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Just a fun, thought provoking, perhaps even growth inducing conversation.

A few questions to get us all started...feel free to add to and not be limited by these!

So what is happiness to you?

What makes you happy?

What do you *think* will make you happy that you don't have?

Can you have all you want and not be happy?

They say that you can't find happiness from/in others, that it is only from within yourself that happiness comes. Yes? No? Maybe?

Can you be 100% happy? Should you strive to be?

 TheMeanDM wrote:
So what is happiness to you?

The state of being happy.

What makes you happy?

Flying airplanes.

What do you *think* will make you happy that you don't have?

A DeHavilland Chimpunk, and the money to fly it regularly.

Can you have all you want and not be happy?

Nope. Of course "all I want" is not an attainable goal.

They say that you can't find happiness from/in others, that it is only from within yourself that happiness comes. Yes? No? Maybe?

Nope. Stick a person on an empty island in the middle of nowhere and I can pretty confidently say that they won't be happy for very long.

Can you be 100% happy? Should you strive to be?

Realistically? No. Having the kind of obscene wealth where you could even attempt to be 100% happy is not a realistic goal, and attempting to get there can only bring disappointment.

Happiness is friendship. Having people around you whom you love and who love you, whom you can trust and who trust you.

I could be dirt poor and live in a tiny hut with barely anything to eat and still be happy as long as I have that.

True happiness comes from having a sense of belonging, from feeling loved and appreciated, not from material goods.

Just remember that happiness is mandatory.

If you are not happy you may be used as reactor shielding. Are you happy citizen?

 Iron_Captain wrote:
True happiness comes from having a sense of belonging, from feeling loved and appreciated, not from material goods.

Spoken like someone who doesn't have a pilot's license.

Friendship is magic.

 TheMeanDM wrote:
So what is happiness to you?

A warm gun. Also awesome wife and toy soldiers.

 TheMeanDM wrote:
What makes you happy?

Shooting guns and playing toy soldiers with my awesome wife.

 TheMeanDM wrote:
What do you *think* will make you happy that you don't have?

Perfect health so I'm not plagued with the multiple problems I deal with on a daily basis.

 TheMeanDM wrote:
Can you have all you want and not be happy?

Yes.

 TheMeanDM wrote:
They say that you can't find happiness from/in others, that it is only from within yourself that happiness comes. Yes? No? Maybe?

No.

 TheMeanDM wrote:
Can you be 100% happy? Should you strive to be?

Yes. Also no.

The trick to true, lasting happiness is finding a way to be content with your circumstances, without being complacent.

Having everything you want isn't happiness. People need something to strive for.

So what is happiness to you?

Positive emotions, feeling of satisfaction.

What makes you happy?

Internet

What do you *think* will make you happy that you don't have?

Money

Can you have all you want and not be happy?

Yes. Usually when it comes comes with a big delay.

They say that you can't find happiness from/in others, that it is only from within yourself that happiness comes. Yes? No? Maybe?

Theoretically - yes. Practically - no.

Can you be 100% happy? Should you strive to be?

No and no. It's wrong

My happiness is centered around financial security. If I've got a good job and plenty in the bank I rest easy. Adding more to the account makes me more happy. If I was independently wealthy and never had to work again I'd be set. As long as I had a decent middle class lifestyle I'd be 100% happy.

 Gitzbitah wrote:
The trick to true, lasting happiness is finding a way to be content with your circumstances, without being complacent.

Having everything you want isn't happiness. People need something to strive for.

Exalted for truth. Learning to appreciate what you have, and spend less time yearning for what you don't will make you 100 times happier.

I think relative wealth is also an factor. If your the poorest member of your social group you'll find the above far harder than if you are the richest.

Happiness is friendship and self worth. I've got both and I feel pretty happy.

I used to struggle with happiness, because I thought I had to be liked universally, and fit into everyone's standard.
It took a long time to shake off the feeling of being judged, everywhere.

