Why is happiness at the same time,
both what we all individually desire in our lives,
and,
what seems to be, so very difficult to achieve ?

I would describe the feeling of happiness as achieving a feeling of 'contentment', within the human psyche.


HINT;
'Happiness' is a feeling.

And, 'happiness' is an internally generated feeling.



i.e.
'Feelings' [i.e. our own 'feelings'] are what we ourselves, generate [create] and 'give' to ourselves.

e.g.
No one else, has the ability to make us feel angry, or happy, or sad.

We do 'that', to ourselves!

When we feel angry,         we ourselves are creating that feeling,        and we are giving that feeling a place to 'reside', within ourselves. !



An old idea, but a very sensible one when dealing with what is going on in the world around us;

If you have the 'feeling', that the world immediately around you is 'not perfect',
then seek to change what you can change [for the better],
and,
always choose to accept those things which you can't change.



Handbook to Higher Consciousness
- by Ken Keyes Jr



.




Yadda said....
http://www.ozpolitic.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1293669294/0#0
Quote:

Because it costs money, you need a permit, you can't keep it - it has to be shared around, depends on the weather, you need to be qualified, there is a time limit and you don't get your money back if it still doesn't work for you.

Because someone else always has more.

Yadda wrote on Aug 24^th, 2017 at 9:47am:


People look for happiness in the wrong places.

Part of capitalist culture is to teach people that the more money you have the happier you will be. This simply isn't true.
Studies have shown that whilst people who live in poverty are generally unhappier than people who don't. Once you get to a level of wealth where all your basic needs are met, additional wealth won't make you any happier.

A famous study from the 1970s compared lottery winners with a group of people who had been paralysed and a group who had had no change in their circumstances. The researchers found that within a year the lottery winners were not much happier than they had been before their win, and that their newly acquired wealth had stopped bringing them happiness.

The study's findings have since been backed up by other research that shows money can come and go, but our happiness largely remains the same.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/health/2016-11-28/wealth-health-and-happiness/8062816

John Smith wrote on Aug 24^th, 2017 at 10:14am:

You're assuming they had a chance to start with.

The_Barnacle wrote on Oct 17^th, 2017 at 10:27am:

The middle-class represents a hopefulness allowable in a society: the ability to strive.

TheFunPolice wrote on Oct 17^th, 2017 at 11:35am:


I know people who 'had no chance' and are quite happy with their lives.

John Smith wrote on Oct 17^th, 2017 at 1:40pm:

Bullshite, or did they have a chance?

I'll be happy when the NSW government lowers it's fees and charges for secondhand vehicles

I bought a light commercial vehicle with 160,000 ks on the clock and it cost me ....

$2,600 GST (Fed tax)

$735 stamp duty

$64 transfer fee

$440 motor vehicle tax

$65 registration fee (Rego was due shortly after purchase)

$328 greenslip


Total = $4,232


All that and I get hardly any benefit from it, living in the bush, not one cent of GST or Motor Vehicle Tax is spent out here. No accidents, so greenslips are not required

Happiness would be buying a horse and cart, more suitable for the dirt roads here and the old style living

John Smith wrote on Oct 17^th, 2017 at 2:27pm:

Fulll of it mate!

I have not seen any kind of "Capitalist doctrine" which states money brings happiness. Capitalism is about security and the perpetuation of ones genetic dynasty under the protection of financial institutions and the concept of private property. Once those imperative details are established, the capitalist is free to dabble in such pursuits as may or may not give them happiness. But he or she must allow himself that luxury. I think they are just a likely to find happiness as the less wealthy. (Not the starving)

However, there are a number of commonly perceived ways to achieve happiness. Perhaps number one is having children. I am not convinced this is a given either. I think many people are just unable to come up with a better idea. "Don't you think its time we had children, Dear?"
"Alright, anything you say, Honey. Just as long as I get to have regular sex." (The poor mug doesn't know what he is letting himself in for.)
Consumerism is just as doubtful. The trouble with stuff is that it is always falling apart, and you need to keep it somewhere. And there is always someone with better and newer stuff.

If a person does not have a very specific idea of what happiness means, it is unlikely they will find such a state of mind. That requires a philosophical bent. How many such people have you met recently?

And then there are philosophies that contend happiness is an illusion. So basically, we are phuqued.

issuevoter wrote on Oct 23^rd, 2017 at 5:43pm:


Not so. Notice the increase of 'rich' men now being taken legal action against for 'sexual' reasons. That newsreader settled with 6 women for $34 million 
Basically - if you live for the 'money', you sacrifice the 'sex'.
Simple.
The gap between the two has widened even further.
Good Money / Bad Sex
or
Bad Money / Good Sex
...there is no vague in-between in Capitalism.

So money does buy you 'happiness' in one way.

The_Barnacle wrote on Oct 17^th, 2017 at 10:27am:




Jasin wrote on Oct 23^rd, 2017 at 4:47pm:


Not money.

