Happiness is voluntary

[soul service]

We all have the choice to see things positively or negatively. We can see them as challenge or as "I have something to learn or gain from that situation" or even as "If I don't do anything, nobody else will, so why don't I kick my own butt and DO SOMETHING!" I mean, it's sad to see these "what I hate most of life" posts... Why, instead, don't we post "Ten tricks to get through life with a smile on your face"?
BE POSITIVE!!! To build, you have to be the one who puts the bricks one on the others... Don't wait for the others to do it.

 

[Bonochick]

I'm a pessimist for things concerning myself.

My glass is always half empty...and then some jerk comes by and knocks it over so that it's completely empty.

However...when I am with other people who need help, I'm so damn optomistic that it's almost sickening.

I guess I'm a hypocrite.

But my heart's in the right place.


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"I don't know you,
But you don't know the half of it..."

 

[Se7en]

but if you're always pessimistic you never get let down...

 

[Bonochick]

Originally posted by Se7en:
but if you're always pessimistic you never get let down...

Amen!!!!

That's why it's good to have low goals set for yourself as well...

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"I don't know you,
But you don't know the half of it..."

 

[DrTeeth]

Originally posted by Se7en:
but if you're always pessimistic you never get let down...

If your always pessimistic, every day is a let-down.

I'm very "Gemini", one minute I'm optimistic and the next one I can be down as the kite Bono flew with his kids.

In general, I'm half optimistic, half cynical.

 

[Se7en]

Originally posted by DrTeeth:
If your always pessimistic, every day is a let-down.

Not at all. I don't expect much day to day...so when nothing comes I'm in no way let down. And as a nice added bonus, anything good that comes my way means that much more to me.

 

[soul service]

Se7en.

Sure, it's always better when you get good things... But if you work to get them, the feeling is even better cause you know who to "thank" for it. And, you know you can get it voluntary. So, you can have more on an everyday basis. And, high expectations aren't necessary impossible expectations. Mines are happiness, truth, honesty, evolution, frienship....

Bonochick

I don't think you're being hypocrite. I think you're an optimiser. You play roles optimising a part of yourself. If you're being optimistic with others, you surely have the proof that you can be optimistic at all, meaning when you're along too!! I know what you're through, cause I lived that too. Maybe we could talk about it, if you'd like to. I realised that I was living for the others. I mean, if the others were thinking I was a dumbass, I was sad... If the others were sad, I was helping them and then, I felt good. I felt good cause I was feeling helpful, I was feeling like doing something worth it!! I just realised that I need to work on MYSELF and help MYSELF first.

FOX, glad I helped you with your class. Actually, I agree with you. We have to discover things by ourselves. But, maybe we need some help sometimes to find the beginning of the road. Sometimes, we can help by giving tools to find the road. But it's not by giving a map that we help people. See, I like your way of thinking. I'd really enjoy a live chat. You know, just throwing things and exchanging. Give me some news, even if the answer is no!!! Thank!!

 

[foray]

Pain is Happiness, vice versa. I think your attitude may be too extreme, soul service; there's no way you can go through life happy all the time. Even Jesus was called the man of sorrows.

foray

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the only thing I know is that I know nothing

 

[unforgettableFOXfire]

It depends on the nature of the person, Im generally very pessmimistic, sure there are good things in life. I see a glass, I will say half full, but that istn necessarily being optimistic. Fact of the matter with me, is that I COULD change things in my life to make it better, but im too busy and too content bitching about them to bother changing it. Sure we can all criticize me for it, but just look at yourselves first, sure we could say oooh well my friends treat me like crap or ooh i hate my job or oooh I have to pay for my 5 new cars. But then lets see, oh you could get new friends, or get a new job or since cars are a luxury just not buy so many fucking cars. The fact of the matter is, yes, hapiness IS in fact voluntary, I agree, but we find it so much easier to blame others, and to get sympathy for ourselves that a great many people choose to be unhappy about things when fact is it could be worse.

Sure, I could say profound stuff, I could sugar coat things so everyone agrees, but I dont want people to just agree, people have to think for themselves about things like this.


BTW soul, Im using this premise as an idea for our schools philosophy club on monday, hope you dont mind.

 

[unforgettableFOXfire]

Soul Service, Id be happy to talk to you on ICQ or MSN sometime... but since I have to reformat my computer, Im hesitant to download AIM or IRC because theyll get deleted anyway and itll result in more work later...

But yeah... we talked about that. Heres the question, is happiness voluntary? or contentment voluntary?

I mean, anyone can put on the facade of being happy but its hard to fake enjoying your life as a whole. Anyone have thoughts on this?

 

[soul service]

For myself, I believe in continuity. I mean, after life, I believe my soul will continue to live. I don't know how, but I know it will have a sense of continuity. So, my life goal is evolution. Happiness, for me, is achieved through evolution. And, let me tell you that evolution is quite large. So, sometimes, I do mistakes and I'm not quite proud of myself. And in these times, it's easy saying "Shit, I'm a dumb jerk who can't do anything right.". Instead, I rather find a way to fix things. And when things are fixed, I know I still have other things to work on. That's why I'm happy. That's why I'm also happy when I look at my life as a whole, cause I can see I climbed a part of the stairs. Know what I mean? I gives me the feeling that I did something, I changed for the best. And I'm observing from where I stand. I know I have a lot to climb, but I can see a whole different sight from here and I'm profiting of it. The difference in the sight is also something I find positive. It's new, so, consequently, it brings new stuff. Tell me what you think of that, please.

 

[soul service]

The last post also answers to Foray...

 

[foray]

Oh. You're talking about joy then, not happiness.

foray

 

[soul service]

From my point of view, I'm not talking about joy. Joy is a temporary feeling. Happiness is a whole different term. Happiness is "being different" while joy is "feeling different for a while". The notion of time is explaining a bit what I mean. Joy comes from ponctual moments. But if you look at all the moments, even those where you were knocked down on the floor and bleeding, even those when you realised you were crashed, even those when you tried to get up and fell, even those when you got up and wasn't going the right way. When concidering all the moments and feeling that what you did was worth it and that you're proud of it, I think that that is happiness.

If you don't agree, please, tell me how you see it! Thank Foray!

 

[foray]

Oh. I was taught that 'happiness' has its roots in the word 'happenings' i.e. to be happy as a direct result of incidents. So, joy is the more lasting sort of happiness. To me, you've got it the other way around, but don't worry, it is just silly old semantics.

Happiness is a warm gun, didn't you know.

foray

 

[Se7en]

Originally posted by foray:

Happiness is a warm gun, didn't you know.

bang, bang, shoot, shoot

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The numeral 7

 

[DrTeeth]

I'm certainly not happy today

 

[soul service]

I think I did the mistake because I just "translate" the words. In French, joy and happiness are express as "Joie" and "Bonheur". The first is ponctual, the other is long term. Anyway, my question is:"What do you think about it"?

 

[foray]

What do I think about happiness? It's good stuff.

foray

 

[soul service]

Can you be more explicite?