It seems like life is just filled with problem after problem. Take Mormonism, for example. It is false, yet it survives, and continues to ruin lives. People get sick. People lose jobs. People get divorced. People get old. Countries are taken over. Car accidents happen. Religious, racial, and national bigotry are everywhere. Hatred is rampant. Crime flourishes. Lies are part of life. Survival of the fittest drives people to snub "inferior" people and pursue "superior" people even as they themselves are snubbed and pursued. Nothing is certain.

If you pursue happiness, you may never find it. But if you view life as a big mess, you will be content. "Life's a bitch and then you die" will be your philosophy.

This is why atheism can be so appealing. The idea that death ends all can be comforting.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/24/2013 12:43PM by behindcurtain.

Stress is the difference between what we want reality to be and what it really is. It won't make the problems go away, but lifts the mental burden somewhat.

Several years ago I took a steamer to Mokil Atoll in
the Caroline Islands and spent a couple of weeks there.

Population: 150
Visits by the steamship: once every two weeks

I can truly say I was happy there. Biggest worry: not
getting cut on the sharp reef while swimming in the lagoon.
Biggest disappointment: the occasional dry coconut.

Very happy, all in all.
Also, very bored.

UD

Life is a bitch, with brief interruptions of happiness.

Carpe diem, baby!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/24/2013 12:50PM by wine country girl.

It's your opinion that those are bad things.

There is a Taoist story of an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. "Such bad luck," they said sympathetically. "May be," the farmer replied. The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses. "How wonderful," the neighbors exclaimed. "May be," replied the old man. The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune. "May be," answered the farmer. The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son's leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out. "May be," said the farmer.

Taoism says that trying to follow someone else's path usually leads to unhappiness. Way too many people are on the wrong path for them. Even if they reach their goal they'll be unhappy. Most people think something *out there* -- something attained, something happening or ending -- will MAKE them happy or at least allow them to be happy. But I think happiness comes mostly from within. Sure, not suffering is better than suffering and comfort is better than discomfort, but those things, of themselves, aren't happiness. Also, "true happiness" is not 100% happiness.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/24/2013 02:43PM by Stray Mutt.

I think happiness can be highly over-rated.

Life is an etch a sketch. We create our perspective of reality and allow the follies of our emotions and misinterpretations make it out to be what we THINK it is.

This is what got me out of Moism and let me be free. To embrace the church view of duality; evil vs good, wrong vs right, heaven vs hell, us vs them, etc. etc. and etc., there is NO POSSIBILITY of peace. Once I let go of the taught impact and could see it with forgiveness for my own thoughts, my own unconscious guilt that I was using as the filter to create fear, then things looked different.

This life isn't a test, a battlefield for your soul! It's a dream, with monsters, death, anger, pain, killing, separation, and anguish. These be-LIE-fs are what keep us in pain and fear. When you, (I), forgive these thoughts and open myself up to higher levels of being, (or NON thinking), I reconnect with the truth of WHAT I am, (the same cookie dough YOU are made of), which is love. We are all wanting the same thing; connection, freedom, unity, the return to our source and the very core of our existence.

Can peace be found in this life? Only if you are willing to see it for what it is. It's not real. It's a game. An answer to a question of what would it be like to experience something else. With this perspective, when my eldest son died of cancer last year, I could be free from the fear of never seeing him again, would he or I be "worthy" to be reunited again, or any other hogwash religious dribble about judgments of gOD or pay up and secure your spot in heaven.

The other thing I have learned is to trust the experiences that come my way. They have but one purpose, to lead me BACK to WHAT I am and out of the WHO I THINK I AM! It's the entity of our persons that creates the separation. If I trust and let go, then a whole new world shows up and with the lessening of the horrific grip of fear, peace begins to make itself manifest.

It's been an eleven year journey so far since I made this discovery and it just keeps getting better all the time.

Can you point to any sources (books, essays, etc.) you've used to help in this journey?

Being content is proably more common than being happy. The search for happiness can become like a drug. Too many fixes does not make a man happy.

I do not know. What is here to take for granted? Nothing.

Be content here and now, if you are happy, good for you.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/24/2013 01:21PM by volrammos.

I am at a point in my life that I have learned what I need to do to be content, happy, have peace.
It's an inside job.Totally.

It's about me -- how I think about everything. My thoughts determine my level of happiness and contentment. If anyone wants a secret to life - that's it. (I think!) :-)

I own my own power. I don't give permission to anyone to disturb my peace of mind. Stuff happens but it's only temporary.

I have found a few things come naturally, and some need a little work.

One: an attitude of gratitude. It's important to itemize what I am thankful for on a daily basis.

Two: My personally naturally lends to much laughter and fun and joy and an optimistic view of life, glass half full mind set, no regrets, no room for negativity of any kind- it's such a downer.
It's often a mental fight, but I always win!

Life is sooooo short. I have very little time left as I am well over the middle mark. Living alone, as a single female, and widow, I have found that my entire life is about how I think about it. Every single day has become precious!

I give myself permission to be happy and grateful. Plus I give myself permission to: LET GO of anything that does not serve me. Negativity is just too heavy to carry around.

The problems are just temporary set backs in a long, long life of learning - love and laughter are the keys.

Yes, happiness, joy, peace of mind are all possible. Sometimes they have been fleeting, but more times, these days, they are more permanent.

It's all about how we think. If we think we can't we can't. If we think we can, we can. This is an old adage my "dad" (maternal grandfather) taught me as a young child. Take the "T" out of Can't and you CAN!

The other day, I was at the pool with my granddaughter. She swam on her own for the first time. It was only eight feet, but it was awesome. It was bliss.

Or the day she snuggled up to me and said "you are the best grampa ever."

So yeah, you can experience true happiness.

It's easy to see misery because you focus on it. It just as easy to be happy...if you focus on it.

If we never knew sadness or unhappiness, how would we know we're happy? (I think I learned that in seminary actually lol) But I think it's true even though I'm an exmo. One of my friends that I used to know a long time ago seemed to have EVERYTHING. He was rich, good looking, great job, successful in pretty much every way. Most miserable SOB I ever knew though. Hate his life, wanted to die. You just have to eek out as much happiness as you can and deal with it.

I think of happiness as a rare exotic that flits through your life every now and then. It refuses to show itself if you are actually looking for it, preferring to spice itself with surprise, and knows to leave while your are still gasping for more, so that you can't possibly ever get used to it and condemn it to banality.

I saw three young kids trying to wade through a deep mud puddle and the suction from the mud was so strong all three lost their balance and ended up sitting in the mud. One began crying, wriggled out of the mud, and ran home. The other two just sat there laughing so hard that they ended up on their backs. It was the most hilarious, spontaneous, thunderous, laughter I have ever heard. I like when you just get clobbered out of the blue with something good like that. And then moment is gone.

Contentment is more sustainable, and cultivating the feeling that you can handle anything, if you have to, will help bring it.