Question by Exodus 3:15: Good goal for happiness?
Because one million dollars wouldn’t do it. And that is coming from a bottom climber. So if money isn’t the cure, and women no longer since my hyper desire for them has been wiped clean with several anti-depressants. Where do I find peace on Earth other than from cessation?
My amphetamine riddled body, taken to succeed; my aching chest which I care little about. I can only see a collapse in the shower like Brittany Murphy.
So I would like to die in a dream. Under a the largest of Magnolia out of one hundred Magnolia trees that surrounding me. Full of tea made from it’s bark.
And this is what propels me. Not the house, not the money, but the trees and my shady resting place as I’m warmed by the Sun.
That’s a great goal, huh?
Now all I need is money to buy the house and the healthy land.
Best answer:
Answer by Matt M
It sounds like a great goal.. But I think you might find more happiness in acceptance.
Goals are great, but if they keep us from finding contentment within our current situation, they can be counter-productive.
I’m not saying you should accept your lot and forget about your goal. But there’s absolutely nothing keeping you from being happy right now other than yourself.. If you feel you need this to become happy, then you do. But it’s entirely self imposed. You should strive to find contentment with the world as it stands around you now.. From contentment comes peace, and with peace happiness.. The land should come later.
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Happiness is the opposite of sorrow and pain. They create each other. If something makes you happy, that things opposite makes you unhappy. example : If you like silence, you most likely hate music.
As for achieving happiness, it is not possible. Happiness is a emotion. you can not achieve an emotion. Therefore, you cannot achieve happiness. And besides, happiness should be reserved for special occasions, when you are truly happy.
Now, if you want to be happy most of the time, then don’t try to be happy. endure all the pain, and then when a positive event comes along, enjoy it.
Q: “Where do I find peace on Earth other than from cessation?”
I will attempt to answer this question in 2 parts.
Inner peace comes from the understanding that greed, ignorance & hate/anger are poisons to your self. Get rid of them or they will destroy you.
It is also important to remember the golden rule (thus ridding yourself of ignorance):
Everything in life is temporary, including happiness. Everything is constantly changing. The best way to cope with this change is to be like a leaf on a stream and “go with the flow” if you will. The more you resist, the more difficult you will make your journey.
As soon as you understand that craving and attachment fuels most suffering then you will no longer give “external things” the power to make you miserable.
Peace and happiness lies there, not under a Magnolia.
Happiness is generic, and is applied to almost every
kind of enjoyment except that of the animal appetites.
It ia a state of well-being characterized by emotions
ranging from contentment to intense joy. These include:
bliss, joy, joyous, carefree, jubilant, exultant,
cheerful, playful, amused, fun, glad, gay, gleeful,
jolly, jovial, delighted, euphoric, ecstatic, thrilled,
elated, enraptured, comfortable, harmonious, and
triumphant. Societies, religions, and individuals have
various views on the nature of happiness and how to
pursue it.
Only saint-like persons, who feel that they are no
longer interested in the external world, think that
happiness is within. For many persons, nothing can make
them happy. Our minds are as different as our finger
prints – no two are alike. Listening to loud music
makes one happy and makes another unhappy. Hence, there
can be no single definition for happiness. It is
probably impossible to objectively define happiness as
humans know and understand it, as internal experiences
are subjective by nature. Because of this, explaining
happiness as experienced by one individual is as
pointless as trying to define the color green such that
a completely color blind person could understand the
experience of seeing green.
As a state and a subject, it has been pursued and
commented on extensively throughout world history.
“Call no man happy till he is dead.” – Aeschylus
“True happiness arises, in the first place, from the
enjoyment of one’s self, and in the next, from the
friendship and conversation of a few select
companions.” – Joseph Addison
Happiness is often associated with the presence of
favourable circumstances such as a supportive family
life, a loving marriage, and economic stability. Kali
Yuga, the age of darkness, is the time when these
favourables are difficult to find.
Unfavorable circumstances – such as abusive
relationships, accidents, loss of employment, and
conflicts – diminish the amount of happiness a person
experiences. In all nations, factors such as hunger,
disease, crime, corruption, and warfare can decrease
happiness. However, according to several ancient and
modern thinkers, happiness is influenced by the
attitude and perspective taken on such circumstances.
From the observation that fish must become happy by
swimming, and birds must become happy by flying.
Aristotle points to the unique abilities of man as the
route to happiness. Of all the animals only man can sit
and contemplate reality. Of all the animals only man
can develop social relations to the political level.
Thus the contemplative life of a monk or a professor, or
the political life of a military commander or
a politician will be the happiest according to their own
“psyche”.
Our minds are as different as our finger prints – no two
are alike.
The following is the self-reported positive affect
(i.e. positive emotion) during the day by 909 employed
women in USA:
Activities and their positive effect index:
Intimate relations 5.10
Socializing 4.59
Relaxing 4.42
Pray/Worship/Meditate 4.35
Eating 4.34
Exercising 4.31
Watching TV 4.19
Shopping 3.95
Preparing food 3.93
On the phone 3.92
Napping 3.87
Taking care of
my children 3.86
Computer/Email/
Internet 3.81
Housework 3.73
Working 3.62
Commuting 3.45
Interaction with partners:
w/ friends 4.36
w/ relatives 4.17
w/ spouse/Significant
other 4.11
w/ children 4.04
w/ clients/customers 3.79
w/ co-workers 3.76
w/ boss 3.52
alone 3.41
Happiness is not entirely psychological in
nature – it has got a biological basis too. The
neurotransmitter dopamine is involved in desire and
seems often related to pleasure. Pleasure can be
induced artificially with drugs. Use of drugs is not
some thing new, it has been used by many including
Sanyasis since millenia.
Our minds are as different as our finger prints
- no two are identical.
http://www.answers.com/Phenomenology
I appreciate your email. You are talking about tank trucks! Then get up and be a tank truck darnit. You don’t have to accept what any yaker is telling you. Don’t let em play mind games with you. You can be happy right now. Go get it! And the drug stuff?? What the heck? And this whole Magnolia stuff is strange. Ya, it’s a pretty tree. Enjoy it in your beautiful back yard. F ‘em. Why you accepting their defeat??? Fight back. You believe in God. Pray too! Darn don’t tick me off and I mean that in the kindest truest way possible. YOU really are not ticking me off.