There are many happy moments in a person's life; each has their own unique characteristics that make them memorable or force them to stand out against the rest. For some it is the day they graduate high school, the senior prom, the senior trip, a competition, the day they met their significant other or the day they received an accolade. In my life, I have experienced my own versions of these events, and none of them begins to compare with the happiness I felt when I saw my child for the first time.
I do not think I will ever forget what it was like when I went to my first ultrasound. I was lying on the hospital examination bed feeling nervous; what if something was wrong with the baby? What if there was something wrong with me? So many worries were going through my mind. I know I envied my partner's ability to consume caffeine at that point. All through the preparation I was worried, though I doubt it lasted more than three minutes.
Then, my baby was there on the screen; and it was moving. I could see its little heart beating and watch its feet twitch. They may seem like small things, but relief and joy flooded over me. I started crying; that was my baby on the screen. The pride and happiness I experienced were like nothing I had ever felt before.
Everyone experiences happiness in their lives, and each person has a different way of ranking the joyful moments in their lives. Some reflect on that last big win, others have their own milestones. For me, actually being able to see the life that my partner and I created surpasses any other. I'm pretty sure seeing my partner hold his first child will probably surmount it, and being able to hold the child myself will crown even that. But for now, nothing compares to the sight of my child for me; it will be with me for the rest of my life.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Tia - your story is of course interesting, but it needs a more serious claim. In the first paragraph, where we would expect an initial statement of the claim and an indication of the evidence you intend to deploy in your essay, you say only that people experience happiness on a variety of occasions. After talking about your own particular happy event, you return to the question of diversity with the new issue of rankability of happy occasions -- not really a pertinent question at this point.
I see at least two issues that might be raised in conjunction with your essay. First, there are people who deny that "happiness" has any particular meaning (you'd need a citation of some sort to document that stance); you might answer that happiness occurs in a variety of occasions, but we can all unerringly identify it when it occurs.
Second, you seem to be talking about happy moments. What about happy life? Are they the same kind of thing? If you are already living a happy life, would you notice the difference if you had a happy event?
You could even go the other way. The fact that your feeling of happiness was so pronounced suggests to you that your life as a whole is not happy. Sort of like thirst -- if you keep yourself continuously hydrated, you may never experience thirst. As a matter of fact, if you go a few days without water, you will probably experience something like happiness when you finally get a drink.
So... is happiness something extra, or is it the relief of a deficiency? And is there any inherent connection between what is felt in all the varieties of experience identified as happiness contexts?
These are just off-the-cuff suggestions. I'm sure there are other claims you could dream up that might be supported by your story. Remember, the trick is to put together a coherent argument -- NOT (necessarily) to be correct, or even to believe what you're saying.
Post a Comment