Healthy vs. Happy, Essay Example

There is a growing sociological trend for people to consider engaging in healthier behaviors. Unfortunately, many people are struggling to find an effective combination of healthy and happy in their lives. As these two concepts interrelate, people seek to find a proper balance, which is difficult balance to understand.

The first step in understanding this balance is to understand what it means to be healthy. “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (Nordqvist, 2009). By resolving conflicts that can impact physical, mental and social well-being people are able to properly establish themselves as healthy individuals. This can sometimes be a laborious task, especially considering many people lack the necessary resources to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

The second step is in understanding what it means to be happy. The psychological concept of happiness is one that is difficult to understand; however, all people continue to venture towards their own personal ‘pursuit of happiness’. The road to happiness is complex and has many roadblocks. “The bluebird of happiness isn’t just going to come and land on your arm. Sometimes you have to fake it till you make it. Miserable people tend to have miserable faces, which makes people avoid them, which creates a vicious cycle” (Chaudhuri, 2012). With this in mind, many people work hard to force themselves to be happy and sometimes what makes people feel happy is drastically unhealthy behavior.

While people seek to manage the complex interrelation of happy and healthy, decisions must be made at a certain point to place higher value of one over the other. This value differs for each person and can also depend on the situation. However, this interrelation is impossible to ignore and all people must decide between being healthy and being happy.

Bibliography

Chaudhuri, A. (2012). What does it mean to be happy?.Psychologies Magazine, Retrieved from http://www.psychologies.co.uk/self/what-does-it-mean-to-be-happy.html

Nordqvist, C. (2009, May 21). What is health? what does good health mean?. Medical News Today, Retrieved from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/150999.php