What is the significance of the feeling of happiness?

Question

I've been thinking about this recently.

I was diagnosed with clinical depression. I know what it is like to feel sad and dejected all day everyday. Not wanting to feel like that anymore, I went to the doctor. After taking my family history, which is fraught with mental illness, she thought my depression was genetic, and I was precribed antidepressants. And they seem to be working. As of late, I've been feeling a lot better, smiling and laughing much easier. But I haven't really changed my lifestyle and habits. I still live the same life, I just feel better while I do it. But my recovery has made me question, what is really the significance of feeling happy if it is just a function of my brain chemistry?

If you read all this, thanks.

Answer 1

The Death of Sorrows

The Value of Sorrows

What’s happiness? Nobody can define. That’s not because it can’t be defined but because it can’t be defined in a common language. Still everybody believes that they can be happy in their own ways. Hopefully, it’s enough for one to feel that one is happy. And one can say that one is happy when one feels so.

What’s sorrow? This also nobody can define. And observations similar to the ones expressed above are also relevant to this case. But, though it might seem weird to many, unhappiness exists mainly because of our inability to define it. For one who has learned to define it in the right way, it either becomes a source of happiness or gets transformed into a capability that leads to happiness. Unhappiness is a gift. Fortunately, there’s nobody on earth that has not been endowed with it. But, unfortunately, most of us hardly ever happen to perceive its real worth.

The fact that you are unhappy implies that you could be happier. The fact that you are unhappy suggests that you should not be happy with the small things that you have now. The fact that you are unhappy shows that events of small happiness can no longer satisfy you. The presence of unhappiness indicates the possibility of the absence of many limitations in your real being from which you seem to be suffering now. If there were no unhappiness, you would remain satisfied with small, meaningless things. So unhappiness is rather welcome than rejected.

Causes of Sorrows

As I have already said and implied, sorrows are, in most cases, determined by the way we look at our inability and weakness and happiness is determined by the way we look at our ability and strength.

If we had no weakness or inability, we could fulfill our desires and be satisfied. There would, as we think, be no sorrows. So instead of looking at the desires, let's look at our idea of weakness and inability. Let me inspire you by saying in advance that we can transform our weakness and inability in an instant, probably in the time of a snap. And you don't need to do anything for that. What could you possibly do within a second or two? Or at best an hour? Nothing important. So don't think of preparing to do anything. Rather, be prepared to learn that you can't escape success and happiness  that's because you can't escape change and your fate is going to be changed the very moment you change your knowledge of yourself!

It's self-help service. So try doing it yourself. And that you must.

Your weakness and inability must die. They can't live long. You can kill them even before their normal death. But to do that you must find them out first.

I have asked many people about their weaknesses. My question was: "What's the inability that has become the biggest cause of your sorrows?" Different people have
answered in different words. Some have replied, "My biggest inability is that I can't eat a lot. I can't digest some of the things that I like most." Some have said, "My biggest inability is that I can't earn a lot of money." Some others have said, "I can't memorize much material. That's the main cause of my grief." Still others have complained, "I'm sorry that I can't be the leader of my organization/country."

I've also found some replies like, "I wish I could win others' minds by esoteric powers. My mind won't find rest till I've achieved a lot of power of that sort."
Alas, my dear reader, no one has expressed their grief saying, "I feel sad because I can't make somebody smile." What would it sound like if somebody felt their inability in a different way that would make them say, "I wish I could rather be easily attracted than vainly try to attract others." A group of people might also complain, "I'm sorry that I'm unable to sacrifice more than I usually do."

What you're looking at determines what weakness and inability you'll discover in you. If you have an intention to walk on water, you'll discover yourself to be inferior to a fish. If you have an intention to fly in the sky, you'll discover yourself to be inferior to a bird. If, likewise, you are obsessed by the desire to eat a quintal of food, you'll see that you're far too inferior to a hippo.

Yes, we should try to find out more and more of the inabilities that we have. So we must have more and more intentions in the mind. The mystery about discovering weakness and inability is that if the right weakness is simply discovered, a lot of strength and capability is automatically achieved. And another truth about the knowledge of weakness is that the mere discovery of one basic weaknesses and inabilities removes some secondary weaknesses and inabilities and strengthens the mind and intelligence.