Nowadays only care what people I value think of me, and it's upped my happiness infinitely. Even then I accept they can disagree with my ideas and movements.

A nap or a full night sleep..... Oh god I could kill for either lol. I never slept more then 6 ish hours in about 5 years.

Best way to be happy is have a wife and kids, nothing makes you a better person and feel better then giving everything you have to your family and seeing how happy it makes them. You get sleepy but seeing how amazing they are makes everything worth it. But I also never drank smoked or did drugs in my life so giving up a party lofe was easy.

Knowing you're not at the bottom the pile.
I read happiness can be seen as being able to point at someone you know, and saying you are in a better place than them.
It does not matter how many people you know who are 'better off' than you, as long as there is someone worse off.

For some people, they need to be nearer the top.
For others, it is helping those 'below' them that keeps them happy.

 Skinnereal wrote:
Knowing you're not at the bottom the pile.
I read happiness can be seen as being able to point at someone you know, and saying you are in a better place then them.
It does not matter how many people you know who are 'better off' than you, as long as there is someone worse off.

For some people, they need to be nearer the top.
For others, it is helping those 'below' them that keeps them happy.

Thats kind of sadistic.....

Just learn to be happy for you, and be happy for others success.

 TheMeanDM wrote:
So what is happiness to you?

An illusion.

What makes you happy?

Doing things and being in situations that you are deluded in to thinking give you purpose, fulfilment, etc, either based on biological tendencies or things that caught on based on your community and influences.

What do you *think* will make you happy that you don't have?

Nothing.

Can you have all you want and not be happy?

Sure, if what you superficially want doesn't line up with what your internal constructs need to make you satisfied.

They say that you can't find happiness from/in others, that it is only from within yourself that happiness comes. Yes? No? Maybe?

Yeah I think that's a load of bollocks from people who are trying to trick themselves in to thinking they've figured it out.

Can you be 100% happy?

Possibly.

Should you strive to be?

Probably not.

OgreChubbs wrote:

 Skinnereal wrote:
I read happiness can be seen as being able to point at someone you know, and saying you are in a better place than them....

Thats kind of sadistic.....

Just learn to be happy for you, and be happy for others success.

Yup. It was an article on human nature, and wasn't pretty reading.

Happiness? Where do I download that file?

 Daemonhammer wrote:
Happiness? Where do I download that file?

Pornhub?

I've been told a few times by various head examiners that it's probably healthier to take everything as a work in progress of some sort and goals are things that people have when they have functional families etc.

So for me happiness is cheap rent, decent food and enough disposable income to allow me to distract myself from things.

Without going into detail though, I don't think happiness is a full time feeling or zone and to look at it as a perfect state is overall pretty detrimental to your well-being, being OK should generally suffice.

But also probably worth mentioning schadenfreude is great for getting through the day

I think goals are something everyone has- it's just a question of how stable your life is with how far out your goals can be set.

Most people start out living paycheck to paycheck, or semester to semester, however you want to do it.

Ideally, you want to break out of this and make it to 5 or 10 year goals- but to do that, you have to know that the minor emergencies will not stop you.

Learning to set goals that are achievable creates much more happiness than having ones you can't achieve- for example, my wife lost her job last month. One goal she's had that is achievable is to apply to 5 places a day. Finding a job is a goal that isn't achievable by her- it takes luck and time. But if she gets the 5 applications off, she can know she did her part for that day, rather than failing every day that she doesn't find a job.

It's absolutely a mind game- but we need those to stay sane.

 Monkey Tamer wrote:
My happiness is centered around financial security. If I've got a good job and plenty in the bank I rest easy. Adding more to the account makes me more happy. If I was independently wealthy and never had to work again I'd be set. As long as I had a decent middle class lifestyle I'd be 100% happy.

