Torres 1

Kevin Torres


Professor Ditch


English 115 - M/W 8am

9 May 2018

My Space of Happiness

Happiness is never a consisting feeling, it comes and goes depending where one feels at

ease. One may gain enjoyment where others will never seem to crack a smile. As may now I’m a

very quiet guy and mostly keep to my self but this is only one side of me that may have seen at

school, my perspective of happiness is always flowing through the day and as I have noticed

throughout the certain days I have observed happiness to my opinion comes from being around a

comfortable environment surrounded by loved ones

Happiness is not a simple thing and each different environment has its own unique energy

which may change ones emotion of happiness. Through out the past three day I have been at

home, work, gym, and at school, so what makes each space different? Well, its what we

determine whats is happiness from our own state of mind, when looking in my point of view I’m

much happier at home than any other place but if we look at someone else their space of

happiness is much more different Yet everyone receive happiness one way or another. Looking at

the four different locations their’s not much of a difference unless one sees what happened

through out the time I spent in each location.

 Torres 2

Through out the various locations I have experienced mixed motions all depending on the

spaces around me. In the particular days I was happy was when I was in a welcoming, friendly

environmental such as the times I was at the gym with my friends and when I was at my home

with family. Other than my family and friends my surroundings where peaceful there where no

one or thing putting pressure on me or making me feel unease. Such as His Holiness the Dalai

Lama and Cutler wrote in the article The Source of Happiness “happiness is determined more


By one’s state of mind...’’. (22) which explains why I feel so comfortable being around loved

ones. One big example of a love one has to be my dog Noah every day whether I’m happy or

not, just coming home and seeing him run up to you for hugs and kisses just lifted up my mood.

The main reason why my family and friend bring my mood up and make me a happier individual

is because I don’t see my friends and family as a threat they are certain individuals who I like to

be around all the times because they provide a safe, comfortable and fun environment that helps

me fell at ease and certainly brings a smile to my face.

Carrying on to another location that also bring me happiness is at the gym, the reason

why this specific environment brings me happiness is because it has to do with the same reasons

why I’m happy being at home. At the gym I surrounded by friends who care about me and the

love of friend ship creates a happy surrounding but this is not the only reason to why the gym

makes a happy surrounding going to work out and just doing exercises such as boxing makes me

feel a part of something and just like how Rumi from the article How should the Soul

metaphorically describes a bird and as well a fish; who happened to be out of place “How should

the falcon not fly back to his king’’,’’How should a fish not leap fast into the sea from dry land’’.
 Torres 3

What Rumi is describing in my case is that it’s my soul purpose to continue doing what I do best

and if it is boxing, I should continue doing it if it continues to bring happiness to me.

Now moving into another direction, happiness was not my only emotion I have felt

through out the three days, I did feel angry, overwhelmed and sadness and what caused these

emotions where from the particular space where I was in. When I was happy I describe a

welcoming, peaceful, fun environment however when I felt overwhelmed was in an environment

where I feel more pressured such as at work. At work I happen to due construction and I’m told

to do a small task around the work site but if something goes wrong I will destroy something

really expensive, and because of this I do get angry when I do mess up because I get in trouble

and others have to fix what I messed up. Now at work is when I only feel overwhelmed and

angry but when I feel sad is when I happen to be at home, Don’t get me wrong I’am happy at

home but when I observed one of the days I felt sad because I was feeling lonely. I’ve been used

to going out with my friends every other day; we would go out to eat, watch movies, go to

baseball games, or just shop but now its just be more of me time. I do understand after reading

From The Tao Te Ching by Laozi money cant by happiness “If your happiness depends on

money, you will never beg happy with yourself ”. (Laozi 14) yet I wasn’t enjoying happiness

from what we where spending our money on I was happy from what we where doing which

happens to involve spending money.

Now I know everyone has a ruff time and if I had to describe my suffering by looking

through the three modes of suffering Matthieu Ricard describes in The Alchemy of Suffering it

would mostly happen to be hidden because usually every problem that come upon me come out
 Torres 4

of the blue I just don’t seem to notice it coming and that is why I just look beyond the problem,

see my mistake and eliminate and find another path. The problems I have in school causes the

hidden suffering, through out the school day I’m doing my best to pass my classes and by my

thinking I feel I’m doing great in school which brings a smile to my face until its time to take a

test. I know everything their’s to know on the subject no matter what class it is for but it just

happens when I get the test back I’m lacking some understanding of the subject. In particulate in

math class I completed a test thinking I would get a good grade and to my surprise instead I

receive an average passing grade. Now this gets me frustrated so I find a way to solve my

problem “ recognize suffering, eliminate its source, end it, by practicing the path”. (Ricard 39)

So now when I notice it I got some problems wrong because I was speeding through the test and

forgot to carry the negative over, I understand what went wrong and found a solution plus

making me feel relieved that I’m doing way better in class When I’m at home or when I’m at

work I felt two very different performances, and they have to be because each space affects me

different. Aristotle From the book From Nicomachean Ethics shows us that we get satisfaction

from who we are, that I way when I am in a space that bring me joy its because I feel

comfortable and I don’t feel out of place. When I’m at work it is a complete different story such

as I feel more pressured upon and if you toke a glans around you can completely see the

difference between me and my coworkers, they are way more experienced.

Happiness is all around us, its either with who you are with or where you happened to be

that may bring you joy, it all determines what you think happiness really is. In the past three days

I’ve notice through my observation what particular space makes me happier to be in than and I

can agree that even though being at home can either make me happy or bring different emotions
 Torres 5

to me, it being surrounded by people who care deeply about you that makes a happier

environment.
 Torres 6

Works Cites

Aristotle. Excerpt, from “nicomachean ethics,” book 1 chapter 7, pp. 370-73, from a new

Aristotle reader, edited by j.l. ackrill.1987. reprinted by permission of Princeton

university press via copyright clearance center

His holiness Dali Lama, and Howard cutler. “the source of happiness.” Pursuing Happiness: a

Bedford spotlight reader, by Matthew Parfit and Dawn. Skorczewski, bedford/st.

Martin’s, a Macmillan Education Imprint, 2016, pg 22

Laozi. Excerpts (6,8,9,13,20,33,44,67) from the tao the Ching by lao tau, a new English version,

with foreword and notes by c.s.lewis, copyright @ 1988 by Stephen of Marlowe, a matter

of the press books group

Matthieu Ricard. Excerpt from happiness: a guide to develop life most important skill by

Matthieu Ricard, translated by Jesse browner. Copyright @ 2003 by nil editions.

Translation copyright @ Jesse Browner. Used by permission of little, brown and

company

Rumi . Excerpt from look! This is love:poem of rumi by Annemarie Schimmie, @1991 by

Annemarie shimmer. Reprinted by arrangement with permissions company, inc. on behalf

of shambhala publications inc., moisten, Massachusetts. Www. hala.com