The definition of maturity and happiness. use this to help you create your own definition along your journey of life!

     What does it mean to be happy and to be mature? Well to start off with answering that it is important to answer the question of what is the definition of maturity and happiness? The answer to both may vary from person to person. We all view the world differently and grew up in a different way with a different surrounding environment. External factors can affect what you yourself define as happiness or to be mature. Aristotle's definition of happiness was that ‘’ the function of man is to live a certain kind of life, and this activity implies a rational principle, and the function of a good man is the good and noble performance of these, and if any action is well performed it is performed in accord with the appropriate excellence: if this is the case, then happiness turns out to be an activity of the soul in accordance with virtue. (Nicomachean Ethics, 1098a13).’’ breaking down this quote Aristotle is saying that happiness is when one exercises virtue since they are connected to one another. Happiness is not temporary, but rather one needs to achieve it through the entirety of their lifetime. They must go through all hardships and achieve what it is they set out to achieve. Also, according to Aristotle happiness follows along with one's moral character. I completely agree with Aristotle's definition of happiness. Happiness is such an important topic to understand and to achieve within Ones' lifetime because we want to be the best we can possibly be and be content with life. It is hard to go through life unhappy.  

William James also had an approach on the definition of happiness in which I agree on as well. Willaim James's definition of happiness was that with happiness comes a choice. He also believed that happiness can after a crisis and that you cannot just stumble upon happiness, but you must also put in the effort to seek it. For example, I would like to put this into terms that all college students can relate to today. We are all struggling financially, we are on the path to finding ourselves and making important decisions that affect our future, and we are constantly overwhelmed. We can either try to make the best of the situation and learn from it and try to grow which will be your choice at the end of the day or you can just keep complaining which will not get you anywhere. 

 

With time we become more open to the world. We start to actually make our own interpretations of situations rather than when we were younger our guardians would hold off information from us or they simply just make our decisions for us. Immanuel Kant makes a good point when he says “Immaturity is man’s inability to make use of his understanding without direction from another. This immaturity is self-imposed when its cause lies not in lack of reason but in lack of resolution and courage to use it without direction from another.” He is basically saying that with maturity and growing up comes courage, Courage for what? Courage to do things on your own as well as thinking for yourself. I want to continue relating this topic to the college years because I feel like most of us can relate to it. This is the time in our lives where we separate from our parents and start to be more independent and to make our own decisions. We start to become our own people. That is a huge thing for maturity and growing up. 

 

I feel like providing definitions of happiness and maturity from other Philosophers and explanations we can start to make our own definitions of those two important themes. We cannot achieve something if we do not know what it is that we are achieving. Especially at the age we are at right now it is very important to start growing and expanding on our own and to find our own definitions of happiness and how it is that we can become our own person and not to be being someone else's shadow. I had fun seeing what past philosophers contribute into making their own definitions and ways of life. It is also interesting to see their past and what got them to that process of thinking. As we grow, we will take our own journeys through life and eventually make our own definitions of happiness and maturity while we are still exploring the world around us.