Happiness

[Tea]

Happiness is feeling, and being able to feel the wide range of emotions presented in life to absorb. It is being able to relish in experiences, and search through your memory, on any given account, and smile, looking back on the moments you created.On the moments you most cherish within. Happiness, can be the hardest thing in life to obtain, it can be a live long struggle; and for some it does not/never will come easy. That being said i can only speak for myself, and what i have learned is: it can always be worse, your problem in a larger context is probably quite trival and as long as you have the means to surive and have *love* it your life then you will be ok.

But of all the things in this world that can provoke happienss in others i would say that love is the key facotor. Loving someone enough and knowing someone enough that you can create inside jokes that leave you crying in laughter. Knowing someone enough that you can be just who you are and see your worth recognized in another human being.

It is not money.
It is not material.

It is accepting yourself with love and confidence and then sharing that with the people who capacitate your world. The people that make your life worth living, and of those people you should certainly be one of them.

[veN]

Life is good =)

[miss.myra]

the more attached you are to your past/people/material things (etc) the less your mind is free to feel happiness..

or so I've found.

[Goodfellow]

passions, skills, dreams, friends, family, good times.. you gotta focus on the positive aspects of life. realize that worrying about or regretting things that happen in your life is pointless. I find it's usually your energy level that effects mood.. working out everyday helps this immensely. not giving a fuck what people think of you. <-- way, way too many people get caught up in that.

not being slave #193 working for "XXX" corporation wasting your life away really helps in being free and content as well

thats my minimal imput

[Cosmos]

happiness is being completely content with your surroundings and yourself. it's knowing who you are and what you want, even though you might not have it yet- it's just knowing that you one day will.

[sungoo]

happiness is much easier to obtain when you feel validated.

[Sykonee]

I read that "Art of Happiness" a while back, and it really just reaffirmed most of what I already believed in anyways. I always think of the analogy of how a Saharan sheppard is filled with joy over finding a working water well, yet a great number of city folk are unhappy with their running tap water.

If ever feeling discontent, just look up on a starry sky and realize there is far more to the cosmos than your concerns. Be grateful for what you do have because, after all, isn't just being alive enough?

[Veni*C]

myra:sucha good point,.. allthought its good to remeber the past and the good times you had.. too many people get caught up/stuck living in their past.. people need to LIVE IN THE NOW.... look forward to the future and all the great things that it will bring you.. :)

sal: making other people happy brings genuine happiness to yourself....im all about that! :)

[mapleleaf4ever]

I try to find happiness where I can. Wether it's at 9,000' above Vancouver at 1am or just walking down the street by myself in the Rain with just my thoughts and my MiniDisc. I don't let things bother me on a deep level. I have my priorities and special things to me in my life. As long as those things aren't being fucked with and are in general well being; I'm cool. Once one of my priorities is messed with... then I do what I can to correct it. Equilibrium. It's what I like to keep.

[Moon]

i find the higher magnitude of sadness and shittyness you'll experience, the more happiness you'll experience in return. i don't believe in constant happiness....

[Veni*C]

^^ it always seems that way eh?......

im helping my sister do a project on buddha... and i came across this quote:

"The quality of life depends not upon external development or material progress, but upon the inner development of peace and happiness. For example, in the past many Buddhists lived in poor and underdeveloped countries, but they were able to find pure, lasting happiness by practicing what Buddha had taught"

basically the point i was trying to make....:)

i liked this one too:
"Without inner peace, outer peace is impossible. If we first establish peace within our minds by training in spiritual paths, outer peace will come naturally; but if we do not, world peace will never be achieved, no matter how many people campaign for it"

[Goodfellow]

Originally Posted by k-pryde

i find the higher magnitude of sadness and shittyness you'll experience, the more happiness you'll experience in return. i don't believe in constant happiness....

you should teach philosophy

[onefour]

Originally Posted by rawb

stop listening to people
you are never as awesome or as shitty as people will say

learn to laugh
no matter how lame or how depressing a situation is, there is some humour in it or something that is worth smiling about
even if it's just how shook it's got you
there is a time to wallow in self-pity but you also need to move on

take family, your friends and your health seriously
everything else will go in waves of good and bad but those three things will ground you

you can find happiness and comfort in anything

thats hot :blunt: and excactly how it goes!

[Moon]

Originally Posted by GoodFlow

you should teach philosophy

fuck that i hate philosophy

[wum]

I think happiness has to be 'earned' somewhat.

There's that happiness you get from going out with friends drunk for shits and giggles, but that's rather fleeting. I think we all have an ingrained conscience that tells us when we deserve something or not. Hence the satisfaction you get from getting employment.