Yeah, this is it for me as well. I know how to be happy when I've got time, between family, friends and gaming I'm sorted on that front. The issue is having the time to do those things, and getting that time means having enough money that I can work less hours.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Gitzbitah wrote:
Learning to set goals that are achievable creates much more happiness than having ones you can't achieve- for example, my wife lost her job last month. One goal she's had that is achievable is to apply to 5 places a day. Finding a job is a goal that isn't achievable by her- it takes luck and time. But if she gets the 5 applications off, she can know she did her part for that day, rather than failing every day that she doesn't find a job.

Yeah, I've read a bit lately about the difference between goals and processes. A goal would be an end point, in the case of your wife it would be getting a job, but that end point is not in your wife's control, it relies on outside factors. Instead a process, like sending off five applications per day, that's a process that your wife can control.

If we keep our overall goals clear but loose because we, allow for lots of things that are outside of our control, then we can start to form a lot of processes that will improve our positions and get us in a better position, whether or not we meet our actual goals.

I don't think I really know what happiness is anymore. I mean, I know how to have a good time, don't get me wrong. I enjoy smoking stuff, like ribs and meats. I have fun when I go to the range and shoot well. I have fun when I am going to the movies. But actual happiness outside of a small burst here and there? I don't know. For me a typical cycle is that I think some material possession or interest will make me happy, I either acquire said item or interest, and it makes me briefly happy, but then I lose interest very quickly and return to being sort of a empty, unfulfilled hole.

This worked, sort of, for the last decade or so but I'm increasingly aware that the happiness half-life, so to speak, has been lessening with each new thing, and more to the point, I now know that a new thing or interest won't make me happy for very long, which hastens that cycle even more.

I'm not really sure how to resolve it, exactly. I suspect that most people aren't like this.

Friends and love are the things that make you happy, but having enough cash that you don't need to worry about tomorrow make it all easier to keep together.

So what is happiness to you?

Relaxing with my family or friends

What makes you happy?

see above, plus blowing stuff on the computer or tabletop.

What do you *think* will make you happy that you don't have?

Being a member of a Culture level level civilisation including optional immortality...

Can you have all you want and not be happy?

Yep - as long as we have human emotions - things like anger, depression and frustration are likely to surface

They say that you can't find happiness from/in others, that it is only from within yourself that happiness comes. Yes? No? Maybe?

Doubtful

Can you be 100% happy? Should you strive to be?

Some of the time - yep, all the time - unlikely.

I don't think I really know what happiness is anymore. I mean, I know how to have a good time, don't get me wrong. I enjoy smoking stuff, like ribs and meats. I have fun when I go to the range and shoot well. I have fun when I am going to the movies. But actual happiness outside of a small burst here and there? I don't know. For me a typical cycle is that I think some material possession or interest will make me happy, I either acquire said item or interest, and it makes me briefly happy, but then I lose interest very quickly and return to being sort of a empty, unfulfilled hole.

This worked, sort of, for the last decade or so but I'm increasingly aware that the happiness half-life, so to speak, has been lessening with each new thing, and more to the point, I now know that a new thing or interest won't make me happy for very long, which hastens that cycle even more. I'm not really sure how to resolve it, exactly. I suspect that most people aren't like this.

More than you would think - In terms of enjoyment I would include time with my parents and friends - but not too much of it - but yeah I think most of the time I am not unhappy but not "happy" however that might be me slipping into mid life crisis.

What makes me happy?
Sitting on the floor playing with my two year old daughter.

My favorite book of the Old Testament is Ecclesiastes. To sum my feelings on the book in a sentence; Enjoy the little things.Time with friends and family. A pleasant meal. A sunset. Cherish them. At the end of your time on this world they'll be the things you'll miss the most

And to cite Death; Be happy. Fall in love. Live to the best of your abilities... LIVE! I will wait for your story here at the end. Take your time.

One of three things that I enjoyed about Into the Wild* was "Happiness is only real when shared". The older I get, the truer this becomes.

*the other two things were the scenery and the soundtrack.

I needed to learn contentment, happiness is passing and similar to sugar, you always want more of it.