You should spend about 40 minutes on IELTS writing task 2.
Many people think that every individual is responsible for their happiness, but some people believe there are other external factors that influence us. Discuss both views and give your opinion.
Give specific reason and explain them with examples from your own experience or knowledge.
You should write at least 250 words in IELTS writing task 2.
Question Overview
Topic : happiness
Type : Discussion
Model Answer 1 :
People have different views/ approaches to happiness in life. So everyone does different takes to live a happy life. Some people believe that happiness depends on themselves, while others correlate it with other factors like financial status and success. I would discuss both the views and also discuss some points which strengthen my viewpoints in the upcoming paragraph.
On the one hand, happiness is varied person to person, but there is some reason why some people think that no other than themselves can make them happy is that they believe money is not everything I mean to say, wealth does not need to lead much happiness. People can buy easy thing with cash but not inner satisfaction. For example, most rich people have the power to buy anything which they want except happiness, and they live a stressful and sad life. However, factors like inner satisfaction, job and health are equally important as money to determine the level of happiness. Sometimes people who earn low are happier than a rich person because they find joy in small things and satisfied with their lives because of their positive attitude and confidence level.
On the other hand, the cause why the people on the opposite side regard external factors as essential to becoming happy. Some preconditions are required to achieve happiness. It is hard for a person to live happy when he or she is not feeling well or do not have enough food for him and his family or not live on safe place so in these situation people can not live happily. We know family is essential for all and people to live happily with their family but how a poor person live happy if one of his family members is not well and he can not afford his/ her treatment which affects his happiness.
In conclusion, I believe that, however, our thinking way, attitude and confidence are the primitive factors for being happy, I admit that other external factors overshadow our happiness in life.
Model Answer 2 :
For some people, happiness is only a state of mind, and a person is individually responsible for it; however, for many others, happiness depends upon external things. In my opinion, external factors play a massive part in making a person happy. Both the viewpoints are elaborated from the essay.
Happiness is thought of as the sole responsibility of somebody by many. This is because people have the perception that happiness depends on an individual’s state of mind and heart as well as every person must have the ability to take control of one’s emotions. Moreover, many self-help books, yoga and meditation institutes preach how to take charge of your state of mind to keep good mental health and peace. Happiness for them is all about internal satisfaction and through practices like yoga and meditation, it can be gained.
Conversely, many people consider external factors extremely crucial for their bliss. That is to say; every individual has some expectations or dreams that they want to fulfil, be it a good job, living with family, a house or a big car. Individuals often feel fulfilled after attaining something substantial or fulfilling one or the other dream, and this further brings a feeling of bliss within them. Furthermore, researches and surveys have proved that the weather also has a significant impact on people’s state of mind. By way of instance, according to the study conducted by the Times of India, Pune was on top of the record of the happiest cities of India because of its pleasant weather.
In conclusion, although many people feel that happiness can be achieved entirely without considering other factors, it cannot be denied that someone cannot be happy if externally everything is going against his expectations.