[Goodfellow]

Originally Posted by k-pryde

fuck that i hate philosophy

i was being sarcastic

[SEAN!]

though im content with my life i havent been consistently happy in a long time, i blame it on being neurotic as my thoughts alwasy go back to bad memories that cause both emotional and physical pain....the shitty weather of late hasnt helped either.

and your right material wealth while dope isnt the key to happiness, i find that i am truly happy when i have good relationships with loved ones and im in a job/education situation which i find rewarding. However the freedom afforded by wealth cannot be overlooked as people who are struggling to find money to feed themselves/pay bills more often then not are unhappy.

as for me i crave material welath not so much for what it brings me in the form of comfort or status but more of a measure of my own achievements

[Moon]

Originally Posted by GoodFlow

i was being sarcastic

very witty

anyways i made a post about this before but i tend to experience these manic phases where i'll feel so inspired and motivated to do things beyond my potential. i'm thankful that i'm concious of such a disorder but when i'm unhappy, a lot of the thoughts that cloud my mind are awkward and annoying things i did in the past while i was "happy". like sean said, annoying memories from the past that brought alot of emotional and physical pain. at the moment i'm pretty happy and relaxed compared to where i was 2 months ago, and i'm trying to be more careful not to fall into mania. i'm constantly striving for balance and consistancy but my human flaws seem to prevent this from happening. i always fuck up and i'll be in a pit where i'll feel like i'll never be able to climb out.

but when things settle down again i'll just enjoy the happy times carefully and not get too far ahead of myself. for me right now the chill life is the happy life. a new philosophical view on my own life which i'll try out till i learn something new about myself.

[Goodfellow]

Originally Posted by k-pryde

very witty

anyways i made a post about this before but i tend to experience these manic phases where i'll feel so inspired and motivated to do things beyond my potential. i'm thankful that i'm concious of such a disorder but when i'm unhappy, a lot of the thoughts that cloud my mind are awkward and annoying things i did in the past while i was "happy". like sean said, annoying memories from the past that brought alot of emotional and physical pain. at the moment i'm pretty happy and relaxed compared to where i was 2 months ago, and i'm trying to be more careful not to fall into mania. i'm constantly striving for balance and consistancy but my human flaws seem to prevent this from happening. i always fuck up and i'll be in a pit where i'll feel like i'll never be able to climb out.

teach yourself discipline to never repeat past events emotions or bad situations.. things happen for a reason in your life (good and bad) so the bad things aren't necessarly bad.. they are ultimately meant to make you a better person

[Moon]

Originally Posted by GoodFlow

teach yourself discipline to never repeat past events emotions or bad situations.. things happen for a reason in your life (good and bad) so the bad things aren't necessarly bad.. they are ultimately meant to make you a better person

yeah no doubt i agree

[Veni*C]

Originally Posted by GoodFlow

teach yourself discipline to never repeat past events emotions or bad situations.. things happen for a reason in your life (good and bad) so the bad things aren't necessarly bad.. they are ultimately meant to make you a better person

exactly.... dont focus all your energy on why its bad.. cause evebntually things will go back to normal.... try and look at the positive things from the experience.....

what doesnt kill you only makes you stronger.
:)

[baby-phat]

Originally Posted by ~Veni_C~

what doesnt kill you only makes you stronger.
:)

That is so true.. and something I tend to say often.

[sungoo]

Originally Posted by ~Veni_C~

what doesnt kill you only makes you stronger.

or what don't kill me will just make me crazier?

[Ree Fresh]

Originally Posted by ~Veni_C~

ok.. so even though i couldnt sleep all night cause my allergies were driving me nuts.... i got to experience something great....

it was getting light out when i was first making this post.... so when i was done.. i went out on my balcony.. cuddled up in my blankey on my camping chair with my kitty cat and just sat there and watched the sun come up... watched the birds flying around and chirping..... and the reason all of this was so great is because a) im never up this morning and always miss the suncoming up..... and b) it was all so peacful..... theres not alot of action at 5 am..... not alot of people out or cars driving around... so all i could really hear were the birds and all i could see was the sun coming out..... so i guess one could say i was one with nature... hehe.
i really need to make a point of doing this again...

that was awesome. :)

Personaly I dont feel the meaning of life revolves just around happiness... I think it has to do more just living life. Anyways...

"Stop and smell the rosses"

It's lill moments like this that we take for granted too offten, but if we really stop and enjoy it... it can bring us alot of happiness and pleasure.

Ive learned so much from some of the kids I work with. Some who are stuck in wheel chairs, will never live on their own, cant see, speak etc...
Yet one thing I find so magnifficent about them is how much happiness and joy they let in their life. How they let the smallest and simplest things put a smile on their face and bring them comfort.

[veN]

Originally Posted by wellbelove's

Ive learned so much from some of the kids I work with. Some who are stuck in wheel chairs, will never live on their own, cant see, speak etc...
Yet one thing I find so magnifficent about them is how much happiness and joy they let in their life. How they let the smallest and simplest things put a smile on their face and bring them comfort.

Like you, working with so many different kinds of people has only taught me to embrace whatever brings a smile to your face. Whether it be the comforting smell of clean laundry in the dryer, or helping a child learn to read, I am equally honoured to have experienced these things.