Argumentative Essay: The Meaning of Life

This was one of the first academic paper's that I wrote in college--I was a freshman taking a writing intensive course. I argue that the "true" meaning of life, from my own perspective, is to maintain a positive mindset, thus allowing a person to discover long-lasting happiness.  

Kayla Morales

ENG 106-20

Professor Erwin

20 November 2014

Life is made up of various unique elements. The components could be love, family, education, or even religion.  Many individual’s feel that the elements that make the basis of human existence may not be enough to define life’s meaning. The real definitive answer to the meaning of life is to have optimistic thoughts. To have and maintain a positive mindset will allow an individual to discover life satisfaction and happiness.

Many people refute the claim that the meaning of life is to have positive thoughts; most believe that life’s true meaning is based on negative cognitions. From their perspective, having a positive mindset will make a person become weak, fragile, and sensitive.  They also claim that positivity will make an individual become fragile to unforeseen or unfortunate events, because they were not mentally prepared to deal with hardships that come with disastrous occurrences. In other words having negative thoughts is more useful than having good thoughts (Hilgard 639-640).

It has been argued that people are naturally conditioned to believe that negativity is unscrupulous, but recent reports disprove that claim. For instance, negative incidents tend to have everlasting effects as oppose to positive occurrences. The negative effects allow individuals to reflect, evaluate themself, and grab opportunities.  Positivity can lead to regrets over missed chances because someone might cling to the hope that something better will always come. Not only can positivity lead to regrets, it can also wear off life satisfaction. Its been proven in studies that negative behaviors and cognitions create long-term life satisfaction.  Negativity has also shown to exert positive effects; it allows people to acknowledge problems that have been overlooked, be considerate of new ideas, and develop innovation and change (Hilgard 639-640).

Regardless of what others might believe, the path to discover the connotation of life is to lead a fruitful existence of sanguinity and positive thoughts. For many years, scientists and psychologists have emphasized the importance of happiness as a way to achieve a wholesome life. Cross-cultural research has shown that cultures that promote positivity and its value are more likely to find life satisfaction (Bastian 639-643).

Studies indicate that negative mood and cognitions lead to mind wandering. It can alter a person’s attention span and prevent an individual from achieving and committing to tasks. Psychologists suggest that negativity reduces the attentional blink, which is an impermanent failure to uncover a second goal that follows the first.  Attentional blink is closely related to positivity, and if affected it can contribute to unfulfilled promises and commitments, also leading to long-term errors in life (Smallwood 272). 

According to the broad-and-build theory, positivity expands an individual’s contemplations and actions that come to a person’s mind, thus allowing that individual to practice new behaviors that can develop new skills. Negativity only develops a lack of motivation and gumption to explore new skills and is linked to unhappiness and discontentment (Olčar 172-173).

In order to think positively, a person must first identify negative thought processes.  The first is filtering, if a person focuses on the negative pieces of a situation while overlooking the positives, this will create a pessimistic mentality. Other elements would be self-blame when things do not go right, anticipating the worst, and viewing life as either bad or good (“Positive thinking").  

While there are negative thought processes that contribute to a pessimistic mindset, there are steps to stray away from negativity to think positively. The first step is to identify areas of improvement or change by detecting negative thoughts. Another way is to evaluate personal thoughts, especially if it is negative, and try discovering a way to make them optimistic. Having a good sense of humor contributes to a positive mindset, as well as laughing through trying times can help a person feel less stressed. Additionally, leading a healthy lifestyle affects an individual’s mood and stress level. When a person surrounds themselves with optimistic people their optimism will influence that person to follow their path of positivity. Not only can it transform a person to be positive, it helps a person be dependable on someone when it comes to emotional support and advice, thus allowing them to vent and exterminate negativity. Lastly, practicing positive self-talk through encouragement and compliments will enable a person to fight off the negative thoughts and replace them with pleasant reflections (“Positive thinking”).

