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Priya Manuskhani

Happiness: Easy come, easy go

Article: How to Keep Happiness From Fading by Heide Grant Halvorson

Halvorson discusses how happiness"doesn't usually last." It is something that is short-lived, which is what I have been trying to find. The immediate the thrill, the high, the excitement all disappears over time. An example that was given was how people hope and yearn for a promotion in their careers. However, when they finally get the promotion, and feel the happiness and the satisfaction of achieving their goal, those emotions give away to anxiety of responsibilities. Happiness is replaceable- not necessarily by something as light or enjoyable, though. Psychologically speaking, its a phenomenon called hedonistic adaption, "the idea that no matter how good something makes us feel, most of the time we drift back to where we started off." Happiness can truly be maintained through "variety and appreciation." Variety, is the "spice of life." With it, positive changes can continuously occur throughout our lives. Appreciation is "feeling what is around you" and loving it, seeing it for what it is. I feel like that makes complete sense in that we get so accustomed to things that each time something new arrives, it becomes a new baseline. We fail to see the beauty in what is around us and just keep reaching with greed for more. If we stopped and "smelled the roses" happiness could be maintained.

Halvorson, Heidi Grant. How to Keep Happiness From Fading." //huffingtonpost//. The Huffington Post, 2014. Web. 29 May 2014.