking, drinking, clubbing and sleeping around. She has the freedom to say whatever she wants, she has the freedom to do whatever she wants without restriction. Yet, after a couple of years in Vienna, Marjane ends up on the streets. She is desperate to go back to Iran, and asks her parents never to question her about anything in Vienna.

Maybe an immigrant’s life in the U.S. doesn’t end up on the street, but many immigrants, especially first-generation, don't achieve satisfaction and feel a disconnection to the place they reside in. As I have witnessed myself, many immigrants long for their familiar culture, their traditional surroundings, and their relatives, yet they make another land their home and stay there for the better opportunities, which outweigh every other desire.

Both my parents are first-generation immigrants. They’ve well adapted themselves to American culture, but there is always this desire to go back where they’ve grown up, meet their friends, and delve back in the culture they were brought up in. They dislike the fast-paced culture in America, (not to mention all the other West-associated habits also). If they got a chance to go today, I’m sure they would love to go, even though they are surrounded by many friends and relatives of the same nationality here. I’ll often here them say, “It’s not the same.”

Nonetheless, they are thankful for the opportunities here and continue to live here. A land of freedom and opportunities is a type of happiness in itself, but, as I've seen it, there’s only a certain level of happiness they've achieved. They try to fill that longing with things like watching traditional movies or going to Devon Ave (Indian Area in Chicago).

Many people, like my parents, continue to stay in the places they have adapted to, but I found it interesting that Marjane did not find bliss in the West-in fact-she would have rather gone back to her oppressed country, than stay in Vienna.

Response to Blog Post: "Adversity and Optimism"

Reading through my classmates' blog, I stumbled upon a blog post that directly related to my previous post: Adversity and Optimism.

This blog compares the writer's first-hand experience in Africa by what the media often portrays as "Poor Africa". The following paragraph is my favorite:

"Africa has a much lengthier history than the United States or any other society, so it seems unfair that our media judges their standard of life as inadequate. Ghanaian people are happy because they have families to love, a faithful outlook on their existence, and a very different view on success. To succeed in America is to be the best, but in Ghana it is to be content and enjoy life. Many people in Ghana have to worry much more about the basic necessities, but everything happens with a much more relaxed and forgiving pace (which is excellent except when you're trying to get somewhere quickly in a tro-tro)."

I don't know about you, but I absolutely love the African definition of success: to be content and enjoy life. Imagine if that was our only goal! I probably wouldn't be striving for half the things in life right now if I wasn't also considering my "success" in the future. If every moment I lived just to be happy and not the best, I would be putting more effort into my and others' happiness as well.

If I ever go/move to Africa, my most important personal reason would be to live life where it is socially acceptable to live by the life goal to just be happy. But does that mean it's not possible to do that in America? Of course not!

We could prioritize our goals to where our happiness tops the list. While it is harder to do so, it can be done. The first step is to ask yourself what matters more: Your happiness or the rat-race to be number 1? If your happiness lies in being the best, then go for it! My happiness lies in that success as well, I mean, who doesn't feel great when they're the best? But, If I had a choice, I would spend more time and energy helping others, bettering myself, and relaxing.

Recently, I've been researching a lot of blogs about happiness. For my readers, I highly recommend The Positivity Blog. Every blog post gives tips and inspirations to lead your life with happiness. I love this website because it's not fake or generic. I've actually used the advice that this blog gives me and it has helped me to prioritize my happiness first as much as possible.

The concept of prioritizing our happiness probably sounds absurd to us. I know I've been in denial for quite some time thinking that I am happy, so that it's no more a concern of mine and I can actually focus on other things. But, I learned that if I consciously make the effort to try and put happiness first, as much as possible, then it actually works.

Try living life simply. Try to take out just one week, one day or even an hour everyday to just take care of yourself and do what will bring you happiness. See what happens, when you do some cleaning on your priority list. :)

Happiest Countries in the World

What are some of the first words that come to your mind when you think of Africa today?

I gave myself 10 seconds to think of the first words that come to my mind: Poverty, HIV/AIDS, Hunger, Tribal Diversity, Biodiversity, Animals, Violence, Homelessness, and Orphans. Out of 9 things that came to my mind, only 3 words were positive.

