This was an essay we had to write for school. It's supposed to be about our own theory of happiness. This is my second draft and my teacher wants me to re-write it without "so many weak verbs" (like THAT'S not a loaded statement :P) But I don't like it as much in the third draft so I'm posting the second. Tell me what you think about my theory. I'd love to hear about yours!
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Fatigue, guilt, change in sleeping or eating habits, suicidal thoughts, feeling worthless: these are symptoms used to describe depression. It is a disease named after a feeling: hopelessness. Depression isn’t just a list of symptoms; it is a loss of hope; it is despair. One in ten Americans are stuck in this hole which only grows deeper. How are you supposed to find your way out? Being out of the pit means freedom, happiness. But happiness seems impossible to reach it when you are miles away. You can only attain happiness once you are no longer hopeless. Happiness is hope if, and only if, hope is love.
Happiness, hope, and love are not necessarily entirely different ideas. The dictionary might say different, but in truth, love and hope are connected. It is my belief that you cannot attain happiness without hope in love. But in order to better understand the meaning of these words and their connection, understanding their opposites might be helpful. Hate is the opposite of love. It is a grudging emotion; it is also clingy in that it does not let go easily. Once you have had a taste of it, it wants to stay and it’s difficult to push away. It is the kind of feeling that is hard to shake, and at times, it is easiest just to let it stay. Hate is when you are so completely against something that you cannot help but feel immense, passionate anger towards that which makes you hate. On the other hand, unconditional love, is when you care so much about someone that you cannot help but feel happy for what they are happy about; you would do anything for them. And true love cannot be for an object. It must be for someone. A love of money or a love of happiness is not the same thing as love for someone dear to you. Hopelessness is slightly different from hate. When someone is hopeless, they cannot see the light in any situation; they are in complete and utter despair and disrepair. They are devoid of love, but also, at times, of hate. Sheer emptiness is even harder to fill than hate is to take away. Then, there is hope: a feeling that has crushed defeat, brought people out of oppression, nurtured dreams. Hope is what conquers all odds, what brings people together. It is a thread that people cling to, especially in times of trouble. As the band ‘for King and Country’ said in one of their songs, “Hope is what we crave”. We long for something to hope for when the days look bleak. Hope is where we turn when we need something to look forward to. It is from these things: love and hope, that I believe happiness emerges.
In my own life, the times I can think of when I have experienced happiness, pure and clear, have always had to do with my faith. As a Christian, I believe in a God who loves me unconditionally, even after every sinful thing I’ve done. I have hope, too: hope for Christ’s return to our broken earth, hope for the moment when I get to stand before my God, hope for my own place in heaven. Christianity is not just a religion to me, not even just a religion of salvation: it is a reason to hope, to love, to receive love, and ultimately, be happy. It is in these moments when I realize just how immensely lucky I am to know this love that others may not. I am so blessed to be able to feel this hope that not everyone has come to understand along with me. That is what happiness is to me: a beautiful fusion of love and hope.
Other people might have different ideas about happiness. They believe that they can find happiness in material or tangible things. Some say, “Cutting myself makes me happy,” but this is incorrect. They do not cut themselves to feel happy, they do it to feel like they have control over their lives. When you’re in a hopeless place, sometimes people feel that control over themselves is all they have. Cutting will not make you feel happy, but it only takes you away from despair for a short time. It doesn’t help you move away from hopelessness, only pushes you closer. The same is true with drugs and alcohol. Feeling free and wild are examples of what these things make you feel, and they are only temporary. You are only exposing yourself even more, rather than protecting your heart. It is a temporary escape from hate and hopelessness. As this theory has explained , love and hope are what free you from these things. And love and hope are not temporary.
Looking at the world through a lense clouded by hope is deceivingly clear. Hope gives you the ability to look to a bright future, towards a new beginning. And hope is an even more beautiful thing when it is colored in warm love. That is why this theory of happiness is the only one that is correct: through hope in love, you have a chance at understanding of happiness. There is no other way to attain happiness. As said before, the materialistic world will not help you in your search. Additionally, hope and love are available to anyone. Anyone who wants to hope or wants to love can. It does not matter if you are rich or poor, sad or content, trapped or free. With hope and with love, you can see the way out of the hole you have been trapped in. The way out could be just within your grasp.