Let's talk about happiness!

[rover]

I can bet you have your moments of happiness,rover!my instinct tells me you are not so unhappy

One glance at you and my whole world turns Happy.

[dave1dave]

Good idea, many people don't take the time to inventory what they do like and don't like, what they see their strengths as and what they are not as strong at (often strengths are linked to what interests you)

What brings me happiness (not an exhaustive list, but a few examples)

- Being able to use my full creative energy (music, writing, leading people)
- Spending at least half of my day (more if possible) learning new things
- Sharing what I can with those around me (customers, family, friends)
- Being outdoors after hiking miles to reach the top of a mountain.
- Coming down that mountain on a bike as fast as I can.
- Doing something that scares me on a regular basis.

What has the opposite affect, stifles my happiness:

- Getting too far into a pattern of doing without having time to reflect
- Having other people control my time & impact my energy.
- Wasting time with people who get in the way of those things that make me happy.
- Fear, frustration or other negative mindsets that stifle natural curiosity, learning, free expression and growth

My fundamental belief is that by focusing on being the best person I can be, living as happily as I can means I can also be the best for those around me and make others happy.

I think you can sum it up with my favourite saying- " Life is a journey, Complete it. "
Read it somewhere and have never forgotten it.

[kerry lad in town]

A young friend of mine jessica once spent a long time trying to work out what happiness was, particularly happiness for women. When she first thought about happiness she saw it as a matter of becoming financially secure or getting married. (The view in Japanese society then was that happiness for a woman was only to be found in marriage.) But looking at friends who were married, she realized that marriage didn't necessarily guarantee happiness.


She saw couples who had been passionately in love suffering from discord soon after their wedding. She saw women who had married men with money or status but who fought constantly with their husbands.


Gradually, she realized that the secret of happiness lay in building a strong inner self that no trial or hardship could ruin. She saw that happiness for anyone - man or woman - does not come simply from having a formal education, from wealth or from marriage. It begins with having the strength to confront and conquer one's own weaknesses. Only then does it become possible to lead a truly happy life and enjoy a successful marriage.


She finally told me, "Now I can say with confidence that happiness doesn't exist in the past or in the future. It only exists within our state of life right now, here in the present, as we face the challenges of daily life."


I agree entirely. You yourself know best whether you are feeling joy or struggling with suffering. These things are not known to other people. Even a man who has great wealth, social recognition and many awards may still be shadowed by indescribable suffering deep in his heart. On the other hand, an elderly woman who is not fortunate financially, leading a simple life alone, may feel the sun of joy and happiness rising in her heart each day.


Happiness is not a life without problems, but rather the strength to overcome the problems that come our way. There is no such thing as a problem-free life; difficulties are unavoidable. But how we experience and react to our problems depends on us. Buddhism teaches that we are each responsible for our own happiness or unhappiness. Our vitality - the amount of energy or "life-force" we have - is in fact the single most important factor in determining whether or not we are happy.


True happiness is to be found within, in the state of our hearts. It does not exist on the far side of some distant mountains. It is within you, yourself. However much you try, you can never run away from yourself. And if you are weak, suffering will follow you wherever you go. You will never find happiness if you don't challenge your weaknesses and change yourself from within.


Happiness is to be found in the dynamism and energy of your own life as you struggle to overcome one obstacle after another. This is why I believe that a person who is active and free from fear is truly happy.

A person with a vast heart is happy.
Such a person lives each day with a broad and embracing spirit.
A person with a strong will is happy.
Such a person can confidently enjoy life, never defeated by suffering.
A person with a profound spirit is happy.
Such a person can savor life's depths
while creating meaning and value that will last for eternity.
A person with a pure mind is happy.
Such a person is always surrounded by refreshing breezes of joy.

[texas]

[aml]

[luther]