OT happiness

[Demetrias]

I was just wanting clarification for my poll choice cause it was between Love and Peace and I wanted to know what one to choose.

It is probably peace but then again I might not be able to have peace without love. Damn it I am a hippy ****,******,******

 

[Lockesdonkey]

A warm gun

Corrected.

Why didn't I see this ages ago?

 

[LucyDuke]

I know this is a crappy answer, but I'm happy because I want to be. I used to be unhappy, and it was lame. I realized that all it took to be happy was deciding to be. So I decided to be, and it worked.

If you're going to do it, though, you've got to mean it.

 

[Quintillus]

See, I can't be happy just because I want to be. I can do things that are likely to increase my happiness, but when things really aren't going my way, I can't just say, "I'm happy" and actually feel happy. If I failed a midterm, I couldn't just say, "oh well, i'm happy" and suddenly be in a good mood. I'd be pretty downtrodden for awhile, and though after a few hours I probably could distract myself enough to be in a halfway decent mood, I couldn't just decide to be happy at any given time and be happy. There has to be something, material or not, that is causing the happiness. It can be happy thoughts, things I'm dreaming of even, but if there's something that's really got me down, I can't just decide to be happy.

That said, I certainly think a positive mindset is very beneficial, and consider myself to have such a mindset most of the time. But I can't decieve myself into thinking I'm happy when I'm not, or thinking there's a positive purpose behind everything. I usually take a positive view on things, but I try to be realistic as well - and sometimes that means unhappiness.

I think Narz put it best, though. No one thing equals happiness, and happiness acts in strange ways. I voted "other" in the poll.

 

[Narz]

I know this is a crappy answer, but I'm happy because I want to be. I used to be unhappy, and it was lame. I realized that all it took to be happy was deciding to be. So I decided to be, and it worked.

You should meet my GF and teach her your secrets. It doesn't work so well coming from me.

 

[Narz]

See, I can't be happy just because I want to be. I can do things that are likely to increase my happiness, but when things really aren't going my way, I can't just say, "I'm happy" and actually feel happy. If I failed a midterm, I couldn't just say, "oh well, i'm happy" and suddenly be in a good mood. I'd be pretty downtrodden for awhile, and though after a few hours I probably could distract myself enough to be in a halfway decent mood, I couldn't just decide to be happy at any given time and be happy. There has to be something, material or not, that is causing the happiness. It can be happy thoughts, things I'm dreaming of even, but if there's something that's really got me down, I can't just decide to be happy.

Yeah, I agree. Sometimes if I can't be happy though I try to at least enjoy being angry. Anger can be kind of creative. Like making a song about how horsehockey life is or a comic sketch even.

I think Narz put it best, though. No one thing equals happiness, and happiness acts in strange ways. I voted "other" in the poll.

If it were so easy, we wouldn't be motavated. We wouldn't get out and work. Our ancestors wouldn't have survived. I think enlightenment is knowing all this stuff. Knowing you're gonna get angry and pissy and bitter and have your feelings hurt by people on the Internet thinking your nutty sometimes and then judging yourself for even caring about that, etc. and still accepting it and on some level, enjoying it. Like when I got hit by a car. I was in a lot of pain but part of me was like, "wow, this is interesting". Basically don't lose that childlike curiosity and get deadened to life. Kids get unhappy but rarely (unless they have super f-ed families) do they stay that way as long as adults tend to.

 

[Bill3000]

Knowledge and Wisdom have only made me less happy, so ya your a freak.

Yes, the knowledge that you fake your girlfriend's pregnency does tend to make people unhappy.

 

[LightFang]

Love. To quote the red button: That was easy.

 

[Swedishguy]

Happiness is...

Computers!

 

[Grisu]

Love, Sex, Peace and Money..in that order

 

[Bozo Erectus]

How about Cheez Doodles?

 

[Swedishguy]

How about Cheez Doodles?

You get unhappy when you're all out of them.

 

[Bozo Erectus]

You get unhappy when you're all out of them.

Wisdom comes in all shapes, sizes and colors.

 

[Mirc]

All of the above...?

 

[Richard Cribb]

Money? Only to a certain degree. I want to be able to cover necessary expenses and to have a little extra to fall back on on a rainy day.

Love? Very much so. I am so fortunately to love and being loved and that makes a substantial difference in your life.

Notoriety? No.

Fame? No.

Peace? Yes. Just very important to be able to enjoy the good things in life.

Sex? Yes indeed. It is the greatest pleasure one can experience.

Other - Good friends, lack of misery and unhappiness among others, cultural pleasures, and last but not least good health.

 

[sourboy]

Money?

Money can allow acquisition of tangibles that can give temporary or limited happiness.

Love?

Love seems to be the only endless form of happiness, though it can come with the correlation of pain.

Notoriety? Fame?

Personal gain works for some, but I believe it has more limits than Love.

Peace?

It is tough on this one. Love can bring peace, peace can bring love. They may be symbiotic, per se?

Sex?

Sex is either for reproduction, pleasure, or emotional expression. The latter is most liable to fulfill the longest happiness, though it requires Love (see above).


So... Love/Peace, Sex as expression of Love, all the rest as mild forms of happiness.

 

[toh6wy]

Love. The only other one on that list that comes close is peace -- but when you have strong enough love, you will likely also have peace.

 

[Irish Caesar]

Love. Easiest poll choice I ever selected.

Well, I thought this at first, but then I saw peace.

What do you mean by peace? Do you mean world peace or like at peace with oneself and the world around you? Because the last one sounds more like happiness to me. World peace only slightly effects me but being at peace with myself greatly effects my happiness.

And agreed with this, that I can't really have happiness without being at peace with my surroundings.

It is tough on this one. Love can bring peace, peace can bring love. They may be symbiotic, per se?

So I have to agree with this one, as love and peace do so often go hand in hand, and the absence of one renders the other far less useful toward causing happiness.

-- but when you have strong enough love, you will likely also have peace.

So I conclude that it is necessary to have both love and peace, but when you have love, only then can you have peace.

Therefore, I arrive at the same conclusion as Paul and many of the posters here, that the greatest of these is love.

 

[El Koeno]

So I conclude that it is necessary to have both love and peace, but when you have love, only then can you have peace.

Therefore, I arrive at the same conclusion as Paul and many of the posters here, that the greatest of these is love.

I faced the same dilemma, but voted peace. All of the things in the list can be important. If you really want any of them, and you don't have it, it causes unhappiness, because you're not at peace with your life. So if you lack love, but long for it, you become unhappy. When you find love, you can find peace. It is not the love in itself that makes you happy, but the peace with your life.