The Happiness Hypothesis

The reading of The Happiness Hypothesis was interesting but what stood out to me was the reading of Failures Of Self Control. In which after his experiment conducted in 1970 with four year old children, Walter Mischel concluded “that the successful children were those who looked away from the temptation or were able to think about other enjoyable activities. These thinking skills are an aspect of emotional intelligence—and ability to understand and regulate one’s own feelings and desires” (18). I can relate to this because as a person we are all confronted with temptations, some which could be seen as good and others that can get you into trouble. We are always confronted with decisions, like to either study or go out to party. In which having the skills of emotional intelligence will show which person has their priorities and goals straight. For me it has been beneficial when I have used my skills of emotional intelligence but that was not the case when I did not used it. Throughout high school studies always came first, so I missed out in a few weekends when I had to study for an exam or work on a project.

For the most part I have had control my feelings and desires but sometimes those two qualities get the upper hand on me. These are the instances that have gotten me into trouble in a couple of occasions; experiences which have helped me mature and become a better person. The desire to prove I was a better driver than my best friend ended up costing me six months of probation and my car getting towed and impounded, the feeling of overconfidence lead me to cut classes an instead of ending my Jr. semester with all A’s I ended up with all B’s. I had friends who did not see the point in school and ended up in gangs, drugs, alcohol, and eventually dropped out of high school. Reading Mischel’s conclusion of his experiment makes me realize that it is true, people with the ability of understanding and controlling their feelings and desires in life will be the ones that will succeed. I know from experience that falling into temptations in the past and even know have gotten me into problems or at least felt a sense of regret the next day.

I believe that everyone should think about every decision one makes and try to embrace the concept emotional intelligence. The results could be beneficial not just to the individual but to society as a whole. Maybe people will realize that money, power, pleasure, and greed are not essential to a good life or that we should not aspire to these things. Today people have fallen to temptation in which money became the number priority for them and everything else did not matter. Everyone should have desires in life but one should be patient and understand that it takes time and work to obtain them. If we are able to focus on other things instead of obsessing over one single thing or object maybe as people we would not make so many unwise decisions.