The Qualities of Happiness

“The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts”

-Marcus Aurelius

I believe that happiness only comes from within yourself. Illusions of joy can come from outside sources, but whether or not you are happy with what you have is ultimately decided by no one other then yourself. For example, wealthy people can often be very unhappy with their lives. On the other hand, there are many poor people who are perfectly content with their lives. This shows me that there is something other then money that fuels happiness.

I believe that happiness is a state of mind, not something that you can see or feel. Additionally, I don’t think that it’s a conscious thing; you can’t just think you are happy; you have to really feel it. This is achieved by the quality of your thinking, the more developed your thoughts are, the more developed your actions will be, which often translates into success in whatever you may be doing. This could be anything from winning a basketball game to writing an essay. I believe that every success, no matter how small, contributes to my well-being. Additionally, I think that each success is born from the quality of my thoughts.

Because of my belief that my thinking affects how I look at reality, I place little value in materiel wealth. They are more of a convenience then a necessity. Basically, I think that what goes on inside my head is much more important then what goes on outside of it. I believe that happiness with what you have only depends on how you look at it. Also, how you look at materiel things is direct response to the quality. I believe this because their value is completely based on the perspective that they are looked at with. The higher the quality of your thoughts, the better everything around you will seem.