The End of Sorrows

Your intention discloses your weakness. Your feeling of weakness makes you feel sad. So you can change the whole world within yourself simply by looking at the range of your intentions and changing them if necessary or understanding them anew. Just sit for a while with the balance sheet of your intentions.

 What have you always wanted to do?

 To get a good degree?
 To influence others?
 To make money?
 To attract others' attention?
 To buy a lot of land and . . .?

 And what have you always wanted to be?

 An enemy to your friends? Surely not.

 An oppressor of people working under your supervision? Certainly not.

 A worshipper of money and wealth in such a way that you happen to be a cause of suffering to others? I guess not.

 A famous person in front of whom others will consider themselves mere ants and flies? Probably not.

If not, then you're going to get whatever your heart needs to be happy, and if yes, you're going to change instantly

so that you can be yourself and get whatever your heart needs to be happy.
Again, what have you wanted to be? Sad? Certainly not. Still you have been very sad and dissatisfied all through your life.

What have you wanted to be? Angry and upset? No, you haven't. Yet you've often found yourself to be so.

What have you wanted to be? Rude? No. But, unfortunately, you've happened to be so three or more times a day.

My friend, you've wanted to do many things but haven't been able to. Now you're sad. And you haven't consciously wanted to be certain things but you have discovered yourself to be so somehow or other. And now you're sad.

When we become what we have never consciously wanted to become we become the wrong person to ourselves. You can't escape being something or other. So it's wise to consciously want to be the right person.

You've always wanted to have something. How often have you wanted to be something and not something else?

You've wanted to have money or degrees, but how often have you wanted to be rich? Surely, to be rich is much more than to have money and degrees. So why not desire for the thing that's greater? If you do, then you will certainly get the right things, including those things that will also make you materially rich.

You've always feared to lose something. How often have you thought that in this process you're unknowingly getting and storing something that you wouldn't otherwise even collect under a tree for free? And at the same time, worse still, you're losing something that, only after losing it, you discover to be important to help you keep the things that you didn't want to lose.

I've seen people who haven't wanted to lose money after getting it. They have worked heart and soul to keep it and even to increase it. They have looked at money so intently that their idea of value has changed. In the course of time, they have happened to pick up and store some things that they didn't consciously want to  rudeness, anger, fear, anxiety, enemy, insomnia, and restlessness. The consequence has been very undesirable but foreseeable  high blood pressure, diabetes, back pain, chest pain, acidity, weakness, depression, headache, heart problems, and many more. Also, they have lost the things that they had never wanted to lose  children, spouse, relatives, friendship, rest, confidence, trust, steadiness of the mind, emotional intelligence, health, the clarity of understanding, sound sleep, the ability to get pleasure, and, ironically, money and fame and convenience at last, the things that goaded them into indulging in so much mental as well as physical activity. They have lost what they got and wanted to store safely, only because of their getting it!

The entire life is a collection of transactions  an open business. Here if you get something consciously, you also get something else unconsciously with it and have to lose something consciously and also lose something more unconsciously. Suppose you want to buy a costly watch. Then you'll have to lose some money. With the watch you'll also get some things, both positive and negative  personality, beauty, convenience and pleasure; fear of losing it, the furtive glance of the thief, the envy of your fellow people, etc. With the money you'll also have to lose some things  a feeling of security, alternative possibilities of using the money, any possibility of misusing or losing it, and so on.

Our concept of getting and giving is often confused with our concept of gaining and losing. Getting something doesn't necessarily assure you of gaining something. Remember that getting is the most superficial level of any transaction. You can get anything  money, fame, or deception. So if you look at getting, you'll lose a lot because of your unawareness of some things. And you can be unaware of some things only because you're much too aware of something else.

On the contrary, you can't gain anything easily. You gain only what is positive and promising. So if you concentrate on gaining, you'll automatically know what you should get and what you should lose, to what extent in each ease. You can get any material thing, but you can only gain your own life and self, which includes satisfaction, personality, and love.

Losing, by the same token, must not be equated with giving. The mere fact that you give something away doesn't necessarily imply that you lose it. You can give sorrows as well as happiness. So you must be careful about it. What you'll get will be determined by what you give. And you must not forget that you can lose no other than yourselfyour won happiness, personality, and love.

