Cynical view of happiness.

[henryp]

I think a trick with happiness, is that, for evolutionary/social purposes, the waters are very muddied when it comes to what we've been taught/think will make us happy, and what actually makes us happy.

Cruelly, on top of that, I think the game has been rigged so that we end up being unhappy through the pressure of social norms in situations where maybe we could be happy.

Society needs people cleaning toilets 40 hours a week for 50 years of their 80 years on the planet for very mediocre compensation. To get that, they have to sell you on a shitload of BS about it being 'honest work' and 'noble' and 'providing' and 'independence' and all kinds of bullshit.

Evolution requires kids. Society reflects that. Single? Feel the pressure to be married. Married? Why no kids? One kid? Why not 2 or 3? So even if you are happily married with one kid, you are going to be made to feel unhappy because the system has been set up to tell you having only one kid is wrong. Heavens forbid you have 0 kids, you god damn monster.

The point being, we're all being pushed down this path, and told we're bad if we don't keep going. But for many, going down the path is also going to make us feel bad. It's almost humorous how rigged against happiness it all is.

I think the solution, individually, is just to try and be honest with yourself what makes you happy. If you like playing World of Warcraft 60 hours a week, and not talking to anyone in the real world, do what you can to make that as close to a reality as possible. People will bombard you with "wasting your life" and "anti-social" and "loser" etc... I think people able to ignore that, and live as true as possible in terms of maximizing their happiness end up being the happiest.

But trying to sort through everything and identify what makes you happy is tough work in this world with the decades of conditioning tossed on us.

[SteveII]

Key to happiness is contentment and contentment is a choice.

[RozKek]

Roz, your old man was a smart man.

---

Classic Brazilian Story

There was once a businessman who was sitting by the beach in a small Brazilian village.
As he sat, he saw a Brazilian fisherman rowing a small boat towards the shore having caught quite few big fish.
The businessman was impressed and asked the fisherman, “How long does it take you to catch so many fish?”
The fisherman replied, “Oh, just a short while.”
“Then why don’t you stay longer at sea and catch even more?” The businessman was astonished.
“This is enough to feed my whole family,” the fisherman said.
The businessman then asked, “So, what do you do for the rest of the day?”
The fisherman replied, “Well, I usually wake up early in the morning, go out to sea and catch a few fish, then go back and play with my kids. In the afternoon, I take a nap with my wife, and evening comes, I join my buddies in the village for a drink — we play guitar, sing and dance throughout the night.”

The businessman offered a suggestion to the fisherman.
“I am a PhD in business management. I could help you to become a more successful person. From now on, you should spend more time at sea and try to catch as many fish as possible. When you have saved enough money, you could buy a bigger boat and catch even more fish. Soon you will be able to afford to buy more boats, set up your own company, your own production plant for canned food and distribution network. By then, you will have moved out of this village and to Sao Paulo, where you can set up HQ to manage your other branches.”

The fisherman continues, “And after that?”
The businessman laughs heartily, “After that, you can live like a king in your own house, and when the time is right, you can go public and float your shares in the Stock Exchange, and you will be rich.”
The fisherman asks, “And after that?”
The businessman says, “After that, you can finally retire, you can move to a house by the fishing village, wake up early in the morning, catch a few fish, then return home to play with kids, have a nice afternoon nap with your wife, and when evening comes, you can join your buddies for a drink, play the guitar, sing and dance throughout the night!”
The fisherman was puzzled, “Isn’t that what I am doing now?”

---

Thank you

[Minimalist]

One thing is for sure: Money can't buy happiness but it can buy less unhappiness.

It can buy some first-class affection!

[Edwardo Piet]

Some awesome posts in this thread.

[Athene]

I'm rarely happy. 
I'm well aware of what it would take for me to be happy; Money isn't it.

But, money does go miles and miles in the way of making unhappiness much more tolerable.
Just sayin'.

[Whateverist]

Key to happiness is contentment and contentment is a choice.

I'm a little surprised to hear a Christian say happiness is a choice.  Is grace also a choice?

[brewer]

Happiness is difficult to attain when you struggle to get the basic necessities of life. Food, shelter, sense of protection, health, human contact, .................

Others can probably add to the list items they consider necessities. I know the people at the shelter have a different list from mine.

[SteveII]

Key to happiness is contentment and contentment is a choice.

I'm a little surprised to hear a Christian say happiness is a choice.  Is grace also a choice?

To be gracious or to offer grace? Sure. Why are you surprised?

[Spirian]

Happiness is a state of being. It's also a choice that has very little to do with ones circumstances in life.