I genuinely tried to think of some positive aspects about Africa, but in those ten seconds, I couldn't. It's really depressing, but are you surprised? I'm not.

In English, the class discussed the role of newspaper of U.S. media in the perception of Africa this past week. We examined articles from the 50's/60's and modern-day news about Africa. Many of the students found that most of the American newspaper researched were sending out messages encouraging Westernization and portraying African Independence-seekers as rebellious and violent. Modern-Day Africa is basically portrayed as a problem-stricken country in newspapers today.

Interestingly enough, this week the class also learned about search engines and this 'bubble' that's created when searching from your personal computer. The idea of this 'bubble' was to create an algorithm that would filter searches and look at patterns in your searches in order to pull information most relevant to you. While intent is to get relevant information to you first, it has the potential of offering biased and one-sided information that we'd WANT to hear according to our preferences. Even if we'd like more information on the positive sides of Africa, there's a roadblock to more knowledge.

I think with the sole information I've receive about Africa in the U.S., I honestly can't imagine living in a place where I'd fear for my life everyday. I'm happier in the U.S. knowing that I have security of my life. But does that necessarily mean that Africans are unhappy or unhappier than I am?

Over the weekend, I tried to research lists and ranks of the happiest countries in the world. To my (un)surprise, Western Countries like Canada, U.S., Scandinavian Counties, and Australia are what ranked the highest on the first few google web page searches. After swifting through the pages (yes, there is more available than just the first 10 searches), I found that Nigeria was once ranked one of the happiest countries by BBC in 2003: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/3157570.stm.

I tried to search more about what BBC had to offer about Nigeria, and found a publication of May2011 http://www.globescan.com/news_archives/bbc2011_entrepreneur/BBC_GlobeScan_Entrepreneur.pdf that shows a survey of Nigerians being satisfied with the entrepreneurship opportunities offered to them.

So maybe we don't have all the information to make judgements about Africa? Despite the problems in Africa, maybe people are happy?

Then I came across the HPI (Happy Planet Index). This organization came together to find a way to rank the happiest planets in the world, coming up with the following equation:

HPI = Happy Life Years

Ecological Footprint/Resources consumed

At first, an ecological footprint confused me as a a factor of happiness, but it can have an impact on your future. Happy Life Years is measured by a survey of Life Satisfaction multiplied by Life Expectancy.

This map shows a ranking of HPI scores in terms of the three categories. If all 3 categories are good or close to healthy, the country is marked green, whereas if 2 or more categories are poor, it is marked red.

WOW! Look at this result! The U.S. and Africa are both marked red! This was an interesting discovery. In terms of happiness and life satisfaction, U.S. ranked well, but in terms of ecological footprint, the future of happy lives in the U.S. is about as equally bad as a place like Africa, where everything but an ecological footprint is a problem.

Of course, ranking something subjective like happiness has its flaws, which even this organization offers as a disclaimer, but I found that this site did a pretty good job. I also learned that "more" doesn't always mean "happy" and that taking care of our resources also plays a huge role in our happiness.

I especially noticed this as I was reading the Poisonwood Bible, where Leah notices and in fact, envied the family who were laughing together and were so happy despite the problems in their life with living in poverty, losing 2 children, etc.

It is true that Africa has its own struggles and variety of problems, but it doesn't mean that they aren't happy. It also doesn't mean that they are happy. What I've learned is that I simply can not assume that since we, Americans, don't have the problems in Africa, we are happier than them.

In the Poisonwood Bible, Nelson tells Ruth May a secret of thinking of the safe place after death. In retrospect, this actually gives people comfort in dying than fearing their lives. While problems might seem extremely bad to us here in the U.S. and they really might be as bad as we understand them to be, Africans could be learning to cope as best as they can and still have a bit of positivity to get through life; in that respect, maybe as, or more, positivity than the U.S...

The Legend of Material Happiness

Last week, the world mourned the death of the CEO of Apple Inc., Steve Jobs. Facebook Groups, Celebrity Tweets, and Status Updates, all were posted in remembrance of Steve Jobs.

Why?

