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The Pursuit of Happiness

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The Pursuit of Happiness
Andrew Roberts
PSY/220

June 9, 2013

The Pursuit of Happiness
The Pursuit of Happiness for one person is different for that of another person. The same goes for those of different cultures. It could be the traditions in how they are brought up as children and what they are taught to believe at an early age. In America we are continually told about the American Dream which is the portrait of the perfect family in a Norman Rockwell painting, the perfect job, the house with the white picket fence and no problems where everybody looks happy and acts as if they are happy; this would be a stereotype of what happiness looks like. Is this true happiness? Not really for very few of us ever achieve all of these things and I am 48 years old and if I waited to be happy until I had these things I never would be happy. Happiness is a state of mind of little things that make us happy with our lives each and every day. For some of us like myself it is just waking up in the morning and thanking god that I have another day to see this beautiful world we live in and the chance to spend another day on this earth clean and sober. This is a perfect example of the American culture, which is more self- determination, looking out for our wellbeing, getting to know ourselves and reaching for our own goals, and positive self-esteem and confidence. In recent years American children have now been encouraged to show their emotions and take pride in their accomplishments. We see this in our everyday lives especially when it comes to sports, and school. We are so caught up in our own lives that sometimes it takes a tragic catastrophe for us to come together as a nation, and even then many of us will talk about it but we don’t do anything to help those that have been affected by these happenings.
Looking at Asians when it comes to happiness is the total opposite of

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