What is happiness to you might not be happiness to others. What do you think ?

Question

There are many who think that happiness is derived from having wealth and materials. There are some who think that having good health matters more than anything else. But I would think that by giving and forgiving to others are most importance with unconditional love. Wealth and materials can be taken away easily. Good health can go too if ones neglected it. But giving and forgiving are from deep within the heart which are easily said but not many can easily practise. Which categories are you in ?

Answer 1

Oh man. I love this question. It doesn't seem like it's controversial but it is.. oh god it is.
Anyways, happiness is my successes. My successes will be reflected in my money. So, thus, my money is my happiness. I'm a very selfish person, because why else should we be here other than for ourselves? Selfish is not a negative thing, as many people connote it as. If every person took care of them self, we wouldn't need people sacrificing themselves for others.
I make myself happy, and I depend on no one else to do so. That is not to say that I'm not capable of caring, but I do not care about people who don't care about themselves.
"My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute" - Ayn Rand
^ This is what I believe, to the highest capacity of believing.

Answer 2

One may give away everything and not attain much, because in the end you might be left with nothing to give. Forgiving can be done, and it is indeed a noble aspiration, but eventually you wonder about the justification of the happiness. If you keep forgiving, then what about yourself? Is that all you came here to do? Anyways, giving and forgiving helps others, and although it may give satisfaction to the practicer, it does not accomplish anything worth your short sojourn here in existence. True happiness I believe comes only with accomplishing things for yourself. Giving and forgiving may be part of this, but an even bigger part may be to create your own heaven here on Earth. I believe heaven and hell are what you make of your short existence here, and happiness, true happiness, is when one can feel that heaven has been indeed all that one could hope for in this life time.

Answer 3

I have no reason to forgive you or anyone else. I have no reason to give to you either. So, I think that excludes me from this philosophy.

A philosophy of forgiveness only leads to you being taken advantage of over and over. When someone's 'moral compass' includes doing things to you that require forgiveness, I would seriously reconsider the personal or professional relationship.

If you are able bodied, you are capable of providing for yourself. You may want from me, but that doesn't mean that I will give.

Answer 4

You ask an interesting question.

Happiness is an illusion created by desire.

Desire leads to many different opinions of happiness.

Of course, giving and forgiving are noble qualities and should be considered to be on a higher plane than acquisitions. Many unhealthy people are happy because they have found a purpose in their lack of health.

True happiness is not created. Happiness comes from emptiness.

When one is empty of desire one is neither happy nor unhappy due to circumstance.

Answer 5

Happiness is a defined thing. People just interpret it differently.

Aristotle defines happiness as "a life lived in virtue."
By this definition you must be dead to be called "happy". However, while alive you can be in a state of happiness.

He also makes a distinction between happiness and supreme happiness. Supreme happiness is "a life lived in virtue, accompanied by good health, success, wealth, good family, friends etc." The supremely happy man, if he can continue to be happy by living virtuously, is better off that the simply happy man. However, it is EASIER to STAY in a state of happiness if you are simply happy.

If we agree on that however, we then must define what virtue is.

Answer 6

I think happiness lies in accepting the life you are living, recognizing the good parts, appreciating the good people, honouring the gifts you've received, but also in working towards improving the bad parts. That last part represents hope, and gives us goals to achieve and a purpose to keep living.

Answer 7

Its a solid initiate the foremost element is which you have some ability to maintain finding so mount the study and watch heavily what the outcomes are. i'm chuffed whilst i'm involved and assisting others truthfully is relational and exciting. i think of that there are in all likelihood many paths to happiness and you may desire to a minimum of stay to objective them out and discover your man or woman bliss.

Answer 8

I think with this question, you will mostly get selfish replies from everyone, trying to build themselves up to make themseleves look better in the eyes of other people.

With me, I fall into the category of selfishness and greed, truthfully, because even when I try and practice being forgiving, all I am doing is lying to myself. You can lie to others, but there is not any conceivable way you can lie to yourself.

Answer 9

I could go on for days or even months without uttering a single word and be blissfully happy. I know some friends who could not last 10 minutes.

Answer 10

I am a giving and forgiving person. What makes me most happy is Singing to God ushering the presence of god. There is nothing like feeling the Presence of God. God will never leave us nor forsake us.