IN Aldous Huxley's " Brave New World " the hero , Bernard Marx , turns to his girlfriend Lenina ;
" Don't you wish you were free , Lenina ? "
" I don't know what you mean . I am free . Free to have the most wonderful time . Everybody's happy nowadays ."
HE laughed , " yes , everybody's happy nowadays ." We have been giving the children that at five . But wouldn't you like to be free to be happy in some other way , Lenina ? In your own way , for example ; not in everybody else's way ."
" I don't know what you mean ," she repeated .
A typical day is full of anxiety and boredom , cheerfulness and happiness provide the necessary flashes for dealing and living against this dull background . Thus we live in a state of being completely involved in our activities for their own sake .
Every action , movement , and thought follows naturally from the previous one , like playing music , jazz for example , your whole being is involved , and you're using your skills to the utmost . With enough adjustment , we could all be making beautiful jazz of our lives .
People who learn to control inner experience will be able to determine the quality of their lives , which is as close as any of us can come to being happy . Csikszentmihalyi writes : "There are two main strategies we can adopt to improve the quality of our life , the first is to try making external conditions match our goals . The second is to change how we experience external conditions to make them fit our goals better .... We cannot deny the facts of nature , but we should certainly try to improve on them .
Some researchers ( Diener) believe they can measure happiness . They conducted a study that found a correlation between the incomes of undergraduates twenty years after graduation with their level of cheerfulness , their research also showed that people with some sense of humor in life , and happy people in general have higher supervisor ratings , higher organizational citizenship , and higher incomes .
Grandiose illusions and some dreaming , are complimentary to cheerfulness and a good sense of humor , for the well being and happiness of us all . They come in three types ; (1) unrealistically positive views of the self ; (2) exaggerated perceptions of personal control ; and (3) unrealistic optimism . All of these exaggerated illusions can , managed the right way , improve our lives . Illusions are good for us , and therefore , by extension , unembellished and the not decorated reality is negative in our lives and for our happiness .
Sharing with you all some ideas inspired by the amazing Hedges , thanks for your patience , and salamat.
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