How do i be happy? stop my self from being so empty?

Question

if i am sad cause i am not having what i want, if i stop wanting things would i be happy. i shall then not feel no sorrow but i will feel the physical pain, health then i should keep the wanting to maintain these. but how far do i go with maintaining. do i do exercise all day. how much pressure do i take from work to make money to pay my medical bills or food. do i follow the buddas way of the middle path. state of inaction where i act with no liking for the fruit the action bares. i do what i have to do and take joy in doing it. stop worry about tom and just do it. how do i get my self to this state of peacefulness. i certainly do not want to be a monk but i do not want to be trapped in the rat race which the system has created

Answer 1

Honestly this reminds me of my own mumbo-jumbo. But I do feel a little more peaceful now than before so I would like to share my thought process.

Being peaceful is a state i.e. as long as you dont figure out
how to enjoy the journey to do anything you will always feel this way. Everything you seek is only temporary. Once we become old, we will lose our health. what we want today, we may not want tomorrow. So if you follow what I am trying to
get at, we must have a realization that what we experience is
always fleeting. So we have to find a correct perspective to life.

Work will feel like a pressure only because
you dont honestly enjoy what you do. Work should not be a burden, rather it should be fun. If it is not so, one must use our
intellect to change the pressure aspects of work. Health is related to body and mind. So exercise must also relate to
body and mind. How far you choose to exercise really
depends on your goals. Again if you want to enjoy the journey
you will need to set your goals accordingly. Enjoy each of the
small pains when you test your body and mind's limits with exercise and complement exercise with relaxation and proper nutrition.

You seek peacefulness but you stress over it. These
are polar opposites. Peace cannot be achieved only in one area of life as you rightfully have understood. You will need to balance all your priorities and start looking at those with a different angle to reverse the pressure of goals and deadlines into living more into the present enjoying the journey.

In my humble opinion, every day has a tomorrow so until
you die you will keep on worrying about tomorrow. The only
way to stop worrying about tomorrow is do your best living
the today. Keep long term goals but more importantly
think through to form more short term goals. And then
focus on those will all honesty and heart. The feeling of
emptiness is due to not achieving something we want.
That is mainly because in most cases we dont know what
we want and if we do, we dont know how to acheive it.
You need to figure out where you stand in every thing
that is of importance to you. And start acting .

Rat Race SYndrome : Unless you move ahead of the pack
you will always feel that the system has created a rat race.
But in the world of this size honestly, the leaders are
the best breed of rats. So following them is not entirely bad.
The only bad thing is if you follow without knowing why
you are following. So pick and choose your rat race carefully
and do your best to move ahead "most" of the rats.


Being a monk in this rat race is a lot harder than being
a monk in an monastery. If you were capable of following
the buddha's way then you wouldnt have these questions.
Selfless action without any attachment to the fruit is almost
impossible . That means dont give up if you dont get what you
want. That brings us to the question of how long do you try.
The answer is simple : As long as you enjoy the journey.
If that is a lifetime, you are set !!

Answer 2

Let God into your life.

Mix around with bright and lovely(loving) people.
Steer away from the sapping vampires.

Look to what you like to do that makes you smile, makes you happy. Go and do that, them.
Whatever inspires you? Whatever gives you a spark?

Even if the rat wins in the race, it is still a rat.

I have tried to keep the middle path for 8 years, i thought about everything and i still could not look through the top of the bottleneck of the jar that i was in.

Life is actually simple. You know God's mission for you.
Go and complete it. There is nothing more fulfilling than that.

Perhaps, 'middle path' means to stay balance in your living habits.
:)

Answer 3

Seek and ye shall find. When you are feeling emptiness, it indicates more awareness is needed in the area of your personal self. Start reading self-help books that zero in on the areas you feel are bothering you. You have to start somewhere, and if you begin searching, you will begin to come up with directions that your soul needs to go. Happiness comes with personal contentment, for one. You like who you are, you like what you do, you like the people in your life, and so on. These are all choices you have made and they are either good for you or not so good. We all need to accept ourselves first, to begin this feeling of happiness. From within yourself, you radiate to others and the outside world, your wants and needs. This attracts to you, the answers, the rewards, the fulfillment. If you are lazy, you will get less than another person who tries harder. If you are insensitive, you would probably get others responding by being uncaring to you as well. Like attracts like. You reap what you sow. Simple words, but profoundly true! If you want to be surrounded by goodness and hope and happiness, you have to give out these same vibrations as they will never be returned to you if you are sending out signals of hate and unkindness to others. All of life is a learning experience. We have to develop our awareness on many levels. We do not come to the world automatically knowing everything. Trial and error, and hopefully, you don't keep making the same mistakes. It is a journey. And you get to control the way it will progress by your thoughts and choices along the way. One step leads to another, does it not? There is much to help anyone on the path to personal awareness and living the best life possible. You just began by asking this question. Now ask the next, and the next, and the next after that, until one day, you will reach that point that you were seeking in the first place! It's a fact!

Answer 4

You know, you sound exactly like several of my acquaintances who are Westeners and Buddhists. The same kind of misery. I have the feeling it is not working for Westerners, Buddhism that is.

I have several other friends, some of them are shamanists, others are just generally New Age of different variety - and none of them complain of this sort of emptiness. Sure, sometime they are sad but they pick themselves up quicky and never lose their interest in life.

So maybe, just maybe its time for you to start looking into other philosophies and approaches to life - and I don't mean religions!

Answer 5

Go out and have fun...or pick up a hobby. Take a class at a community college (wait, how old are you :) If you're still in school take an art, dance class..etc. Volunteer somewhere. You'll have fun and meet new people.

Answer 6

You need to feel that you are of value. Regardless where life takes you, be assured that your very presence is sufficient to be of value. Let that bring you peace. For you do matter. Without you, life could not proceed on its way, the way it should.

Answer 7

Take Xanax xr 0.10 MG by mouth for a week and check back.

Answer 8

a very important question for all humans. short "answer" : read *the complete idiot's guide to toltec wisdom*. it explains how and why your mind is "driving you nuts", and what to do about it. see: http://www.sahajayoga.com the energy provided will calm you down and "stop" your mind--the root of most dramas. best of luck! ;-)

Answer 9

Start volunteering for a group, charity, church, food bank, etc.

Answer 10

I say you worry too much and need an antidepressant.