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The Pursuit Of Happiness - 12/27/2006 2:19:31 AM

meatcleaver

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The pursuit of happiness. This came up in another thread.

Happiness, what is it and how do you pursue it and how do you know when you've got it? If you are happy, you could be happier so why settle for less? All this seems to me to be a recipe for dissatisfaction and restlessness.

To me, happiness is a state of mind and as such it is ethereal and transient. When I've been happiest, it is a state I have stumbled upon and couldn't hold onto because life is in a constant state of flux, the world turns, life changes. To pursue such a phenomenon is like chasing shadows in my eyes and something that proves evasive when consciously pursued.

Do you see happiness as something that can be possessed? If so, do you pursue it?

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RE: The Pursuit Of Happiness - 12/27/2006 3:10:40 AM

seeksfemslave

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I agree, pursuing it doesn't seem to work. It just happens now and then. Thats what I have found anyway.

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RE: The Pursuit Of Happiness - 12/27/2006 3:59:01 AM

mgdartist

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Happiness...lol.
I put little to no stock in it, and equate it with pseudo-contentment, stagnation, being oblivious, and obtuse, or in plain english, high or stupid. It's like the image we have of heaven, sitting around all day in ivory palaces with streets of gold, lining up with our harps and tamborines to say halleleujah and amen with nothing else to do but worship god almighty.
For all eternity?
Thats it?
The ultimate peace, tranquility and, quote-unquote happiness?
Sweet Jesus, please don't make me.
2 days into eternity and I'd be bored shitless and catatonic.
I always did thrive on friction. Sorta project oriented kinda soul who will work on perfecting whatever it is I'm all constructive or creative about till it screams at me how it's perfect. Try as I might to sit there and admire and revel in its pristine unassailable beauty or functionality, I will usually do well to last 10 minutes, get bored, and I'm off tearing into something new that seems impossible to achieve again. That 10 minutes is funny, because I rarely recall it, nor many other times I was what I call happy. My mind seems to just go blank, which I despise.
You could almost say, in some ways, I hate being happy.
<shrug>

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RE: The Pursuit Of Happiness - 12/27/2006 4:01:04 AM

slavejali

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I guess the only time I perceive unhappiness is when I find my thoughts attached to the future or events of the past. I don't persue happiness, I think its just a by-product of "being" present "here and now", so persuing it would be fruitless.

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RE: The Pursuit Of Happiness - 12/27/2006 4:10:51 AM

eyesopened

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To me, happiness isn't a thing that can be pursued because that would assume it is something that comes from outside oneself and dependant upon other people, places or things. Happiness is a choice. It comes from within.

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RE: The Pursuit Of Happiness - 12/27/2006 4:32:06 AM

ownedgirlie

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I never knew happiness until I had the opportunity to learn who I really am and be true to myself. Perhaps that journey could be called my "persuit" although it wasn't anything I personally set out to do at the time. It was the by-product of the path my Master set me on. I'll tell ya, having a voice, learning to think and reason, and belonging to someone who accepts what I have to give went a long way toward my own personal contentment and happiness. Living without those things for a prolonged period of time was not a good place to be.

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RE: The Pursuit Of Happiness - 12/27/2006 4:36:04 AM

NorthernGent

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In my opinion, the key to happiness is knowing your own mind and living your life accordingly.

Living a life conforming to society's norms i.e. married by a certain age, chasing a flash house, chasing a flash car, grouping around the flag ready for the next invasion like a good little boy or girl is a recipe for unhappiness because ultimately this is being programmed by those who benefit most from consumerism and war. Some may say ignorance is bliss but I can't agree - humans have inherent needs in direct contradiction to consumerism and war.

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RE: The Pursuit Of Happiness - 12/27/2006 5:20:32 AM

Chaingang

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That precise phrase was part of Thomas Jefferson redacting what he felt were the fundamental ideals of Locke, Montesquieu and others. See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life,_liberty_and_the_pursuit_of_happiness

Ultimately:
"Life, liberty, and property"

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RE: The Pursuit Of Happiness - 12/27/2006 5:37:20 AM

LadyEllen

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Happiness is something only experienced when with mind, body and soul, we are engaged fully in an activity which we find worthwhile.

