Happiness Myths

While therapist Sherry Amatenstein’s article “Everyone wants to be happy. Almost everyone is going about it wrong,” attempts to expose the variety of mistakes made in the pursuit of happiness, it fails to live up to its premise. Instead, through a series of repetitive and unfulfilling examples, the article repeatedly emphasizes a single, unimpressive thesis. This compilation of the common myths about happiness is formatted in a list style, supposedly outfitted with six different mistakes made when finding happiness. However, the items on this list are far from unique; Amatenstein lists “[They won’t be happy if] they keep saying ‘I’ll be happy when…’” (Amatenstein “Happiness Myths”) and “They think a four star meal… will make them happy” as two distinct points, as if expectancy and materialism are distinct entities. Though these two points could’ve easily been combined into one category, they’re instead haphazardly strewn at different points in the article, each complete with a long-winded and analysis-strewn dialogue from a patient who has experienced this issue. Due to the word-count requirements of list articles, this repetitiveness would be excusable if Amatenstein was actually saying something. Instead, the article reads more like the words of an optimist than a therapist, complete with discussions about a patient’s “inner warrior spirit” and the parallels between Amatenstein’s dog and happiness alike. Despite its attempts to the contrary, this repetition and filler makes Amatenstein’s article a test on the reader’s happiness itself.