 HAPPINESS AT THE END OF A LONG DAY…
Happiness differs from one person to another. These days, happiness for me has become stretching and cracking my back in front of my computer. Sometimes happiness comes alive even when there are still chapters to finish for exam subjects. As spring arrives and the sun starts to shine through the lab windows or the window in front of my desk, I realize that everybody has their own way of finding happiness at the end of a long day.
Last week I read an article from the Daily Trojan (the University of Southern California's newspaper) about a different kind of "happy hour." Several instructors held a seminar at which they talked with students about the concept of happiness. Each of the faculty members quoted in the article interpreted the subject differently from the others.
Engineering professor Mark Redekkop stated that at USC, “happiness is built on achievement.” I think that achievement is the key word. I feel happy whenever I achieve something like finishing an assignment or getting a good grade, or even managing to have time to exercise at the end of the day.
Professor Sharon LLoyd suggested that happiness will escape from us if we try to pursue it. She said that “you cannot have fun if you are trying to have fun. Fun is a by-product.” I agree with this, too. Whenever I try to force myself to feel happy I feel more depressed. But happiness often comes from small, unexpected events. Sometimes even seeing a small child with a big smile can make a person feel happy.
Another faculty member, Thomas Gustafson, said, “I told myself I can either become a highly paid lawyer and look forward to going home each night or I could become a professor and look forward to going to work each day.” If we choose to use our education to get a job with a high salary, we may become a person who looks forward to going home at night. In this case, achievement, mentioned earlier as one of the keys to happiness, can also lead to unhappiness.
So, maybe happiness is sometimes based on making the right choices in our lives, as was underlined by Professor Kim Lindsey, who stated that choices make us who we are. I think that these choices can either ruin our lives or make us look forward to waking up to a new day.
Finally, Professor Steven Lamy looked at happiness from a different perspective, suggesting that “most people are happy when they are not asked to think about what’s happening in the world around them.” When I feel very depressed, I stop following the news. Sometimes, when you can't even handle what’s going on in your own life, you don’t feel like dealing with the problems of others as well.
In short, we can say that each of us finds happiness in a different way. Still, I suggest finding small things to make you happy, like the way I enjoy stretching in front of my desk. Have a nice week full of good things.
Sýla Türkü Kural (EE/IV)
turku@ug.bilkent.edu.tr
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