Thats something I found in a book once, and not a direct quote, because it was a long time ago when I read it. It seems to hold up quite well though and accounts for why few of us share sources of happiness (because what we each find worthwhile varies), and why happiness itself is so elusive.

Mind you, it would also suggest that Adolf Hitler was a happy man, so maybe its not so accurate.

E

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RE: The Pursuit Of Happiness - 12/27/2006 6:53:51 AM

juliaoceania

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quote:

meatcleaver

The pursuit of happiness. This came up in another thread.

Happiness, what is it and how do you pursue it and how do you know when you've got it? If you are happy, you could be happier so why settle for less? All this seems to me to be a recipe for dissatisfaction and restlessness

Well first of all the "pursuit of happiness" is a turn of phrase that Thomas Jefferson made in the Declaration of Independence that had its roots in a phrase that John Locke used, which was "life liberty, and the pursuit of property". So seeing that as where the phrase "pursuit of happiness" comes from, I tend to think it is as empty of real joy as white bread is empty of nutrition.

The root of the word "happy" comes from "happening". Something is happening external to you and then you are"happy". Peace, joy, and serenity are different from happiness, they are not states of being external to us. There are things that I could pursue that might make being happy easier, and that I might be happy about, but they may not in the end bring me what I truly desire which is joy.

quote:

Do you see happiness as something that can be possessed?

I do and I do not. It can be possessed for a short period of time, but it is not a possession really either.

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RE: The Pursuit Of Happiness - 12/27/2006 7:10:21 AM

farglebargle

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You misspelled Happineff ...

;)

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RE: The Pursuit Of Happiness - 12/27/2006 8:39:29 AM

adaddysgirl

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On a personal level, happiness to me is attaining peace of mind....which i look at as a journey rather than immediate gratification. i sometimes think that people confuse pleasure and self-indulgence with happiness....the former being rather short lived while the latter being more long termed. But this takes a lot of sorting through....opening the mind, acceptance of things we never thought possible, perhaps even changing our own long held perspectives. It's about allowing ourselves to let go of our negative thoughts and feelings.

i see so many unhappy people every day who just hang on to all the misery of the world. They constantly complain, criticize, find fault and negatively judge others. In many cases, they are the 'holier than thou' types....always knowing what's best for others and how others should be doing things. i have an aunt like this. She is one of the most miserable people i know. i guess she just doesn't realize that even if by some miracle, everyone on earth lived their lives exactly the way she thought they should, that she still would not be a happy person. The issue is much deeper than that.

For me, happiness isn't about changing others....it's about accepting that others are different.....then finding my own path to dealing with this in a way to help me find peace of mind with it. That's all i ask for :)

Overcoming anger, hatred, guilt, worry and fear are things i strive for in my life because i think that will lead toward peace of mind. i honestly don't imagine myself as a very happy person while holding on to such things.

Admittedly, i have found some wisdom is some leisurely exploration of the Dalai Lama (and this is something i may pursue further at some point). But for now....i work on letting go of the negative things in my life....while pursuing the more positive aspects....and overall, i feel i am quite a happy person. But my journey has really just begun :)

DG

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RE: The Pursuit Of Happiness - 12/27/2006 9:19:15 AM

daddysprop247

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no i don't believe in pursuing happiness. i view happiness as almost a game of chance...some have it, some don't. and there's nothing much you can do about it either way. but i view happiness (as in the statement, "i am happy") as a general state of being, and not something felt for fleeting moments in time. some people, while they have the problems and tribulations of life that we all do, are just generally happy people. other people, tho there are fleeting moments of something akin to happiness, the feeling never goes beyond the surface, and they are just always generally unhappy/depressed. i fall in the latter category. i'm not sure if you can go from one side to the other. i don't try. i figure if it's meant to be, it will be, but it's something that's entirely out of my hands.

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