Now we can look back at sorrows and happiness. Happiness is the state of mind arising out of one's feeling of the concept of gain. If you gain the right thing, you'll be happy. If, on the contrary, you don't look forward to gaining the right thing, you'll be unhappy even after getting many of your coveted things. Sorrow, on the other hand, is the state of the mind arising out of one's feeling of the concept of loss. If you have lost the valuable things and haven't been aware of it, you'll never be happy. If, on the contrary, you don't lose anything even after giving away a lot, you'll be happy because then you can't but gain the right thing.

What you will gain or lose depends on what you are prepared to give and take. What you will consciously and unconsciously give and take depends on what you think your ability and inability are. And your feeling of inability and ability will be according to what you're looking at. If you discover that you are weak enough to do great things that would be beneficial to others and if you feel sad for this inability, then your capabilities will increase tremendously. So if you feel that you have some specific capabilities, then instantly dig into your mind to discover what great incapability you have. Your capabilities will increase and be really effective only when you have a greater and nobler feeling of incapability. Unless you desire to be of use to others, all other desires of yours will grow up into herbs and shrubs, not perennial trees.

Source;
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9781581124842&itm=4

Answer 2

Good question, but complicated question. Very complicated, lol. Depression could arise from many different things - a life event, a current situation, or genetics (in your case.) Some cases of depression might be easier to overcome than others. With genetics, I think it can be very hard. We might not be able to better a situation because it has more to do with our brain chemistry. Depression runs in one side of my family. I have bouts of depression, but I never seeked medication. It is hard for me to answer this fully I suppose. I don't know what it is like to use medication and its effects. It is good to see that you are responding well to your medication. I know that that is not always the case. If it makes you feel more at ease, than I would just accept it. It is frustrating, because when depression is caused by genetics, you might feel like there's not much you can do on your own. The only suggestion I have to you is to change the things in your life that you can. Accept those you cannot. I hope that helps. Though, it was a perplexed question-- and answer!

Answer 3

Even "yahoo" is familiar with the the thumbs up and down will have been a mistake. That's why there are not any aspects taken away for thumbs down. For me it's only a further approach of filtering out the bigotry and hatred. I not often vote this fashion until it's famous that the individual is there handiest to offend. Tell you what, within the higher proper hand element of your monitor there are 4 sections. One is "discussion board". Click on that and style in "thumbs down" and you're going to be up to date on and might be enlightened with the solutions there. Most men and women do not cross there, I pop in while I'm bored right here. In reality......

Answer 4

Happiness is a state of mind. Stop and just take some time out of your day and write down things fom your life that have been good and focus on how they made you feel at the time they happened. Shift your thoughts to the realization that there are things around you in which you enjoy and that bring happiness into your life, such as family. friends, or even material possesions. A good starting point for you to feel happy is to go to someone you know that has been a part of your life and express to them how they have helped you in your life and that you appreciate them. All that aside you can change your outlook on life by focusing on the positive aspects of your life. And associating yourself with likeminded people.

Answer 5

A Most Excellent Book to read on acquiring Happiness and Peace of Mind is called:
"Eight Mindful Steps to Happiness"
By: Bhante Henepola Gunaratana.

Answer 6

Happiness or feelings of pleasure, as with most emotions, are definitely derived from the release of hormones in the brain. However, some of us are afflicted with some kind of mental defect or experienced some form of trauma that prevents us from feeling "good." We have many kinds of treatment at our disposal to remedy these afflictions. Personally, I have dealt with agoraphobia for many years and my therapist prescribed medication to treat my condition. Anxiety and depression are formidable opponents until you find the right method to address your issue. I changed from medication to meditation to address the deep rooted issues that brought on my condition (I am not implying not to continue taking medication per your health professional). As a result, I do not feel the depression that I used to. Moreover, I found that meditation helped make me calm and peaceful, but that is my path. In addition, positive lifestyle changes are paramount in attaining a happy place. Excercise, changes in diet, volunteer work (hospital), helping others in need (elderly), praying or attending a place of worship (a congregation of people with the same mindset) helps develop or change the view of reality. Is happiness merely a brain function? One would be describing the mechanics of how the mind works, but other "things" help drive you to or from your happiness. Happiness is like a garden, you have to "work at it" to yield beautiful flowers. I hope you cultivate the happiness and peace to the level that you so desperately seek.

Answer 7

You're being fooled by society. Society wants you to act a certain way for them. Before long, everyone will have to take pills to conform to "society".