COLEGIUL TEHNIC ENERGETIC

SIBIU

LUCRARE PENTRU OBŢINEREA

ATESTATULUI DE COMPETENŢĂ
LINGVISTICĂ LA LIMBA ENGLEZĂ

Profesor coordonator:

Prof. Soare Constanţa

Elev:

Vecerzan Marius

SIBIU
2020
 MINISTRY OF NATIONAL EDUCATION
ENERGETIC TECHNICAL COLLEGE SIBIU
THE ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

HAPPINESS IN LIFE

Scientific Advisor:

Soare Constanţa, Teacher

Student:

Vecerzan Marius

Sibiu
2020
 CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION _________________________________________________ 4

CHAPTER 1: WHAT IS HAPPINESS? _________________________________ 5

CHAPTER 2: WHICH IS THE PURPOSE OF IT? ________________________ 8

CHAPTER 3: WHAT MAKES US HAPPY? ____________________________ 11

CHAPTER 4: HOW CAN WE MAKE US HAPPIER? ____________________ 14

CHAPTER 5: ENJOYING THE LIFE AS MUCH AS WE CAN ____________ 16

SOURCES/BIBLIOGRAPHY _______________________________________ 18
 INTRODUCTION

Let me tell you a story about happiness and what it is about.

Firstly, I choose this topic because I think that it is one of the most important
things in life and also happiness is all around the world, we just need to embrace it and
we will see how beautiful life can be.
Secondly, another thing that made me choose the topic is that we all see bad things
and thoughts around us almost every day and I wonder why we do not see the best and
excellent parts of our life in what we live day by day, rather being inclined towards the
bad.
In addition, I believe that the most of our lives we live in sufferings and why we
do not change the way we live in by happiness and this feeling might make us a lot more
thankful for what we own nowadays.
Finally, I consider that if you feel happier you can do things better and greater.
Moreover, you can pass a difficult situation or trouble a lot better and easier if you are
rather happy than sad, so this has become somehow my motto- to rather try and be happy,
no matter what the circumstances, and thus be better able to overpass the possible
obstacles life puts on our way.
In conclusion, happiness might come to us to enlighten us of the good things that
this life has to offer.

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 CHAPTER 1: WHAT IS HAPPINESS?

Let me explain this feeling in just a few words by the meaning of it that is an
impressive feeling that embrace you when you are full of beans or when you feel like you
are in the ninth cloud. This feeling can make you feel less stressed before an important
date or a hard work at your job.
By explaining the meaning of happiness, you will make sure that you are certain
of what you want to know about it because when you understand what it is you will no
longer be able to do anything bad
from that point forward. As a
result, you will face good things,
thoughts, people, events and a lot
more great features around you
that will change the perspective
about how life is and make you a
better person in this society.
After this, you might be
surprised to see other interesting
things coming towards you, things that might have been there all along, but you failed to
see. Once you really understand it, you will feel a lot more relaxed and great ongoing the
knowledge of it. These things can be quite simple like for example hanging out with
some friends, going shopping or just doing whatever you like the most and makes you
feel happy.
So far, I have tried to explain how I see happiness, mostly in the simple things that
surround us and that if noticed and embraced as such can fill our heart with happiness. I
will continue, though by trying to also underline the importance of happiness to us, by
giving some examples:
1. Happy people are more successful in multiple life domains, including marriage,
friendship, income, work performance, and health.
2. Happy people get sick less often and experience fewer symptoms when they do
get sick.
3. Happy people have more friends and a better support system.

