Page 12 - PowerE-L05-C

Lesson 3

Happiness

I don’t understand it when people find it difficult to

answer a simple question. Perhaps the simplest thing
can be the most complex thing in the world. When

people are asked “what is happiness,” they tend to reply
pathetically evasive answers such as, “that’s a tough

question” or worse escape to the lamest cliché, “every-

body knows what happiness is but no one can define
it.”Don’t we know what makes us happy, and so can’t

we put that into words? Happiness is a physiological process produced by the
hypothalamus when it is stimulated. This gland in the brain releases endorphin

that counteracts the stress hormone cortisol, inducing this happiness sensa-
tion. Happiness does not have to feel stress, worry, fear, pain, or any sort of

discomfort. We always think that happiness is something subtle and evasive
just like love. In other words, when you chase it, it goes away but when you

don’t, it comes to you. We should just take happiness as it is: a bundle of sen-
sation stimulated pleasantly.

Comprehension

1. What does “the lamest cliché” mean?
2. Why does the writer mention ‘love’?
3. According to the paragraph, when can we experience a happiness sensa-
tion?

Questions

1. How do you define happiness?
2. What makes you blissful and poignant?
3. When is the happiest moment in your life?
4. What other evasive questions can you think of?

Vocabulary & Expressions

evasive : to evade, slip away or elude
lame : weak, ineffectual
cliché : an expression that is used too often and has lost most of its meaning
hypothalamus : the region of the brain situated below the thalamus and above the pituitary gland,
which acts as a center of control of the autonomic nervous system and hormonal activity; it is
involved in the regulation of involuntary functions, such as body temperature
gland : an organ of the body which produces a substance that the body needs, such as sweat
counteract : to reduce or prevent the bad effect of something by doing something that has the
opposite effect
cortisol : a kind of hormone
poignant : painful to the feelings

10