Is happiness a choice?

[Oblimo]

I wonder when oblivious's current and former hot chicks will start PM'ing me.

Based on past practice, won't be long.

Another loser they are trying to figure out. Lol.

You’ve been on quite a tear, lately.

You okay?

 

[HAL_9000]

Happiness is a choice and also state of mind.
Be positive, think of all the horrendous things that go on in the world and thank your lucky stars.
Be active, giving, live in the day, naughty and enjoy life to the full with a smile on your face

In the words of the immortal Led Zep:

"These are the seasons of emotion
And like the wind, they rise and fall
This is the wonder of devotion
I see the torch
We all must hold
This is the mystery of the quotient, quotient
Upon us all, upon us all a little rain must fall
Just a little rain, oh
Ooh, yeah-yeah-yeah"...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXxFQzAGq38

 

[girlsmiley]

Is happiness a choice? I guess it would be, if happiness were a slice of ultimate chocolate cake.

Unfortunately, you can’t always choose what happens in life. To some degree I guess it’s possible, but I’m going to say no, happiness is not a choice.

To me, happiness is like sadness or anger. It’s a feeling. Is the joke going to be funny? I don’t know. Is she going to hurt me? I don’t know. You don’t decide what to feel, it just happens. Which is why they’re called feelings I guess. My two cents.

 

[HAL_9000]

Is happiness a choice? I guess it would be, if happiness were a slice of ultimate chocolate cake.

Unfortunately, you can’t always choose what happens in life. To some degree I guess it’s possible, but I’m going to say no, happiness is not a choice.

To me, happiness is like sadness or anger. It’s a feeling. Is the joke going to be funny? I don’t know. Is she going to hurt me? I don’t know. You don’t decide what to feel, it just happens. Which is why they’re called feelings I guess. My two cents.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8hT3oDDf6c



I prefer being numb. Fuck feelings.

 

[girlsmiley]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8hT3oDDf6c



I prefer being numb. Fuck feelings.

I notice that more in males than females.

Interesting you would pair it with music as music can bring out all sorts of emotions. I love Hans Zimmer for this. You might know his stuff from the movies. Inception, Gladiator.

 

[HAL_9000]

I notice that more in males than females.

Interesting you would pair it with music as music can bring out all sorts of emotions. I love Hans Zimmer for this. You might know his stuff from the movies. Inception, Gladiator.

Confucius: "Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EKi2E9dVY8

Sorry. I'm digesting my steak tacos. In this state my melatonins are in full effect.

I'll be my cheerful self soon enough.

Oh..Hans.. he reminds me a bit of Jan Hammer:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8emPcVRhuc

Maybe it's just the name?

 

[HAL_9000]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJHfUEUZ_6I

 

[pantalaimonlyra]

Happiness is an ideal. Mindfulness is a choice.

 

[NEOhio1972]

Happiness is an ideal. Mindfulness is a choice.

Agree happiness is an ideal. Life throws all sorts of shit at us. It’s not all fun. But being miserable about it doesn’t solve shit. It just makes you miserable. Knuckle down, dig in and kick life back!! At least you can have some fun in that.

 

[BoyNextDoor]

No one ever said it is an easy choice.

 

[Oblimo]

Happiness is an ideal. Mindfulness is a choice.

But mindfulness takes practice. (That is, if we are talking about the same thing, mindfulness meditation.) Although, the very act of practicing mindfulness (realizing you’re distracted and bringing yourself back to focusing on breathing) is an expression of mindfulness, so I see your point.

I mean, I’ve tried the mindfulness exercise of eating a single raisin for 5 minutes. I can’t help but consider my various attempts all failures. Even though there is no way to “fail” at a mindfulness exercise.

Thanks to my neuro-atypical brain, I am most successful with mindfulness after a fresh dose of D-amphetamine.

 

[pantalaimonlyra]

I think the idea of having to be happy causes people suffering. We most often stumble upon happiness and are aware of it only when we're no longer in that state of being. Emotions are what they are; they ebb and flow in our minds/spirits/souls if we let them.

I would say mindfulness is a practice, rather than it takes practice. But it is most definitely a choice, second to second. Awareness ebbs and flows too.

 

[Polyacrylate]

I think the idea of having to be happy causes people suffering. We most often stumble upon happiness and are aware of it only when we're no longer in that state of being. Emotions are what they are; they ebb and flow in our minds/spirits/souls if we let them.

I would say mindfulness is a practice, rather than it takes practice. But it is most definitely a choice, second to second. Awareness ebbs and flows too.

Huxley said it quite well in Brave New World: " Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the over-compensations for misery. And, of course, stability isn't nearly so spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt. Happiness is never grand."

I recall reading that research shows that people who define themselves as happy generally have a measure of financial stability and overall security, a sense of interpersonal and social connection, and a sense of being challenged periodically (or some variation of these general ideas - I have no interest in tracking these down through google). Those generally aren't things you choose, but rather they are pursuits to follow.

That said, you can choose how to follow those pursuits, and can choose how you handle setbacks and disappointments.

 

[girlsmiley]

No one ever said it is an easy choice.

Vague. Give an example, because from what little you have posted I can say that choosing how to feel despite what is going on is often the lazy, easier choice. The numb that Hal spoke of before. The cop out. Being “smart” only slightly less... human. Turning a blind eye. All the same.

 

[Hal9000_]

Cheerful happy people annoy me.

 

[IG_88]

Said it in this thread before and I'll say it again, it's a choice but it doesn't feel like one. There's a difference between sad and unhappy. You usually don't have a choice with sad but you can always choose to be happy.

 

[LupusDei]

Basically what I was trying to say:
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20181218-whats-the-quickest-way-to-happiness-do-nothing