What is happiness to you

[peterjohn]

Some years ago I had a discussion with some friends as to what happiness is. One friend said happiness to her was swimming with a snorkel amongst tropical fish. I said that happiness for me was sitting on the sea wall with my girlfriend. Another friend said that he knew someone who was happy all the time. He said that he was a monk, and that he loved everybody.

[Pariah]

Originally Posted by peterjohn

What is happiness to you.

When I figure it out, I'll let you know.

[Ubyse]

To be content. Not something i've found the key to yet, unfortunately.

[Last Chance Undies]

Some people think that they can only be happy when they have more money, more confidence, a partner...'I will be happy when'...

But I don't see happiness like that. Happiness is an emotion, a state of mind like any other. To me, happiness is the warm, fuzzy feeling I get inside, like when I hear my son singing You Are My Sunshine. I stop what I am doing and just listen. I taught him that song. I know he won't sing it forever because he will grow up. So I listen to every wobbly word in his sweet voice and for those few seconds, I am truly happy.

[SUPERem]

Happiness to me is all the things you mentioned - making memories, and making sure my fiance is happy. If he's happy, i'm happy.

[Brutalness]

What is happiness to me i think the day when i will be happy is when i can go out feeling safe and good with in myself happiness to you

[bakerosaurus]

I think happiness is a state of mind. There will be, events, possessions, people that make you happy but that is only short term. To be truly happy is to be at peace. To be able to accept the things you cannot change in your life and to be able to deal with the things you can. I think that is what religion is really about, though I'm not religious at all. With all its rules and moral stories it tries to teach you how to overcome problems and how to act towards others in order to feel content. I see a lot of similarities with religion and CBT, mainly to do with acceptance and forgiveness.

[firemonkey]

I know what happiness is when i experience it but it's hard for me to verbalise. Not good with abstracts.

yep that'd do it.

[sillypenguin]

Still working on it. Hopefully I'll find out soon

[GhostOnMagneticTape]

Being happy from with in (inner peace I guess), to be your own best friend, good friendships and a healthy stable relationship.

[catlover]

Haven't got there yet -- I can't bring myself to be content with the dog-eat-dog aspects of this world.

[custom_fusion-lqx]

I dont know cos ive never felt happiness before.


Im sure this had probably been said already.

[Shanibandangle]

The nonexistence of boredom. If I'm always busy I never have time to think.

[Dandelion10]

I'm much happier after leaving a certain person after two long years and being with others, there are people out there who make me feel ten feet tall with confidence, it's amazing how I felt invincible after one day of chatting with a much more compatible guy. Friends and family are also vital but that goes without saying.

It's true that it's a state of mind and the mind is interconnected with your body & soul and that it's 'all in you' that there's an abundance of love and every other positive feeling, like a bottomless emotional bank BUT sometimes you do need certain outside things like friends, and yes a partner (sure, be independent but everyone wants to be loved) and money doesn't have to be evil if used wisely.

[waine]

To be comfortable with being me to not beat myself up to have a sense of humour and not depression/overwhelming anxiety

[smog]

life without even 50% of the negative thoughts that I have would be enough to make me feel happy, or at least, happier. being able to interact with people and have it come naturally, so that I could actually enjoy life, instead of dreading every little thing because my mind is overflowing with worries of what could go wrong. basically to not have to plan each interaction so meticulously that all the fun of the moment is sidelined.

to be able to connect with other people and feel part of something. at least that's what i feel is missing from my life, and that's what makes me unhappy.

[Toxic]

i dont have a clue if ive ever experienced happiness

if everything wasnt such a bloody uphill struggle
if i had the motivation to do stuff
if i didnt shit myself at every remotely simple thing that was out of my comfort zone
if i didnt have any money concerns
if i had a girlfriend who didnt steal or cheat on me and was actually half sane (this would be new and refreshing)

failing all this pizza and/or chocolate usually works

[dave81uk]

I don't really know, growing up always broke I thought it was all about money and when I had money I'd be happy. But then I got made redundant and got a large lump sum, the happiness lasted about a day, I bought all the gadgets and clothes that I wanted but could never afford but did they make me happy? Maybe for a moment but it didn't last. So at the moment I don't really know what happiness is to me.

[Spilt_Auras]

To be lost in moments.

[Matt101]

To drop dead and not have to worry about anything anymore.

[Only_human]

Happiness for me is just contentment. A cup of tea, watching a good tv show, snuggled up in a warm bed seems to consistently make me most happy, even if it is just temporary contentment.

Ultimate greedy happiness? Well i'd want to fall in love, one day have a couple of kids, have enough to live on, have my dog and have enough time in the day to do the above. Also to be able to keep a consistent relationship with my parents and for their health to be a bit better. My life would be fulfilled then and therefore i'd imagine i'd probably be pretty happy, but ofcourse with all of lifes obstacles who knows if I truely would.

Originally Posted by Emma792

Happiness is when I don't have to think about (un)/happiness. I just am happy.

That's a nice way of putting it and yeah pretty much this, just contentment and not having unhappy thoughts surfacing. It's a basic level of happiness but as long as you always have that foundation of basic contentment, I doubt you'd really need more to be happy.

Originally Posted by Matt101

To drop dead and not have to worry about anything anymore.

Sorry to hear you're feeling so low right now

[Winnie57]

Happiness is the absence of problems and with someone like-minded to share

[iTz0kt0Bu]

To be content with life and feel comfortable with life.

[peterjohn]

I feel that happiness is a condition that you can hold from within and still retain even in difficult circumstances.

[MrMr]

Hawthorne said: ***8220;Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you***8221;.

I'm agree partially. Happiness is a temporary emotion, chasing it it problematic I agree there, but I also don't think it automatically just happens if you stop seeking it.

For me, I'm more interested in contentment, when I feel content then happiness does alight upon me.

The things that make me feel content though, are not things like comfort food, TV, lying in...these all feel temporarily nice but in the long term make me feel crappy.

What works for me are things like a productive but not stressful work day (achievement, I suppose you could say), being absorbed in tasks (psychologically, this is called being in a "flow" state), eating healthily, getting outside, exercise, laughter, being with my girlfriend, corny music...even silly things like a tidy house and making decisions and dealing with things I've ignored for a while like old bills and such.

[Brokenx]

happiness to me is a full day anxiety free - with noone bothering me

[Cleo]

Being part of a circle of friends that I could respect and respect me. Walking the Ridgeway on Christmas Day, instead of the usual face aching farce and feeling at peace.