Happiness -- What does it Mean to You?

It's time for WGT to come out of hibernation! A couple of brain waves kept me awake last night and I'm all excited about two new projects. Here's the first:

I want to explore what makes you guys happy, dear readers from different countries. All you talented scribes from all over the world, give us your views on HAPPINESS! (apart from book sales...:) But I can't do it without you!

How do you define HAPPINESS? Can you decide to be HAPPY?

You surely heard of the World Happiness Report conducted annually by CNN? According to that statistic, in 2017, the happiest countries were:
Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Netherlands, Finland, Switzerland, Iceland. 

Do you think your country comes into the equation? Let's hear YOU speak, not statistics.

Fellow-writers, bloggers, philosophers, psychologists...and fellow human beings who are going through this school of life, tell us about your impressions and beliefs on happiness. Tell us what makes you happy.

Why does this topic mesmerize me?  When we first moved to Ireland, Irish people asked us whether we were happy in our new home, the old farmhouse. For a German of my generation, it was absolutely unheard of to ask strangers whether they were happy. It felt intrusive, inconsiderate, prying to say the least. And for me, this question came at a time when I had just been "emigrated" to a country against my will and I found it hard to adjust.

Ever since then, I've been checking back in with my happiness barometer where I am on the scale of 1-10.

Is happiness too personal a matter/question for you too or will people know when you are you bubbling over with joy and happiness?

Let us know!  

Happiness and Perception of Reality

       

GO DIRECTLY TO

• SEEKING HAPPINESS
• PERCEPTION OF REALITY

We are Souls in Human bodies.

On a Universal level, we are called Human Beings.

Being in human bodies, we enclosed ourselves in a box delimitated by our five senses. The borders that separate our limited reality from the bigger picture, sometimes makes us even forget that there are some borders out there. We believe in the Infinite but somehow we tend to believe that the infinite is also closed in our box.

In this box we have needs; we have desires. And our greatest desire is to reach Happiness.

Yes, WE SEEK HAPPINESS without even having all the details about what the Greatest Happiness is. But we have this encrypted in our DNA.

Who am I to tell you about finding Happiness? Well, like you, I am also a Soul. A Soul that also received a human body Here and Now…

A Soul with its own box and having its own borders, inside which… I may have found Happiness, or may not. But… I am here. And I am here to share my experience on this planet. Who knows? Maybe you’ll find something inside it for YOU.

I don’t intend to give you the Ultimate Recipe for HAPPINESS.

But I will make you wonder and question yourself.

I definitely believe that the answer lays in the question. Instead of focusing on the answer, maybe it’s better to concentrate on the question. And one day the answer will find you. And from this answer you will extract the personal Recipe for a better life. YOUR RECIPE FOR PERCEIVING HAPPINESS.

Because… in the world where our human bodies live… everything is subjective and relative… and ultimately… everything is a matter of PERCEPTION OF REALITY.

WHAT’S INSIDE IT FOR YOU?

 GO TO:

 SEEKING HAPPINESS

• The SHOCKING Truth About Happiness
• The Meaning of Life – A Short Story
• What KILLS your Desires?
• 13 Quotes to meditate on, while we are in Search for Happine…
• 70 Ways To Say MERRY CHRISTMAS All Over The World
• It’s Christmas Time!!! (11 Quotes & 11 Songs) 
•  
• For more on M.C. Simon and the rest of this article, go to her website.
• On Facebook
• On Twitter

Pay it forward

 
Deena Tunstall      


A wise heart never opens for an insincere suitor.
   Intuition never falters for a fool.
   The mind can wander through a hundred scenarios,
   heart sinking and desperately cruel.
   Love as you wish to be loved,
   think of as you would like to be thought of.
   Feel as you would like to be felt,
   lust the way you wish to be sought of.
   See the way you wish to be seen,
   listen the way you want to be heard.
   Find wonder in all the blessings
   most would find absurd.
   Shrug off the trivialities that anger you,
   your energy can be utilised anywhere.
   Fail to care what others think
   as their minds are always busy elsewhere.
   Encourage happiness,
   like attracts like.
   Don't waste time dwelling,
   over hindsight.

Deena Turnstall's blog is www.deenascribbles.wordpress.com 

Find her on Facebook as well as Twitter @deenascribbles.

Can you be too Happy?

Our American forefathers thought the pursuit of happiness was a basic right.  And Americans are enthusiastically, if not somewhat desperately, continuing to pursue happiness.  In fact, pursuing happiness has become big business, including motivational, "how to do it" speakers who come  in many forms and prices.

Do you appreciate being around happy people, or does that bouncy happiness become annoying?  Research often finds many conflicting results.  So, too, about turning happiness into a negative "too happy."  The May 2011 issue of "Perspectives on Psychological Science" has an article by an assistant professor of psychology at Yale that notes a study that followed children from the 1920s into old age.  "It found that those who had died younger had been rated by their teachers as highly cheerful."  But there are other studies that show that staying optimistic results in less heart disease in old age.
A University of Illinois research team analyzed several studies including data on 16,000 people world-wide.  Their finding -- "student-age individuals who rated their satisfaction with life as a five out of five were more likely to drop out of school and had lower incomes than those who weren't so happy and satisfied relatively early in life."  A follow-up study at a later age showed that the cheerful group were earning less money.  Feeling happy prevents the dissatisfaction that pushes people out of their present circumstances.
And some research indicates creativity is negatively correlated with happiness.  A variety of emotions hones a keener mind, and tough times in life add flavor and depth to the work of artists and writers.  Certainly many of our greatest artists and writers have been tortured souls.
Dr. Andrew Weil, an integrative doctor who looks at physical and emotional health from a variety of viewpoints, speaks of inner contentment coming from a harmonious balance within us.  While he feels happiness is too easily equated in our society with gaining more of something material, he refers to a Swedish word, "lagom," as expressing the concept more exactly.  In English, it approximates "just right, enough."   It is being in a continuing state of  "positive emotionality."
I don't know if the emotion of happiness or contentment itself generally feels the same within humans, but what makes us happy has fascinating variations in our species.   While some find it in personal relationships, others must climb mountains to achieve it, or overcome danger in many forms.  In the movie, "Chasing Mavericks," surfing through mountainous waves triggered really feeling alive for surfer Jay Moriarty.  In real  life, he died at the tender age of 22 while doing free diving beyond his endurance.  Such people are at an extreme, and perhaps feel happiness at a deeper depth.  Or, perhaps they keep searching for more fulfillment because they never quite reach "just enough."
I have not thought of happiness as something that can be purposely pursued or found.  Rather, it is a byproduct of what's going on in my life.  By being mindful of my personal sense of  balance and harmony, I can find myself in a state of "just right."

Suellen Zima, Member of www.NLAPW.org
Visit http://www.zimatravels.com and Follow the Senior Hummingbird as she wanders, wonders, and writes.