Isn't "happiness" the meaning of life?

Answer 1

Hi skycat.

No, I don't believe that happiness is the meaning of life.

I believe that happiness is a gift that we are given now & then. We seek it so much because it feels so good. Its opposite is sadness, which we also experience now & then. But that is not the meaning of life either.

I feel a contentment in my life, all the time. I see it as a straight line. Then there are peaks which are days or times of happiness. I enjoy them and eventually life settles back down to the line of contentment. Then there are times when the line drops down to lows of sadness, pain or grief. I have to experience these times also, and then life goes back to being contentment.

I think that people make the mistake in thinking that they should be happy all the time. This is not true. How would we know how good it is if we did not experience its opposite at times? We should seek to feel contentment.

Is this the meaning of life, though? I do not have that answer. I don't believe anyone can truly know the answer to that question. We can only speculate.

I believe it is to help others.To make the lives of others as content as possible. To do God's work, helping others. That is what I believe.

Peace.

Answer 2

I think love is the meaning of life.

I believe life should be filled with happiness, but I think learning to love and be loved, with all the pain, joy, compromise, frustration, responsibility, work, and laughter mixed in is what it's all about.

And I don't just mean romantic love between a man and a woman, but the love you have for your family, friends, work, and your fellow man. There is nothing more challenging or satisfying in this world, than love.

Answer 3

There can only be a meaning of life if there is a Creator. Meaning comes from purpose and purpose can only come from God:
“Unless you assume a God, the question of life’s purpose is meaningless.” –Bertrand Russell

So either life is inherently meaningless or God sent us to earth to do something. If there is God, then He must have made all of us and that makes us all brothers and sisters.

Do you think that He might have sent us here to care for our sisters and brothers rather than for our own happiness?

The Christian idea is that God sent us here to seek Him and we do that by trying to love our neighbor for where love is, there God is also.

Answer 4

People say that life is sad and this planet is hell.
But life is good, people need to be happy and to develop the world rather than make it worse.
people should not be violent and hateful.
racism is wrong, dont hate people because of their race, ancestry, country of birth, religion or opinions.
Happiness is the meaning of life.

Answer 5

Happiness is an agreeable feeling or condition arising
from good fortune or propitious happening of any kind.
It is the possession of those circumstances or that
state of being which is attended with enjoyment. It is
associated with good luck, good fortune, prosperity,
well-being, delight, health, safety, and love.

Happiness is generic, and is applied to almost every
kind of enjoyment except that of the animal appetites.
It ia a state of well-being characterized by emotions
ranging from contentment to intense joy. These include:
bliss, joy, joyous, carefree, jubilant, exultant,
cheerful, playful, amused, fun, glad, gay, gleeful,
jolly, jovial, delighted, euphoric, ecstatic, thrilled,
elated, enraptured, comfortable, harmonious, and
triumphant. Societies, religions, and individuals have
various views on the nature of happiness and how to
pursue it.

Only saint-like persons, who feel that they are no
longer interested in the external world, think that
happiness is within. For many persons, nothing can make
them happy. Our minds are as different as our finger
prints - no two are alike. Listening to loud music
makes one happy and makes another unhappy. Hence, there
can be no single definition for happiness. It is
probably impossible to objectively define happiness as
humans know and understand it, as internal experiences
are subjective by nature. Because of this, explaining
happiness as experienced by one individual is as
pointless as trying to define the color green such that
a completely color blind person could understand the
experience of seeing green.

As a state and a subject, it has been pursued and
commented on extensively throughout world history.

"Call no man happy till he is dead." - Aeschylus

"Happiness is a positive cash flow." - Fred Adler

"Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes
true happiness. It is not attained through
self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy
purpose." - Joseph Addison

"True happiness arises, in the first place, from the
enjoyment of one's self, and in the next, from the
friendship and conversation of a few select
companions." - Joseph Addison

Happiness is often associated with the presence of
favourable circumstances such as a supportive family
life, a loving marriage, and economic stability. Kali
Yuga, the age of darkness, is the time when these
favourables are difficult to find.

Unfavorable circumstances - such as abusive
relationships, accidents, loss of employment, and
conflicts - diminish the amount of happiness a person
experiences. In all nations, factors such as hunger,
disease, crime, corruption, and warfare can decrease
happiness. However, according to several ancient and
modern thinkers, happiness is influenced by the
attitude and perspective taken on such circumstances.

From the observation that fish must become happy by
swimming, and birds must become happy by flying.
Aristotle points to the unique abilities of man as the
route to happiness. Of all the animals only man can sit
and contemplate reality. Of all the animals only man
can develop social relations to the political level.
Thus the contemplative life of a monk or professor, or
the political life of a military commander or
politician will be the happiest according to their own
psyche.

The following is the self-reported positive affect
(i.e. positive emotion) during the day by 909 employed
women in USA:

Activities and their positive effect index:

Intimate relations 5.10
Socializing 4.59
Relaxing 4.42
Pray/Worship/Meditate 4.35
Eating 4.34
Exercising 4.31
Watching TV 4.19
Shopping 3.95
Preparing food 3.93
On the phone 3.92
Napping 3.87
Taking care of
my children 3.86
Computer/Email/
Internet 3.81
Housework 3.73
Working 3.62
Commuting 3.45

Interaction with partners:

w/ friends 4.36
w/ relatives 4.17
w/ spouse/Significant
other 4.11
w/ children 4.04
w/ clients/customers 3.79
w/ co-workers 3.76
w/ boss 3.52
alone 3.41

Further, happiness is not entirely psychological in
nature - it has got a biological basis too. The
neurotransmitter dopamine is involved in desire and
seems often related to pleasure. Pleasure can be
induced artificially with drugs. Use of drugs is not
some thing new, it has been used by many including
Sanyasis since millenia.

Answer 6

To me LIFE is an acronym to "Live in Full Enlightment".It may sound cliched to say that life is a journey ..with death as a final destination.But I believe that life is all about living in the present and fulfilling the purpose which your"Maker" may have programmed you to do.

Answer 7

Happiness is a by-product of the genetic imperative to reproduce the species.

Animals which are happy and healthy tend to have a greater chance of surviving, producing and rearing their young.

We are all born survivors, and each of us comes from a long line of survivors. That's why we are happy and healthy most of the time.

Answer 8

Some say it is important to try to reach for it as much as possible, yet it's probably the diversity of experiences in life that give life its texture.

Answer 9

There are those that are only happy when causing some sort of misery. So I hope it's not.

I think it's more about getting things back into balance.

And that's my Christian point of view.

Answer 10

I don't think there is a meaning to life.