When you hear the term 'happiness', what comes to mind? Is it clothes? Money? Family? Or friends? The controversy between the more effective source of happiness is never-ending. Some say happiness doesn't exist that it all depends on your mood and how you perceive situations, some say it's materialistic, and others say it's only stemmed from positive relationships like family and friends.
To begin, the first ideology with happiness is that it doesn't exist. This ideology stems commonly from pessimists and realists in the world. They claim that happiness is just a mindset- you cannot achieve it from anything unless you think about it in a positive light. For example, if you buy a new but used car you can think of it in two ways: 1) the positive way, being glad that you got a new car, even if it is used, or 2) the negative way, being upset that the car isn't new or the model you desired. Those who follow this theory claim that happiness is not materialistic nor an emotion- it's simply the way you perceive a situation.
Then, comes the theory that happiness is all materialistic- particularly stemmed from money. Those who follow this mindset say that money is truly the focal point of happiness because with money you can technically buy everything. For example, you can buy all the clothes you desire or some car you want, and having those things makes one happy. But others within the controversy bring up the case that eventually, with things you'll get lonely- yet with family and friends you will always have support. Materialists rebuttal the family argument with the case that technically you can buy friends, because some people will do anything for a piece of green paper. Yet, even with buying "friends", you will never get the same feel as you do with true and genuine friends.
Lastly comes those who believe happiness definitely exists and can only stem from genuine moments with the right people, not materialistic things. The followers of this mindset claim that no matter if you're rich or poor, a support system of people is vital. Those who support this ideology believe that no matter the situation, if you're with the right people you will be genuinely happy regardless of the circumstances. To put it simply, people make people happy.
To conclude, there is no right or wrong answer. Happiness flexes to the way one perceives it. You could believe in one of the theories, or you could believe in all three. It's all up to you!
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