Why do we want to be happy?

Happy? I just want to survive.

I suppose it depends on each individual. Me, I just want to win the lottery to be happy.

yeah i guess we all are in survival mode, especially if your depending on someone else to make you happy. Usually, one is not as happy as the other and that sucks when your the one thats all in.

Because it feels good.

Why would we not want to be happy?

Isn't the answer self evident?

"Struggle for existance and most fittest will survive"; a well known theory.You can survive as a happy person or as an unhappy person. How do you want to survive?

The question is not 'how' rather 'why'. Why do you want to be happy?

I don't want to be happy....


there is no 'want' involved...I am content...because I created the mindspace to be so...there is no striving, no attachment to material wants..


It's a state of mind...nothing more...to 'want' something is to decide that something is already lacking in you or your world...it becomes a sense of less, with that kind of mindset.


I can remember a story shared a few years ago...

An old monk sat in his garden enjoying the warm rays of the spring sunlight, when some of the town's most successful and erudite people came to see him...

They asked, "Oh Father, please show us what this enlightenment is, and how to attain it".

He quietly raised his arm and pointed down to the creek, where the Village Idiot was merrily playing in the shallows.

The Towns folk reared back in indignation, and said, "Surely you mock us!"

Again, he quietly raised his hand and pointed, and again a few of the Town's folk voiced their contempt.

A third time he raised his hand and pointed, and a young man, who had wandered over to see what all the fuss was about, said, " Ahh father, you are so correct!...see how content and joyful he is, in everything he does!...he wants for nothing and enjoys the moment he is in!"


Happiness is for the Enlightened Village idiot.

but being content allows the happiness to roll in whenever there is an opportunity doesn't it???

That brings up a question: is it possible to be happy without being content???




Jess, you said you created a "mindspace." Is that a new website???

Yes,when we are happy we feel good.When we achieve our desired object we become happy.
But there are many persons who have done many creative works when they were not in happy condition.
Can we conclude that unhappiness motivates them to achieve some thing great to become happy?

Peace of mind is more important for me :)

Yes, when we depend on others totally to be happy we may be in problem. But I think it doesn't give the answer of the said question. I know many people who are suffering a lot but still very happy and least bother about anything. This is an art/s skill to be happy.

That's because ignorance is bliss. If I, being of sound mind, could chose between ignorant bliss and knowledge with discontent I would not chose ignorant bliss.

But if you look at the world and you have no passion or preferences for anything and you don't decide or chose what you want or don't want anything then you will create and attract things into your life by default and not on purpose.

You said, ".to 'want' something is to decide that something is already lacking in you or your world...it becomes a sense of less, with that kind of mindset."

I disagree. To want something and to intend to have it is your power to direct your attention to the things you want and bring them into your experience. It is your conscious will to create your life on purpose.

The thing that creates lack is attention to the thing you do not have and attention to the state of not having it. Once you decide and know what you want with the intention that you have it, then it will manifest into your experience.

Or you could just chose to take whatever comes and be ignorantly blissful, but that does not appeal to me.

Depends on what theory you would like to use to answer this question. Hull would propose an incentive motivation theory that posits drive (biological need) interacts with habit (learning from prior experience) and incentive learning (that the response feels good when in a need state) to produce a response. Thus we seek happiness because we've learned that it satisfies a "need", or leads to a positive outcome that becomes associated with satisfying a need state, ultimately leading to homeostasis of our bodies. This could have evolutionary roots whereby those behaviors that produce positive affect will occur more often, thus increasing the need for happiness because it enhances the chance for reproductive success and ultimately survival of the species.

Or I could just say because the alternative sucks!

indeed...and it is no small gift!

Happy = Boundless energy, brighter colors, contagious laughter

I believe that when one is sad or down, it's not always easy to come out of it unless there is a distraction from what's making you sad.
Once that sadness lifts by the distraction, it's up to you to count your blessings and realize happy is a much more gratifying place to be.

Did that make sense?

Yes. The key to bringing yourself out of sadness is to consciously find something to distract you from your thoughts that are making you sad.

It takes will power to purposely put your attention on something that makes you feel good. Don't always wait or hope someone else is going to do it for you.

Clinical depression, on the other hand, could be a matter of a chemical imbalance or deficiency of serotonin.

I don't think she is saying ignorance is bliss.

What I believe she is saying is that those that keep looking for bigger and better things have to be dissatisfied with what they have. If you are content with what you have now, there is no need to look to improve anything.

I used to be ambitious and never settle for less. But I found in the process, I was never happy with what I had either. Always needed to upgrade or improve or catch up to the neighbor. Once I decided that I had more than I dreamed I would as a teenager I was able to relax and be content and happy with what I had. Problem was, the ex wasn't...

But I was never really happy with anything in my life until I told myself that what I had was good enough.

I don't know what happy is, so I'm not sure it's something I want.