The American Heart Association's Heart Walk (DC 2013)

Just a few moments ago I asked my girlfriend what I should write about for my blog post today. I told her the topics, "How is leisure connected to happiness?" and "What makes people happy?”; and she told me to write about the Heart Walk she, myself, and her sister participated in yesterday.  As I was thinking about it, I told her I didn't think the walk itself was something that contributed to my happiness; however the social aspect of the experience did. She had a different personal opinion; she said that the walk as well as the social aspect both directly contributed to her happiness. This is a prime example of the argument that I made in my second paper; satisfying conscious or unconscious personal needs and desires is what makes one happy. My girlfriend lives an extremely healthy lifestyle and it is one of her top desires in life to be as physically fit as possible. While I do consider fitness important, it is not an intrinsically rewarding desire, as it is for her. In other words, I do not necessarily gain happiness from the mere participation in fitness related activities as she does.  Fitness for me is more extrinsically rewarding and therefore my happiness cannot be derived from participation in such an activity as walking. I would have to see results such as weight loss. Completing the walk itself was a goal that led to her happiness because her goal was participation and her desire was intrinsic. I had no goals in mind while participating.  I only reaped the extrinsic reward of spending time with her and her sister. While the event made both of us happy, it made us happy for different reasons.  This goes to show that participation in activities will only produce happiness so long as the desires and or needs for that person are being met. Would participating in a Heart Walk make you happy? Follow the link for the American Heart Association’s Heart Walk and find out.