What is the key to happiness in life in your experience?

mangochavez

mangochavez wrote: »

Based on your life experience, what is the key to happiness? Here are some popular contenders:

For me the one change I ever made to my life that made me much happier than any other was ceasing to judge myself by standards set by others. Their success - looks - fitness - skills - education - money - or whatever.

Instead I changed towards trying to improve myself in some way EVERY day and comparing myself to one standard only. The person I am today I compare to nothing but the person I was yesterday.

As such many of the things you put on your list are not actually that important to me. They are not targets I want to attain or measures I judge myself by.

IM0

realising that life is indeed a bitch, so the less you think about it and all the bad stuff that goes on and try to 'fix' the world the better, concentrate on living it instead of how you can make it better for others you dont know or care about deep down apart from getting browning points for when you meet that arsehole on the cloud when the music stops later on

or just moderation. yeah moderation, Ill go with that. moderation is the key to life, enjoy the rough with the smooth

also life is not to be taken seriously, laugh at stuff, everything, to yourself in your HEAD not out loud, well you know the things you secretly laugh about to yourself? keep doing those.

have fun! but be responsible at the same time, in essence dont take the piss with the way you behave, moderation remember. do good if it makes you feel good, dont worry usually gets you nowhere anyway except stressed and wrinkled or something

but yeah trust me on the sunscreen.

coffee_cake

The whole list in the OP sounds good to me :cool::pac:

SEPT 23 1989

That whole list smacks of effort

Not too many worries and enough money for a a few socials. Plus some other stuff.

NinjaK

Ignoring the herd, doing what you like or enjoy

Legs.Eleven

I´ve already posted (sunshine and being a good person) but I think the absolute key is not judging yourself against others. So much easier said than done, so tell me when you have that one figured out. Also filling your time with things you like doing with people you like and who respect you. Always have something to look forward to. Not wallowing. If you feel a bout of that coming on, leave your house and walk. Also having some objectives in your life no matter how small. Going easy on yourself and realising you´re only human.

Sunshine.

kylith

A wee poem from my grandmother, on the subject of happiness.

Half the happiness of living
Comes from willing-hearted giving;
Comes from sharing all our pleasures
And dividing all our treasures.

And the other half is loving;
First yourself, then all things living.
So, each person should be sowing
Love-seeds while their life is growing,
For all the happiness of living
Comes from loving and from giving.

Legs.Eleven

kylith wrote: »

A wee poem from my grandmother, on the subject of happiness.

Half the happiness of living
Comes from willing-hearted giving;
Comes from sharing all our pleasures
And dividing all our treasures.

And the other half is loving;
First yourself, then all things living.
So, each person should be sowing
Love-seeds while their life is growing,
For all the happiness of living
Comes from loving and from giving.

Did your gram-gram write that? Very cute.

Shenshen

kylith wrote: »

A wee poem from my grandmother, on the subject of happiness.

Half the happiness of living
Comes from willing-hearted giving;
Comes from sharing all our pleasures
And dividing all our treasures.

And the other half is loving;
First yourself, then all things living.
So, each person should be sowing
Love-seeds while their life is growing,
For all the happiness of living
Comes from loving and from giving.

That is lovely. Even more so cause it's true

kylith

Legs.Eleven wrote: »

Did your gram-gram write that? Very cute.

Unfortunately not, I don't know where it came from; she just had it stuck on her fridge.

Balance

Remmy

Enjoying good food with people you care about.

playedalive

Deleted User wrote: »

For me the one change I ever made to my life that made me much happier than any other was ceasing to judge myself by standards set by others.

Or standards that you wrongly think are set by others. The "done thing". Stopping this for me has helped greatly.

DarkJager

I would have thought a large lottery win, but today I've put a deposit on a new house I really wanted and got 700 quid back off the taxman! On a total buzz now

Karl Stein

kylith wrote: »

☭☭☭☭☭☭☭☭☭☭☭☭

Half the happiness of living
Comes from willing-hearted giving;
Comes from sharing all our pleasures
And dividing all our treasures.

☭☭☭☭☭☭☭☭☭☭☭☭

Communist.

cantdecide

Just when you are about to get upset about anything ... just remember, "It's just a ride"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMUiwTubYu0

Tigger

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PQ6335puOc

Tigger

aligator_am wrote: »

Let's see what Conan thinks...

beat me

Fox_In_Socks

There is no key to happiness. Peaks and troughs, light and shade-that's what life's about.

cofy

Fox_In_Socks wrote: »

There is no key to happiness. Peaks and troughs, light and shade-that's what life's about.

You read my mind.:eek::D

jobeenfitz

Having a few pints in the pub with the lads. Discussing this n that and solving nothing.

Fox_In_Socks

cofy wrote: »

You read my mind.:eek::D

It's a talent I have. You pay me a euro and I shall guess your name correctly.:D

As the thread title says "in your experience", it has been my experience to be wary when things are good, or when I am "happy". Usually, something will come along to even things out fairly soon.

cofy

Fox_In_Socks wrote: »

It's a talent I have. You pay me a euro and I shall guess your name correctly.:D

As the thread title says "in your experience", it has been my experience to be wary when things are good, or when I am "happy". Usually, something will come along to even things out fairly soon.

One euro coin sent by extrasensory perception :D
I normally think there is a frown for every smile, and every good laugh I have I wonder what will bring a tear.:o

gufnork

A great man once said(and I'm paraphrasing now), "creep behind your eyelids and find out why you are here." When you find it, everything else Will fall into place.

In other words, pursue the thing that you are truly, deeply passionate about. The one thing that while you're doing it makes everything else just melt away into nothing. You'll know when you've found it because you won't want to be doing anything else.

Push Pop

The key is quality human relationships with ongoing positive interactions especially with family. A few close friends and a partner helps too.
Not being materialistic or money driven.
Being more unvolved with your community and selfless instead of being individualistic.
Being able to laugh everyday.

Pj!

Always have aims and something to achieve.

playedalive

playedalive wrote: »

Or standards that you wrongly think are set by others. The "done thing". Stopping this for me has helped greatly.

Indeed! But perhaps "standards set by others" is not quite getting across what I meant. I did not mean actually set by others. What I mean is standards you set for yourself that you use others to benchmark.

For example if you have a rich and career successful older sibling it is common for many people to use that as the yard stick for measuring their own success. As such a less successful or lucrative career might be judged as being a failure.

So rather than "standards set by others" I probably should have said "standards you form relative to those attained by others".

I keep my expectations realistic for both myself and other people, personally and professionally, and I have attainable goals that I look forward to realising. I'm not one for wanting the impossible or yearning for the unattainable, and having goals that are achievable keeps you grounded.

Those traits and attitudes are essential for long term happiness imo.