I thought I would share with you what I have discovered regarding the sometimes elusive emotion of happiness.What follows are some words that I have found to be inspirational, and have certainly helped me, (that is when I remind myself of the truth that they contain, and can step back enough to reflect on the underlying message.)
- A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes.
- It is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.
- Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.
- Unless you are happy with yourself, you will not be happy with what you do, where you are,who you are with, or what you have.
6 comments:
I just want to say how much 'm enjoying reading your blog Domenica. They're inspirational. There is so much truth in what you're saying about happiness. It's something very much from within and about how you 'see things'. Thanks very much.
hya,
well, what can i say...
spot on serendipity sunday! really did make me smile & think!
purkul
x
Great post. Always the thing that eludes us when we need it most is happiness.
I pretty much agree - but I have a niggling doubt that this implies that we are responsible for our own happiness; and I know, when hear about the genocide in Rwanda (there was a programme on the radio the other day about this, that shook me to my foundations) or about the circumsatnces in Iraq and Palestine (for example), that other people bear some responsibility for how happy we are.
I would also want to distinguish between unhappiness and depression - there is little choice about whether to be depressed. Thought-provoking post - the best sort. Txxx
Hi Tone,
Was going to bed,(it is quite late) but having just read your comment on my blog, felt compelled to reply, albeit briefly. I realise that on the face of it, the words I used with regard to manifesting happiness might seem a little simplistic. It is not always easy, on the contrary, it can be very difficult at times. I can only write from my own personal experience. Having experienced depression for a good deal of my adult life, I decided some time ago that I was going to control my emotions from now on, and not allow my emotions to control me. I knew that an emotion is always preceded by a thought, so if I could get my thinking "on track" I would feel better. Now,most of the time I am pleased to say I have learned to do this, (not all the time)
It has taken a lot of practise, but I can honestly say that I choose not to be depressed ( I can feel sad and "down" for a day or so ) but not to the same degree or for the same duration of time. There is a lot more that I could say on this topic, (especially on distinguishing between unhappiness and depression) But not at 2 O'clock in the morning. xx
Hi Domenica
Thanks for taking the time to respond to my comment- particularly at 2 in the morning! I am replying at an equally bizarre time - I've been awake since 4:30 with painful joints - I just could not get comfortable in bed.
I don't think you are being simplistic - what you are able to do is obviously neither simple nor easy. I suspect the problem bit of my comment is the bit about there being no choice about being depressed? - What I really meant was that for some people there is little choice about whether to be depressed. For many people (including you and me) there are routes out of depression which involve introspection and emotional control.
I am able to do as you do, and can usually recognise what it is that makes me feel low, and take action to turn a vicious circle into a virtuous one. It's good if you can do it, but it seems to me that some people, for a variety of reasons can't. It's no surprise that differing people have differing capacities for this. There is a world of diffence between one hand, wallowing in a hole in self-pity, and on the other, being stuck in a deep well of depression - in one case you are willfully ignoring the ladder and in the other, there is no ladder and nothing to make one out of (I may be carrying this metaphor too far).
Maybe I'm making this too complicated, but this kind of issue has been going round in my head for a few years ever since someone who's thinking about mental distress I admired said to me something like "in the end, people who are mentally ill have to take some responsibility for how they behave" - at the time I thought this was pretty reasonable, but it niggled away at me. It seems to me that some people are so mentally ill (and I feel sure I know people who are this unwell) that we cannot expect them to help themselves (to any significant degree), any more than we would ask some one with liver cancer help themselves. But, maybe I'm being simplistic? Sorry to bang on, but much of how I feel about mental distress/illness depends for me on this issue of personal responsibility. I suspect that we don't really disagree about any of this, and the last thing I want to do is undermine what works for you (and for me) - Txxx
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