Needy or Greedy: A Close Examination of Being Happy

Sunny Vakkalanka

Mrs. Burge

Honors English 10

29 February 2020

Needy or Greedy

        For centuries, philosophers have claimed that happiness is not related to material possession. While this is true, people have disagreed with the counter-argument that money/things can lead to health, wealth, and happiness. Although these claims make sense, they both prove that the human mind can be very different. Multiple humans could be put in the same exact situation, and peoples’ reactions and thoughts could be polar opposites. The following quote from Leo Tolstoy, "Happiness does not depend on outward things, but on the way we see them," illustrates that happiness is just in one's head. If one has the willpower to be optimistic about a devastating situation, they can do so. Alternatively, a person can easily become pessimistic about joyful circumstances if their brain says so. Humans, a rather emotional species, can change how happy they are with their attitudes and brainpower, not with outside influences.

       One reason Tolstoy is correct is because of how Poham behaves in the story. Throughout the short, Poham acquires more land because he gets greedier by the second. In the beginning, Poham actually needs the land and is very grateful when he gets it. He isn't thinking about the future but is just optimistic about the present even when he isn’t well-off. Later in the story, he wrongly connects land to happiness and goes on a wild goose chase for more and more land. Even though he tries to convince himself that he is being “optimistic” about the future, he is just being negative about the present. He fails to realize that when he bought the land in the first place, he was happy because he was optimistic about having that much land. In other words, Poham’s happiness comes from him being optimistic about the amount of land he has, not how much land he has. 

This situation can also be seen in Stargirl, by Jerry Spinelli. When Stargirl and Leo get together as a couple, she is clearly happy. This is primarily because she feels optimistic about their present (not just the future) and they have a great time together. Although, the real problems start when she links her happiness with her outside appearance. Before that point, she has made improvements to be more socially acceptable (but just so the school wouldn’t kick her out). Although, the problems start when Leo asks her to be normal, like Susan. Since he is asking her to be normal, and she links her happiness with her relationship with him, she feels obligated to be “normal” to be happy. Obviously, this doesn’t go well, but she goes back to being happy when she links it to her brain, not outside appearances. This is what makes her truly exceptional, at least regarding feelings. After many years of having a “Happy Wagon”, she is able to understand that happiness comes from within.

Finally, happiness (or the lack thereof) comes up many times in my life. I make the mistake of linking the feeling of joy with guilty pleasures like Netflix, brownies, and video games. In reality, I only feel happy because I am optimistic about watching Netflix. If I were to watch Netflix instead of doing a project that I was looking forward to, I wouldn’t be as enthusiastic about Netflix. Likewise, I often associate the dreadful act of doing homework as negative (which is why I put it off). Although, one way to increase my productivity is to tell myself that homework is positive. This trick would make me want to do the homework because I am optimistic about it (homework brings “joy”) and my procrastinating attitude finds that appealing.

Overall, humans are in control of their own happiness. The outside events don’t affect this emotion, but only how humans choose to feel about it. While being optimistic about something can help care about only that moment (like a relationship with someone), being pessimistic about the present can lead to associating happiness to a physical item (such as more land or Netflix). With this one realization, people can become less addicted to drugs: It is not the drug that is causing you to be ‘fly’, but how you associate the drug with optimism. One could even trick their brain into feeling positive about drinking water and this kind of mindset can help people do great things.