You’re probably lookin’ at me funny, thinking “What do you mean ‘why?’ He was the C.E.O. of APPLE!”

Well, why is that such a big deal? You hardly know the guy!

And now it has probably hit you that I’m completely cuckoo crazy in the head, thinking, “…Because he’s the one who created my Ipod!”

Exactly.

We Americans, tend to be independent, and keep to ourselves. Each person is taught to be -- and lives with -- the strong value of self-reliance. Therefore, we tend to concern ourselves with things that concern us directly. At first, it was surprising to see so many people caring about the death of the person who made their phone. I mean, I’m pretty sure that such a big response from the global population would not be received if, god-forbid, the guy who made our sofa-died, or an equally strange baby in Africa died. I’m sure whomever hears of this news would feel sad, but wouldn’t go as far as they did to post their remorse as they did with Jobs.

We mourned as if Steve Jobs was a far-relative to us. Why?

Well, he didn’t treat us a whole lot differently than family; he gave us happiness in our lives. Granted, he takes money for his products, but his products still gives us comfort and happiness. For some, by the time this happiness became temporary, Jobs would have launched a new mind-boggling invention.

Realistically speaking, most middle-class Americans, like me, own probably an Iphone/ Ipod that’s updated maybe once in five years or more, which is not a bad deal. He changed my life and taught me how to best enjoy my spare moments in life, through an Ipod, which is a complete blessing. And I’m sure that’s the same way most people feel.

In some ways, I learned that humans are selfish; they only tend to care most about people who affect them, but I also learned that that means Steve Job did, indeed, play a pivotal role in making a direct impact in our lives.

Reading Poisonwood Bible, a book about an American family going on a mission trip to Congo during its independence movement, I thought of their lives in Africa. The Price Family lives in better conditions compared to most African families, but they still complain and miss all their things back home as they could only bring so much with them. Rachel spends her time loitering around in the house with nothing to do. She wishes she could go back home as she cannot find familiarity and comfort in the Congo. Likewise, we’ve become so dependent on our Iphones and Ipods, I don’t think we’d be able to live without it. We’d be UNHAPPY, like the Prices, without these material pleasures.

So, may God bless you, Steve Jobs. Your impact will never be forgotten. Thank you for giving us ways to enjoy our lives and bring us happiness. Thank you, God Bless, and Rest in Peace. And I hope you are returned with eternal happiness.

P.S. Please pull some strings, with your connections up there, to grant us a Happy App down here too. ;)

Happiness

Happiness: (n.) A seemingly simple concept.

Well, isn't it? We all want it. Everything we do, or try to do, is an effort to make us and our families happy in one way or the other.

We've all found ourselves being extra quiet, so our Kindergarten teacher could pick us first to choose the best chocolate from the plethora of candies. After we have finished running after our Driver's License, we've found ourselves drooling after the shimmering, sparkly, sports car. Right after we've finished running after a college degree, we've found ourselves running after that job that can possibly get us a better one. Why? Because it would make us happy./? (Choose your pick.)

We run our lives, for the most part. I think we can agree, that in America, we've been given the freedom to make whatever we want of our lives, to mold our ways of happiness, and to make our own choices about what we want to do in life. Yet, are we still 100% happy?

Granted, your answer might be yes. If that is the case, Kudos to you, my friend. My humble request to you is to please tell me who you are, and what you are doing in life. For those who are still trying to unravel this secret, I am in the same boat as you.

Allow me to introduce myself: I'm naïve years old. I hold a compass with four needles pointing to all four directions: "Wise", "Moral", "Fun" and "Faith". I'm trying to figure things out in life, but it's hard to know where to go with all four directions pulling me to it with equal intensity, making me everything but 100% happy. I'm trying to get these golden needles to turn 180° and point to the center that reads, "My Happiness." I may or may not be able to do this in my lifetime, but the most effective way for me learn to do that is to look at how others are trying to achieve their pursuit of happiness. I like looking at people's Psychology of Happiness: What are other people's idea of happiness? How do they make Happiness work for them? How are they working towards it or completely failing at it?

So, my friends, stay tuned in this potentially bumpy journey of finding and analyzing happiness. You just might unravel a secret you never knew.