The Sad Truth

I recently read the book, Bright-Sided, by Barbara Ehrenreich. The front boasted: "How positive thinking has undermined America". This was the main reason I was interested in reading it. Who has the nerve to say that being happy, which I believe naturally corresponds with being positive, is a bad thing? After I finished reading, I was kind of offended. Like other non-fiction books I find myself reading (i.e. The Dumbest Generation), the author constantly undermines the audience and bombards them with facts and figures to prove themselves right. Ehrenreich seemed so keen to notice the downfalls of others and was completely oblivious to her own mistakes. This is what made me dislike the book. But, some of what she said held truth. In certain situations, being realistic is a good thing. As in, if you believe in your heart that you won't die from jumping off a bridge, then get seriously hurt for doing so, you are crazy. You should be realistic in these matters. And in the instance of telling people, "Everything's going to be okay", you should stop and think to yourself how you would feel, because being blindingly positive is annoying. That I understand. Ehrenreich meant, underneath all of her negativity and logical fallacies, that just because being positive is wrong doesn't mean you should be negative. Instead, understand life for what it is and plan realistically.
As you can tell, I had mixed feelings. The book certainly made interesting claims that sparked serious questions.

As a conclusion to reading, I decided to watch Happy, a popular documentary about what being "happy" means to people all over the world. And I absolutely loved it.
It wasn't just some guy with a camera that jogged around to the world's most interesting places to take video of people laughing. It was about the science of happiness and why some people are happier than others. It described the difference between searching for happiness extrinsically and intrinsically. Extrinsically means searching for the approval of others and expecting that after good things happen, you will be happy. Intrinsically means searching for your own approval, surrounding yourself with family and friends, and having a desire to better the world. You can guess which group included happier people. Last summer, I worked at Camp Shamineau, a Christian camp in central Minnesota. There, I was surrounded by a welcoming group of people that loved to serve others and support one another in every way. I found that when I was there, I was happier than I have ever been. I was searching for happiness intrinsically, something that may or may not be the case ever since I've returned home.
The documentary also described the differences between Japan and Bhutan, Asian countries with very different views on the importance of happiness.

Japan, following World War 2, pushed for the importance of gaining success and money above all else. As a result of this, their people are chronically depressed and fall victim to "working to death", which they have a word for - karoshi.

Bhutan, on the other hand focuses primarily on "gross national happiness" vs. "gross national product" and are a much happier country.
At the end of the video, I had cried three or four times and was definitely on the side of happiness. During one of the scenes with old people from Okinawa (who are incredibly happy and healthy) folding paper cranes at the whopping age of 106, I was deeply concerned that I wouldn't be able to do so when I am old. I probably already have carpal tunnel.
My life is good and I have something to give.