Are people truly happy in their life?

i don’t actually know how to answer this question.
there are several different people who would say,
“yes i am truly happy” and others who would say,
” i can never be happy” i think you have to work at
it to be truly happy, just like everything else in life.

right now -YES. I just got a job I my field and have started my career. I love my boyfriend and I feel so blessed.

I don’t think people people will ever be truly happy because we always want what we can’t have or what we don’t have. Even those people who have everything, are sometimes unhappy because they feel a void in their life. That’s just what I think though, maybe there are people who are truly happy.

Personally, I am truly happy with my life, but I guess it could be better!

Oxymoron?

Happiness is a journey, not a destination!

I’m not really happy where my life is at right now, but then again, is anyone truly happy where they are in their life at the moment? Everyone seems to be working for something…

Has anyone read “A New Earth”? That’s the perfect book to answer this question…of course it’s an answer that will take you about 7 hours to read. But it’s the best answer I’ve found. Author: Eckhart Tolle.

I agree with spendy!!!

That seems to be the exact problem…always focusing on the future or dwelling on the past. Why not be in the now? That’s where we all are…in the now. The “moment” of NOW is all we’ll ever have. Now, that doesn’t mean casting aside your ambitions or deciding not to focus on goals, it just means being present and living each moment.

@ iSteve – awesome book, no? It’s truly life-changing. Tolle is astounding.

@spendy: Totally!!!

Thanks iSteve. This book and the entire philosophy deserve a thread all their own.

@spendywatson and isteve
The both of you have made me
want to read that book.

Oprah and her books… This one is a keeper.

Your thoughts determine your happiness. Other than that I think being grateful for the good stuff creates less angst with your world and makes you feel happier. Understanding choice and knowing you can’t control how others behave lightens things up. I’m usually a range of emotion through each day. I try to do things that make me happy, have thoughts that cheer me, and look for the good in others. I’m currently trying to not be impatient wanting this or that to happen NOW. I feel happier for that. I also remind myself daily the bit about others. They will behave as they please. I can enjoy them or ignore them as needed. Right now I am truly happy, but tomorrow morning I don’t know. Maybe after breakfast, or just before lunch..

if you were never sad how would you know when you are happy?

Good question…and a valid point. Everything is relative. But, it should be stated that everyone will have moments of hurt or sadness, even in a seemingly “happy” life. The key is to endure the sadness and experience it for what it is without resisting it. Telling yourself over and over in your mind “I don’t deserve this unhappiness, I can’t believe this is happening to me. I always end up hurting.” Those are statements that come from ego. The better resolve is to feel the hurt for what it is, except it and move on to the next moment in your life (which should not be a moment of dwelling on the hurt you’ve experienced). @joli – it’s like you said, your thoughts determine your happiness. You can either let your thoughts (which are ego driven) rule your mind, or you can become free of them by realizing where they come from within you. You should not allow your thoughts to define you (and reading Tolle’s book will enlighten you more to this fact than anything I’ve written – some of these ideas come from the book). And impatience is another form of ego. “I have other things to do, I shouldn’t be waiting here in line behind Slowy McSlowerson.” Well…how about instead, “This is where I am at the moment. I’ll take in my surroundings and experience this moment as it is meant to be.” That doesn’t mean lolly-gag around the grocery store for hours because you think there’s some “reason” you should be there (when you’re actually late for an appointment or your husband is waiting for you in the car). But, if things don’t go as planned, there’s no reason to get frantic or stressed – it’s wasted energy that your ego is attempting to burn and it serves no real purpose aside from feeding your inner pain (or as Tolle calls it, your pain-body). Everyone experiences different emotions in correlation with daily activities…but how often do they actually stop and notice the emotions they are feeling? How often do you start to snap back at someone who has quipped you with harsh words and think to yourself, “This interaction isn’t positive…and I’m not going to benefit. The words I’m about to say will do neither one of us any true good. I should stay calm and handle this a different way.”? Not many people do…but awareness of being “present” is growing every day. The best route is always to state facts, not emotion/opinion. There is “Presence” in factual conversation, not in emotional argument. That doesn’t mean you can’t GIVE your opinion or be emotional…it just means realizing when and why you do it, and seeing it for what it is without letting your words define you. It’s not something you can even actually work at…it’s just something that you become aware of within yourself. In Tolle’s book, it’s refered to as just that; awareness.

Spendy your words resonate with my beleifs. Great response.

I love this topic…it’s so uplifting, enlightening and truly related to inner-growth.

I believe Nuala O’Faolain said it best in “Chasing the Evanescent Glow” when she says “And that’s what I think happiness is like-radiant like the last of the sun, but always in the process of disappearing.” We have moments of happiness in life but I believe no one is ever completely happy for long periods of time. I mean we all have problems to overcome that would invariably make us less than happy. “Is being happy like a current that disturbs the seabed? I was floating, and then anxiety swam up from underneath, and discontent, and regret.” Although through all the tribulations we go through we should never forget the things that make us happy because without things like happiness and love life becomes pointless.

“This is one of life’s mysteries there’s no coming to terms with-that as long as we have breath we have no choice but to go running after happiness, our poor faces strained upward as if we cannot get enough of it, as if happy is what we were meant to be, as if without happiness we would starve.

As we would.”

I think happiness—at least as it is normally used—is unattainable. Most people think happiness is what makes us smile. Emotions are what make us smile. You can’t have only agreeable emotions. You have to take the bad with the good.

True happiness = peace. Peace means that your well-being isn’t threatened even when you experience bad events or emotions. And yes, some people are truly happy/peaceful.

I think it is possible depending on one’s mind set. If you focus on the positive things in your life, you can be happy. But you can’t if you dwell on the negative. For me personally, I would have to say I am content.

True happiness is hard to attain, but if you read the bood Sidhartha(spelling) you will realize that everyone is capable of reaching happiness but in many different ways.
People need to figure out what would make them truly happy and seek it

Oprah was talking about the book “A New Earth” today on her show.

Wow! I wonder if Oprah Fluthers!

@scamp If she did, who would do her show?

That’s true, because once you pop… oh wait, that’s pringles. Well you know what I mean!