Having 'money' can be nice.

But it can't buy a person happiness, imo.



A large part of achieving, 'happiness' [as an individual], imo, is simply identifying many of the very 'simple' things that we 'find' in life,
being things which we can also attribute as being 'good'.

And then, simply having an appreciation, of those 'good' and simple things.



And we cannot 'buy' our own appreciation, of the things that are good in our life.

Our own appreciation [of things], only comes from our own willingness to engage in quiet contemplation, imo.



You won't find happiness from walking or running, a 'treadmill',
and you won't find happiness 'just around the next corner'.

Happiness is something [dare i say, it is a 'spirit'] which resides in our own heart,
OR,
it doesn't.

That is all.

You mean,    even if we learn how to live a [mostly] happy life......

"It all ends in tears anyway."     ?





I must admit, that don't really cherish this body becoming more decrepit, each year.
[old Yadda, or is it old Yoda, i forget      ]

But i accept it.

And i do try to make sensible adjustments, in what 'expectations' i have, about what my frame can still accomplish.


But in any case, i only look upon this body as place of forced 'confinement'.
.....with occasional good behaviour 'parole' 'excursions'.         

Its been a journey here, but i look forward to its conclusion.
[....a few weeks ago, i had a heavy fall off my MB on a hard surface.      wow, i was sure, initially, that i must have broken some bones.      but no.      i was surprised.      i could have ended there!        just a small gash on one palm, and a sore knee and a sore shoulder.]


Yadda said somewhere....
Quote:



Maybe i am mistaken, but that it what i believe.

And i know that i still make many, many mistakes.




.




Yadda said....
http://www.ozpolitic.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1325206797/10#10
Quote:




.



Jeremiah 29:12
Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
13  And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
14  And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.

John Smith wrote on Oct 25^th, 2017 at 11:59am:


I saw that recently. You notice its a matter of degree. Its a nice idea but I would not support it anymore than I would Thoreau's "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation etc."

Maybe also, what makes you 'happy' changes ?

It is not a concrete thing.

Sprintcyclist wrote on Oct 26^th, 2017 at 2:44pm:



I've observed that it's a skill which can be learned, if the spirit is willing

in the same way other skills can be learned

Kids laugh.  People say, ' Look to children. They're pure and their happiness is not conditional.  We are born happy '

Yes, we're born, most of us at least, as a collection of instincts, initially

Dad bangs his finger with the hammer and turns the air blue.  Baby boy next to him chortles at Dad's funny dance around the lawn

Baby boy gets a bit older and is forced to go to school.  He's already laughing less.  Less spontaneous happiness

By the time baby boy is twenty, he's not spontaneously burbling with happy laughter any more, unless there's something wrong with him.  And by then, he's been conditioned to believe happiness for the most part, lies outside himself.  A car, sex, drunken laughter, acceptance, money to buy, etc. are now sources of 'happiness'.  A genuinely 'happy' state of mind becomes a rare thing: birth of a child, a win on Lotto, seeing an old friend

But we can learn to develop a 'happy' state of mind for varying lengths of time.  Gratitude is the key.  Gratitude for all those things we take for granted, for example:

access to a nice hot shower
access to food
to shelter in one's own private space
to books, videos, other things of interest
ability to develop new skills such a knitting, carpentry, bricklaying ... thousands of choices
friends and friendship
health
close family
good neighbours
safe neighbourhood
flowers in the one's own or other gardens
lovely weather
bit of money in the bank for a rainy day

Walking down the road and watching the sunset at the end of the day is priceless
Having a home, no matter how humble, to return to at the end of the day
Having a door that locks
Living in a pleasant neighbourhood
A washing machine
An electric jug
Plenty of soap in the bathroom
Money to buy food at the supermarket

thousands of things contribute to our happiness
and most of them, we take for granted
such as living in a safe country
having access to education and medical care, public transport
being physically mobile, able to go for a walk without pain, able to open jars without pain ... these are precious

We can create happiness out of almost nothing, if we've a will to do so -- if we're wise enough

We set the parameters

I'm a dud re: song lyrics, but there are a few bits that stick with me

' If you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with' ... I've always thought that's pretty good

and

' Know when to hold them, when to fold them and when to walk away ' .... gold

Happiness, contentment and bliss can be achieved through intent.  And they can all rest on what people might consider to be 'small' and 'unimportant' things -- those things we take for granted (until we lose them)

anyway, that's just my take on it.  Everyone's different

Happiness=H

t=times
p=personality
l=location
s=society

Then
H=f(t,p,l,s)
f(     ) is similar a function, it change with those four independent  elements.

When H=f(t,p,l,s) go to its maximum ?
We have no answer yet.
But if Timmy is unhappy， he will change his ‘ t,p,l,s ‘ so adjust his happiness.