Comments on: What is Happiness? http://blog.canadian-dream-free-at-45.com/2009/03/05/what-is-happiness/ Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:31:40 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 By: Jason http://blog.canadian-dream-free-at-45.com/2009/03/05/what-is-happiness/comment-page-1/#comment-21035 Jason Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:06:57 +0000 http://blog.canadian-dream-free-at-45.com/?p=641#comment-21035 Probably the best post I have read on happiness in a while. Simple. To the point. Inspiring. Two of my favorite excerpts: "We fit our square selves into round holes and wonder why we didn’t become happy there" and "So cast off the mold and break it to the thousand pieces. Be yourself and find your own happiness" I'm adding this blog to my feed.. great stuff. keep it up! " Probably the best post I have read on happiness in a while. Simple. To the point. Inspiring.

Two of my favorite excerpts:

“We fit our square selves into round holes and wonder why we didn’t become happy there”

and

“So cast off the mold and break it to the thousand pieces. Be yourself and find your own happiness”

I’m adding this blog to my feed.. great stuff. keep it up!

“

]]> By: Canadian Dream http://blog.canadian-dream-free-at-45.com/2009/03/05/what-is-happiness/comment-page-1/#comment-20894 Canadian Dream Fri, 06 Mar 2009 11:57:34 +0000 http://blog.canadian-dream-free-at-45.com/?p=641#comment-20894 Mintycake, I agree we tend to get drilled on certain concepts and they are not even valid. People have kids in the third world and manage to raise them to adulthood on less than what most of us make in a month. Waiting to 'afford' children is an weird concept. Syd, I agree attitude is a large portion of happiness for people. If you think the world is good, it will be. You look for the goodness and tend to let everything else slide. Jay, Oh I agree money can have a positive/negative effect on happiness. It depends how much you have. Really after you have the basics and a few extras you don't need any more. We think we want more, yet I seen money make some good people very unhappy in the long run. Tim Mintycake,

I agree we tend to get drilled on certain concepts and they are not even valid. People have kids in the third world and manage to raise them to adulthood on less than what most of us make in a month. Waiting to ‘afford’ children is an weird concept.

Syd,

I agree attitude is a large portion of happiness for people. If you think the world is good, it will be. You look for the goodness and tend to let everything else slide.

Jay,

Oh I agree money can have a positive/negative effect on happiness. It depends how much you have. Really after you have the basics and a few extras you don’t need any more. We think we want more, yet I seen money make some good people very unhappy in the long run.

Tim

]]> By: Jay Currie http://blog.canadian-dream-free-at-45.com/2009/03/05/what-is-happiness/comment-page-1/#comment-20854 Jay Currie Thu, 05 Mar 2009 17:30:40 +0000 http://blog.canadian-dream-free-at-45.com/?p=641#comment-20854 A couple of things on my "happy" checklist. Am I having any fun? Are my kids having fun with their Dad? Is my partner enjoying her days? Is she having fun? Money helps. Of course it does. But at what cost. I spent last weekend working on a rush project. None of the people I cared about were having fun and the money I made, while pleasant, is not critical. So that was a wasted weeekend on the happiness index. But you are dead right when you say we need millions of ways to live because we each find happiness - or not - by our own lights. A couple of things on my “happy” checklist. Am I having any fun? Are my kids having fun with their Dad? Is my partner enjoying her days? Is she having fun?

Money helps. Of course it does. But at what cost. I spent last weekend working on a rush project. None of the people I cared about were having fun and the money I made, while pleasant, is not critical. So that was a wasted weeekend on the happiness index.

But you are dead right when you say we need millions of ways to live because we each find happiness – or not – by our own lights.

]]> By: Retired Syd http://blog.canadian-dream-free-at-45.com/2009/03/05/what-is-happiness/comment-page-1/#comment-20853 Retired Syd Thu, 05 Mar 2009 17:14:26 +0000 http://blog.canadian-dream-free-at-45.com/?p=641#comment-20853 Yes, happiness is a hard thing to define, isn't it? I guess it's kind of like pornography, hard to define but you know it when you see it. (Or in the case of happiness, you know it when you feel it!) And you're right, happiness isn't "transferrable" in that the fact that one person is happy doing one thing doesn't mean that another person will be happy doing that same thing. It certainly is very personal, what make an individual happy. Knowing yourself and your own values, and living according to those is probably pretty important to happiness. Filtering out how others (or society) think you should be living from how you want to be living can be a tricky thing to untangle. I'm pretty convinced that attitude has more to do with happiness than anything else. Everyone has things to to be unhappy about and things to be happy about--each individual determines which ones they let influence them more. Yes, happiness is a hard thing to define, isn’t it? I guess it’s kind of like pornography, hard to define but you know it when you see it. (Or in the case of happiness, you know it when you feel it!)

And you’re right, happiness isn’t “transferrable” in that the fact that one person is happy doing one thing doesn’t mean that another person will be happy doing that same thing. It certainly is very personal, what make an individual happy.

Knowing yourself and your own values, and living according to those is probably pretty important to happiness. Filtering out how others (or society) think you should be living from how you want to be living can be a tricky thing to untangle.

I’m pretty convinced that attitude has more to do with happiness than anything else. Everyone has things to to be unhappy about and things to be happy about–each individual determines which ones they let influence them more.

]]> By: Mintycake http://blog.canadian-dream-free-at-45.com/2009/03/05/what-is-happiness/comment-page-1/#comment-20852 Mintycake Thu, 05 Mar 2009 17:00:19 +0000 http://blog.canadian-dream-free-at-45.com/?p=641#comment-20852 Very insightful. There is a person in my family who makes barely enough money to pay rent yet he and his partner just had a baby. They don't worry about it. I sit and analyze excel spreadsheets worrying that we can't afford a child. But we are drilled by society, parents, you MUST get a good education, you MUST get a good job, you MUST work your butt off at the job to get promoted and stay ahead of your competetive co-workers. All this is leading to misery and I am looking for a way to escape but I'm not sure quite how to yet. being a financially oriented person, I find it hard to break away from my projections and spreadsheets and just can't see how it will work? Very insightful. There is a person in my family who makes barely enough money to pay rent yet he and his partner just had a baby. They don’t worry about it. I sit and analyze excel spreadsheets worrying that we can’t afford a child. But we are drilled by society, parents, you MUST get a good education, you MUST get a good job, you MUST work your butt off at the job to get promoted and stay ahead of your competetive co-workers. All this is leading to misery and I am looking for a way to escape but I’m not sure quite how to yet. being a financially oriented person, I find it hard to break away from my projections and spreadsheets and just can’t see how it will work?

]]> By: Robert http://blog.canadian-dream-free-at-45.com/2009/03/05/what-is-happiness/comment-page-1/#comment-20850 Robert Thu, 05 Mar 2009 15:20:38 +0000 http://blog.canadian-dream-free-at-45.com/?p=641#comment-20850 that's very true... I once read an article about how a Ivy League doctor decided to ditch her job and would spend 6 months in Africa doing volunteering work and the other 6 with her parents and she was so happy and that really led me to think... I know plenty of people with good jobs and they have a lot of "things" but yet they're miserable. that’s very true…
I once read an article about how a Ivy League doctor decided to ditch her job and would spend 6 months in Africa doing volunteering work and the other 6 with her parents and she was so happy and that really led me to think…
I know plenty of people with good jobs and they have a lot of “things” but yet they’re miserable.

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