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 4. Happy people donate more to charity (and giving money to charity makes you
happy, too).
5. Happy people are more helpful and more likely to volunteer—which also makes
you happier!
6. Happy people have an easier time navigating through life since optimism eases
pain, sadness, and grief.
7. Happy people have a positive influence on others and encourage them to seek
happiness as well, which can act as reinforcement.
8. Happy people engage in deeper and more meaningful conversations.
9. Happy people smile more, which is beneficial to your health.
10. Happy people exercise more often and eat more healthily.
11. Happy people are happy with what they have rather than being jealous of
others.
12. Happy people are healthier all around and more likely to be healthy in the
future.
13. Happy people live longer than those who are not as happy.
14. Happy people are more productive and more creative, and this effect extends
to all those experiencing positive emotions.
Besides the above examples there are obviously other aspects that need to be
tackled within this chapter, such as the comparison between happiness and pleasure
which are often mistaken for one another.
Pleasure versus Happiness
With the close ties between pleasure and happiness, you might be wondering how
to differentiate between them. After all, the Oxford English Dictionary definition of
happiness describes it as a state of feeling pleasure!
The association between the two makes sense, and it is common to hear the two
words used interchangeably outside of literature; however, when it comes to the science
of positive psychology, it is important to make a distinction between the two.
Happiness, as we described it above, is a state characterized by feelings of
contentment and satisfaction with one’s life or current situation. On the other hand,
pleasure is a more visceral, in-the-moment experience. It often refers to the sensory-based

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feelings we get from experiences like eating good food, getting a massage, receiving a
compliment, or making love.
Happiness, while not a permanent state, is a more stable state than pleasure.
Happiness generally sticks around for longer than a few moments at a time, whereas
pleasure can come and go in seconds (Paul, 2015).
Pleasure can contribute to happiness, and happiness can enhance or deepen
feelings of pleasure, but the two can also be completely mutually exclusive. For example,
you can feel a sense of happiness based on meaning and engagement that has nothing to
do with pleasure, or you could feel pleasure but also struggle with guilt because of it,
keeping you from feeling happy at the same time.

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 CHAPTER 2: WHICH IS THE PURPOSE OF IT?

In the previous chapter I presented what happiness is and now I will try to outline
the purpose happiness has in our lives. The causes of happiness are quite clear, though,
and those are are many good thoughts, great moments that we share with friends and
some quality time spent with the people who we love the most in our lives.
In my opinion the purpose of happiness is to make us a better people with so many
great heart-opened emotions namely people with a good soul and kind facts that we do
every day. Moreover, this feeling of happiness can make us think better and awesome
about other persons that we meet and that might change the way that we all see the world
as human beings. Another thing that I know about happiness is that it is a universal law in
the universe that if you understand it you might change people and make what you want
from it, like to help somebody that is in pain or just to feel happy for yourself which is
important to everyone because to be happy is beneficial for your health and can help you
to live longer.
Above I presented the way I see the purpose of happiness, now I will give to you
some examples which I think might help you in your travel through life:
1. Rarely, in some cases people who do not feel happy can get sick or worst to die
because they do not feel the sympathy of the others who they love and they do not like
love or good blessings from God that is one of the most important thing in which you
may trust the most.
2. In other cases, people who are happy ease the time navigating through life
because their optimism might ease pain, anger and grief.
3. Rather people who are happy are more attractive and beautiful than people who
are not like this because the happiness that they feel every day brings about in their mind
good ideas to make a better future for them.
I presented before some examples about the purpose of happiness and now I will
extend this, by presenting other aspects of its purpose:
The pursuit of happiness
Not all forms of happiness can be explained by evolution, particularly more recent
manifestations. Culture plays an important role in adaptation, as different groups adopt
different behaviours that help them navigate their unique worlds, Barkow said.