The most important element that comes with optimistic mindset is finding life satisfaction. This will help a person find meaning in life, which can be considered to be the foundation of human motivation and well-being (Heintzelman and King 561). According to the authors of Positive Youth Development And Life Satisfaction Among Youths, “Life satisfaction is an individual’s cognitive evaluation on their overall quality of life based on the individual’s set criteria” (Mahadzirah, Morliyati Mohammad, and Ali 2784).

Psychologists have portrayed meaning in life as simultaneously chronically lacking in human life as well as playing an important role in survival. Examining the growing literature on meaning in life, we address the question “How meaningful is life, in general?” (Heintzelman, and King 561).

Life satisfaction is also based on an individual’s prosperities in life such as job security, personal relationships, and health. Age plays no factor in finding life satisfaction; there are programs that try to spread its value and significance amongst old and young people. Positive Youth Development (PYD) is a program that tries to implement optimism amongst adolescences through medical professionals, psychologists, and social workers. It has been proven that youths with high life satisfaction play a crucial part to the development of the adolescent (Mahadzirah, Morliyati Mohammad, and Ali 2783).

Positivity also comes with beneficial outcomes such as financial stability; it builds ego-resilience, improves mental and physical health, and longevity. Ego resilience is a trait that reveals a person’s capability to adapt to changes. With strong ego resilience, many individuals can experience positive emotions and thoughts (Cohn 362).

“A positive mental attitude encompasses the gamut of life's experiences.” The article, A Positive Mental Attitude Benefits Health, Longevity and Quality of Life, discusses research from Harvard School of Public Health that show that an optimistic viewpoint will lower the risks of heart disease in older men. The University of Pittsburgh research shows that optimism in women can have less thickening of carotid artery walls. These studies prove to show that positivity can lower and reduce the risk of health ailments.

The article also explains how positive cognitions and an optimistic attitude can be beneficial for old age. A positive outlook greatly affects the quality of a person’s life, which can be immunity and longevity. Studies continue to prove that having a positive outlook will reduce and even prevent health problems and cause people to make healthy adjustments.  It can also enable a person to properly deal with negative situations and can help others to think positive (“A Positive Mental Attitude”).

Yale University studied the effects of positive psychology.  It has been shown that a person who exhibits a positive viewpoint could add seven and a half years to their lifespan than those who do not. Incorporating positivity in a person’s everyday life will allow people to enjoy their days of living, which will also enable them to find life’s meaning. Positive mindset can also overcome negative thoughts and emotions, thus making people happier and more content. Positive psychology is mostly practiced on older adults, to give them the opportunity to find meaning in their lives (Milner 25).

We can focus on gaining the tools needed to give older members opportunities to improve their health and enjoy life to the fullest. Or we can help younger people find greater purpose in their work and inspire them to accomplish more in their lives. The key is to remember that we have the power to change the way people around us see the world and themselves. One of the ways to do this is through positive psychology. This emerging field involves the study of positive emotion, positive character and positive institutions. Some researchers believe that positive psychology can create lasting change and help people overcome negative emotions to be happier, more engaged individuals (Milner 25).

It has also been proven that finding the meaning of life through positive cognitions is essential for a person’s well-being, while being an important indicator of physical and psychological health. Its been reported when people discover life’s meaning they can feel less pain, have no physical disabilities, and no indication of depression at their one-year follow up compared to those who found no meaning (Lightsey 436).

Researchers in determining positive quality of life have utilized psychotherapy.  It has been shown that psychotherapy improves features in the quality of life and enriches life satisfaction; it also helps prevent depression and other mental illnesses (Chou 419).

 Positive cognitions can also control the relationship between meaning in life and stress. Studies proved to show that positive automatic cognitions do control stress and meaning in life for many individuals (Boyraz, Güler, and Lightsey 532).

            The meaning of life comes with various complex connotations; but the true meaning of life is to maintain an optimistic mentality. Exhibiting a positive attitude will allow a person to find life satisfaction, happiness, and pleasure. It will also enable a person to make healthy adjustments while at the same time their positivity is also preventing health ailments. Studies continue to support that positivity helps an individual find meaning in their life, but also encouraging people to spread positivity throughout society. Regardless of age or gender, a positive mindset will forever be imperative for all of humanity.