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IELTS Writing Task 2/ IELTS Essay:

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Happiness is considered very important in life.
Why is it difficult to define?
What factors are important in achieving happiness?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge and experience.

You should write at least 250 words.

Model Answer 1:
Everybody desires to be happy in life and interestingly the requirements to be cheerful vary from person to person. This is the main reason why defining happiness is not that easy. However, there are some common things that are regarded important to be delighted in life.   

Defining happiness is quite challenging because the requirements to achieve it is not fixed. While someone dreams that his economic freedom would make him happy, a very rich man dreams about having a caring family to be happy. Similarly, a couple who do not have any child think about having a baby all the time and would be ready to do anything for that. On the contrary, many poor families, mostly in poor countries, find more children to be their burden. The practical world is quite puzzling and the humankind wants more than they have. When a person’s aim or expectation is fulfilled, he wants more and this is a never ending process. This is why happiness is not a simple word that we can describe with a neat and precise definition.

However, there are some vital factors that are commonly regarded as the main ingredients to be happy in life. First of all, physical and psychological soundness is very important to be happy and people can truly realise that when they get sick. Economic freedom - ability to fulfil the needs in life, is the second most important factor to be happy, in my opinion. It is often said that being happy with an empty stomach is not possible. Thirdly, having a happy family where members love each other and care for them is considered important to be in peace in life. It is usually rare to find a happy person who does not have a pleasant family. Individual freedom is also considered a great influence to be happy in life. Someone without personal freedom cannot feel the happiness. Most importantly, being contented in life is the key to being happy. If someone can be contented with whatever little he has, he will be happy in life.

In conclusion, though there is no easy and precise definition of happiness, common attributes like sound health, caring family, freedom and personal contentment are regarded to be key ingredients to be happy in life.

Sample Answer 2:
It is true that happiness is a prerequisite to people’s quality of life, although an actual definition of happiness seems to be difficult to describe, there are various factors which considered being crucial in acquiring happiness.

It is quite laborious to find out an actual definition for the term HAPPINESS. The reason for this is that happiness means different thing to different people. Most people may have at least one hobby or a treat which could help them to uplift their spirits instantly. While for some people, it might be their job or a career which brings them a sense of fulfilment. At the same time, for others, personal belongings are paramount of a serene life. To take an example of a web designer, Richard Jackson, who believes that the key element for a pleasurable life is a close relationship. In my case, happiness is when I am taking my time out of a hectic routine to spend a quality time along with my family.

There do seem to be some common needs that we all share in regards to experiencing or achieving pleasure. Firstly, investing in personal relationships can give a broad (long) way to boost up people’s level of happiness. For instance, spending even a fraction of time from a whole day with your children while doing some share activities could help to build up an immense mutual understanding as well as an inner satisfaction in them, which is a subtle precursor to bring in levelled happiness. Secondly, a prestigious line of work could help to raise people’s contentment by allowing them to have ample amount of wages. As a result, they can entertain themselves with all the basic necessities of life without worrying about any financial distress.

To sum up, due to a nature of happiness it is not that easy to describe it in one specific sentence. We can merely acknowledge several factors which are mandatory to some extent in seeking happiness.

[ by Shamaila Afzal ]
 

Sample Answer 3:
Happiness is an indispensable emotional factor that we usually pursue in our everyday life. In terms of delineating happiness, it would be intractable, as the meaning varies from person to person. However, apparently, there are several contributing factors of happiness, by which people may incur exalted satisfactions and psychological forbearances.

First of all, happiness may tend to have a definition that varies from several opinions of scholars. Though, I believe it is a simplest need of human being, which could be incurred from any living or material substance. Some people search out pleasure from their wealth, material possessions and social hierarchies while others believe that happiness is a treasure, which could be only possessed from companionship. For example, a supportive and caring family provides someone an utmost happiness and peace that could not be achieved by the lonely one. Additionally, other people may conquer this positive emotion by owning a mansion or driving an expensive car or having high social status.

Apparently, there are several points that play an essential role to grab a happy and delightful life. Firstly, I assume that money could be the most eminent resource that may bring the smile to anyone’s face. Secondly, some happiness could not be traded-off with high salaries such as, having loving families or raise a child to be a good citizen or holding a top position at school or colleges.

To conclude, happiness is a foremost essential part of our lives and we delineate this emotion by linking it with our surrounding environment and various stimulating factors.

[ by Fatima Chowdhury ]
 

Sample Answer 4:
People were always in search of happiness since ancient times and still many of us are trying to find it throughout the whole life. But happiness differs from person to person and it can’t be explained in one word. That’s why it is always difficult to determine its controversial and deep essence.

There are many reasons to think that full happiness is impossible to achieve and moreover it is non-existent in reality. But it is not true and I strongly believe that people underestimate the value of everyday happiness they have living their lives. Standards of being happy in many cultures and countries are quite diverse. For instance, in Asian cultures, the main factors which influence the felicity of its peoples are a big family, care and respect for elders, following the traditions of their ancestors, religion and  harmony with nature and others, material things are less important.

As for western civilisation, the situation is quite different and essential factors in happiness attainment are rather material than spiritual. According to many investigations in this sphere, Europeans are very concerned about money, high social status in society, good job and education. They spend all their lives in pursuit of financial success and material boons are very significant for them. The majorities start their families and have children in their early thirties after having done some progress in the career field. As it can be seen the criteria of happiness are rather wide and varied for millions of people, but nevertheless many things are very similar. All of us would like to be happy in many ways in this life: to be healthy and wealthy, have a family and children, be successful in career, have good friends and live a long and interesting life. It seems to me that main factors in gaining happiness are support from your family and friends, harmony with yourself and surrounding world, good health and so on.

To conclude I would like to say that we are happy only by one great reason, that is our birth into this beautiful and wonderful world, full of many opportunities and chances to believe in happiness.

[ by Silver Moon ]

Sample Answer 5:
WHO defines health as ‘Physical, social and mental well-being’. It is a common misconception that absence of physical ailments makes us healthy and undermining the importance of mental and psychological aspects of health. Happiness broadly relates to the psychological well-being of an individual.

Happiness though very important part of life, unfortunately, it is a relative term and poorly defined. It is also different for an individual. It may change from time to time.  For example, achieving a set financial goal makes a person happy, bur this may not be the same for other. For, a kid, a new toy makes him happy. Enjoying with friends, going on a vacation, clearing examination, new job, marriage, childbirth are some other examples of happiness at different stages of life. Thus every person defines happiness to his character and liking.

There are many ways to achieve happiness. According to me, happiness is finding “Inner peace”. Regular physical exercises can help to gain happiness. This not only improves fitness but also gives a sense of well-being. Practising yoga and meditation will keep your soul satisfied and calm.

Avoidance of addictions such as alcohol, cigarette, and other psychotropic drug are required for leading a happy life. Someone has quoted:” If you play with your brain, the brain will play with you.” these addictions make the person vulnerable to various diseases such as liver cirrhosis, lungs diseases and increases sufferings both physically and economically.

Accepting the negative phases of life and searching happiness in every moment would be the best strategy to remain happy. Mingling with friends, sharing joy and worries would be another best way to reduce pain and increase happiness. I believe, even if the happiness is a relative term, the path of achieving it is common for all.

[ by Shraddha Khanwalkar ]

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