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 Likewise, the way people have understood happiness have changed over time.
How different societies viewed happiness helped shape their culture and survival
strategies.
In ancient China and Greece, happiness was associated with luck and good
fortune, a result of external factors that could not be controlled. Over time, as humans
gained more mastery over their living conditions, happiness came to be perceived as
something an individual could control.
In a 2015 study, researchers led by Shigehiro Oishi of the University of Virginia
looked at how happiness was used in every State of the Union address made by US
presidents to that point. Early presidents talked about “happiness” as good fortune and
prosperity, while more recent uses took on the sense of personal well-being and life
satisfaction. The authors theorize that as the US and its citizens grew more prosperous,
“people’s perception of personal control in life also increased, and made the fortune-
based definition of happiness look obsolete.”
Ultimately, human happiness is not the result of any plan or grand strategy. We are
not programmed to be happy. Like all adaptations, it is the result of countless mutations,
over millennia of trial and error. Our happiness is the product of the same forces that
created tulips, giraffes, and viruses. It just happened that our chances of survival were
enhanced by finding satisfaction in a job well done.
This was an aspect of the happiness that we all pursue almost every day. In
addition to this there would still be one aspect to analyse which is:
The Science of happiness: the things that make us happy
We all want to be happy. In fact, I would argue that nearly everything we do,
whether it is working,
marrying, running, or even
filing our taxes is done
with an overarching
purpose: to feel happier.
Now, it is not that
we particularly enjoy all
of these activities for their
own sake, even though we
might (and for some, we
certainly should), but that

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we want to create certain feelings: passion, excitement, purpose, love, excitement, relief,
or any other emotion that makes us, well, happy.
Sadly, most people fail in their quest for happiness for one simple reason: they
seek it where there is nothing to be found. Empty success, shallow pleasures, and
immediate gratification seem to dominate our culture more and more.

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 CHAPTER 3: WHAT MAKES US HAPPY?

What lies behind our feeling of happiness has been briefly tackled in the previous
chapter, but there are much more things to be said on the matter so, below we are going
to try and underline the possible causes- the things, activities that might make someone
experience happiness.
First of all, I will tell you what makes me happy like a trip to a beautiful country,
going out with some friends or just staying at home and enjoying a great holiday like
Christmas and the best one is, for me, to be with the people whom I loved the most.
These are some moments which keep me calm and happy all the time when it is
necessary. Happiness must be with you all the time, that is a good blessing that I would
wish for you for making others better people in this life because in life we have a lot of
things which make us happy and if we find those things, we can build a greater society or
better understanding between us and others nations like ours.
Second of all, I will give you some examples of things that made people feel very
happy:
1. We, the people, want to be happier just by doing some activities like marriage,
working at what we like, making a family or only be ourselves which is the best way to
feel happy.
2. Other things that make people happy are certain feelings or thoughts that we can
experience: passion, excitement, purpose, love, relief, satisfaction, significance, matter,
and importance of what we do all the day.
3. In my opinion making us happy is one of the most important things to do in life
since if we manage to feel this pleasure and to be happy, people may understand how this
universe works and that can help everyone to feel less lonely, stressed, sad or sick.
There are many other things one can say about happiness and what brings it about,
yet I will choose to present some other aspects related to happiness, such as happiness in
philosophy, or the relationship between money and happiness, that is if there is any, or
the relationship between happiness and socialisation.
Philosophers’ happiness
If I were to ask you what makes you happy, you would probably have no problem
providing me with at least a few answers — a new car, less body fat, a higher-paying job,

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a lottery win, a better 3k time, and so on. Answers to this question usually have a similar
theme; i.e., our happiness depends on external circumstances (Lilienfeld et al., 2010).
You may be surprised to learn that materialistic things rarely determine long-term
happiness. That which you have always assumed would make your life much more joyful
may not actually improve long-term happiness. Happiness is determined by innate factors
and perceptions, as well as experiences.
Albert Ellis claimed it was irrational to suggest that happiness was caused by
external circumstances. According to Ellis, happiness depends on our interpretations of
events.
British philosophers John Locke and Jeremy Bentham claimed that happiness is
determined by the number of positive events experienced in life (Lilinefeld et al., 2010,
& Eysenck, 1990). On the other hand, Eysenck says the no. 1 myth regarding happiness
is that happiness is determined by the number and nature of pleasurable events
experienced.
A study conducted by Kahneman and colleagues (2004) tracked the moods of 909
employed women. Their moods and activities were tracked by asking them to record the
previous day’s activities and experiences. The researches concluded that most major life
circumstances (household income, jobs benefits) correlated minimally with moment-by-
moment happiness. What did correlate strongly with happiness was sleep quality and
proneness toward depression.

Money and Happiness

In order to be happy we need enough money to pay our bills and have a little room
to purchase extras. There appears to be an income threshold where making more than this
amount contributes very little to being happier.
According to many studies in the USA for example, having a household income
below $50,000 is moderately related to happiness. A household income above $50,000
results in a vanishing correlation between money and happiness. There is some data
indicating that the income threshold may be a little higher or a little lower than $50,000.
Americans who earn $50,000 per year are much happier than those who earn
$10,000 per year, but Americans who earn $5 million per year are not much happier than
those who earn $100,000 per year. People who live in poor nations are much less happy
than people who live in moderately wealthy nations, but people who live in moderately

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wealthy nations are not much less happy than people who live in extremely wealthy
nations (Gilbert, 2007, p. 239).

The socialize happiness

Humans are social animals; we need to socialize. The biggest predictor of
happiness is the extent of our social relationships. A primary reason that our brains have
evolved in the manner they have is so we can be social.
Gilbert says “friendless people are not happy.” It is not realistic, nor is it desirable
to be happy all the time. Negative emotions are natural. When considering negative
emotions, what is important is learning to appropriately regulate those potentially
damaging thoughts. Being happy all the time implies epistemic irrationality (holding
beliefs that are not commensurate with available evidence).

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 CHAPTER 4: HOW CAN WE MAKE US HAPPIER?

There are the socialising activities that could be a factor. When you are socialising
with other people and you will know them better, after this you might feel happy because
you socialised with others which is great for your development and also for the others
that may not have known you before. Besides this, there are a lot more activities that you
can do to feel happier, such as to go wherever you like the most and where you feel the
most alive which might help you to inspire yourself to think bigger things and to have
great ideas about how to impress yourself with awesome moments that you have
experienced or just to see this world as much as you can. These activities are awesome to
do with friends because they are the people that you like and who make you happy.
In what I presented before, I talked about ways that makes us happier, now I will
mention you some examples about how to feel happier through your journey to
happiness:
1. Have a sense of gratitude which may help you every day in the way that you
need to thank for all the stuff that you own and be grateful for it.
2. Laugh every day because it is a good activity that you must do when you feel
sad or bored which gives you great feelings about you and it puts you in a better place
where you will feel the happiness.
3. Make sure that you are giving back from the things that you own since you own
many things you must give some of them to the poor people who cannot afford to keep
some things like you.
Adding a point, there are still left some things that I need to share with you about
in the next paragraphs which are as follows:
Things That Make You Happy and Help You Enjoy Life More
1. Foster Good Relationships with Family and Friends
Happy people do not spend large amounts of time alone. By spending time with
people you like, you forge supportive relationships that help you in times of stress.
You also bond with others through common experiences, such as life’s ups and
downs. They become your support network.
People who do not spend as much time with family or friends are more prone to
loneliness and depression.

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 2. Take Some Alone Time
In contrast to spending time with family and friends, it is also important to step
back and take some time for yourself, by yourself.
You can recharge your spirit and find a little peace in a little bit of silence. Taking
some time away and being alone can do wonders for your mood and outlook.
3. Do What You Love
Have you ever heard the phrase, “Do what you love, because the money will
follow?” Doing things that you love to do–and even better, getting paid for it–are good
ways to boost your levels of happiness.
When work feels like play, you are more likely to enjoy other aspects of your life
better, too.
4. Volunteer Your Time
When you give off yourself, either by time or talent, your focus shifts from your
life to that of others.
This can help you realize that your own problems may not be that bad. You
invariably forge new relationships and experience an uplift in your spirit.
5. Get Enough Exercise
When you take time out for exercise, you are doing your body good in more ways
than one.
First, you are doing what it was designed to do: physical exertion. Humans were
made to move around and the body works best
when it does what it was meant to do.
Second, as you exercise, you release those
same feel-good hormones as mentioned above.
Third, when you take some time to exert
yourself, you reduce your stress levels. All
around, you need exercise to function optimally.

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 CHAPTER 5: ENJOYING THE LIFE AS MUCH AS WE CAN

In this last chapter of my certificate I will try and mention to you some ways in
which to enjoy life as much as you can because it is important to know how to be happy
enjoying life, in my opinion.
I will start with some examples
that you might do to enjoy the life
more:
1. You need to wake up every
day with a big smile put into your face
since if you are smiling you will see
the bright part of the morning because
when you are happy you see good
aspects of the life.
2. You should try to enjoy life,
as it is not so hard if you are a good person in the society because you must be good all
the time since you will feel happier and a lot more special because you enjoy life being
kind, not rude.
3. Eating day by day healthy food may provide you some energy that you need for
all day and that might change how you feel in that day, letting you to be happy and enjoy
more the life which we live.
4. To pursue your dreams and dream bigger every day is a good advice if you want
to enjoy life as much as you can, because you need to dream like you will live forever
and to live like you will die today.
5.“Live the moment, forget the past or let it behind you and do not concern
yourself with the future”, that is a great action that you must do to change your life right
now and be more enlighten that you have done this.
6.“Follow your hopes and not your fears”, that might be your activity to do the
most because it is important what your hopes are like [good or bad] since that may
influence you in what you are doing and not follow your fears because that can keep you
from doing what is the best to do.
Besides what has been said above, there always many quotations full of wisdom
from philosophers, psychologists, writers or just great minds of the humankind history.

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 Inspirational Quotes about Enjoying Life
Life is enjoyable. No matter what you are feeling right now, the following
inspirational quotes can motivate you to enjoy life to the fullest.
1. “Happiness is a choice, a repetitive one.” ― Akilnathan Logeswaran
2. “Just play. Have fun. Enjoy the game.” ― Michael Jordan
3. “In all of living, have much fun and laughter. Life is to be enjoyed, not just
endured.” ― Gordon B. Hinckley
4. “The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out
eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.” ― Eleanor Roosevelt
5. “The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time.” ― James Taylor
6. “I enjoy life when things are happening. I don’t care if it’s good things or bad
things. That means you’re alive.” ― Joan Rivers
7. “Enjoy life. There’s plenty of time to be dead.” ― Hans Christian Andersen
8. “Stop seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight.” ― Gordon B.
Hinckley
9. “Believe in “live and let live”. ― Satyendra Pandey
10. “The safest course is to do nothing against one’s conscience. With this secret,
we can enjoy life and have no fear from death.” ― Voltaire
11. “Do what makes you happy, be with who makes you smile, laugh as much as
you breathe, and love as long as you live.” ― Rachel Ann
12. “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come
alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come
alive.” ― Harold Whitman
13. “Slow down and remember this: Most things make no difference.” ― Tim
Ferriss
14. “We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life
that is waiting for us.” ― Joseph Campbell
15. “Do anything, but let it produce joy.” ― Walt Whitman
16. “Dream as if you’ll live forever. Live as if you’ll die today.” ― James Dean

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 SOURCES/BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Chapter 1: https://positivepsychology.com/what-is-happiness/

2. Chapter 2: https://qz.com/930860/what-is-the-purpose-of-happiness/

https://medium.com/@MaxWeigand/the-science-of-happiness-what-actually-

makes-us-happy-78edcc9bdd58

3. Chapter 3: https://psychcentral.com/lib/what-makes-us-happy/-

4. Chapter 4: https://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/14-things-proven-

make-you-happy.html

5. Chapter 5: https://inspiringtips.com/inspirational-quotes-about-enjoying-life/

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