What the hell are we after?

Just what IS happiness? Most all of us "just want to be happy". What is it we expect to get in life? Is happiness an inner feeling that is made up primarily of a mental and emotional status that we only do not find threatening and uncertain? Does our personal happiness include other people’s happiness? If we are looking for happiness beyond our self, how far should that circle be? Is it just for one other person or does it include every member of our family? Is the target an isolated existence or does it reach out our front door, down the street and around the world? What are realistic expectations for you and how much of YOUR happiness involves the happiness of somebody else? Can our personal happiness be much different than the happiness of someone we want to share our life with?

We’ve all had moments of ecstatic pleasure, but few of us think this will be a permanent state of being. Unfortunately we’ve all had experience with times of crushing sadness and paralyzing inner pain that we can not imagine ever passing, but it does. Is the state (hopefully closer to ecstatic pleasure) in-between what most of us refer to as happiness?

Is happiness something that we hope becomes a constant state covering every minute of our consciousness? I don’t think we expect that. Then this means we know happiness will have some moments that are closer to the pleasant feelings we strive for, than others. Therefore there will be expected times of disappointment and sadness we accept as part of happiness. Does this make happiness something with a width band with top and bottom limits? If so, is the width of that band the key to what we strive for? Or is the centerline of that band the important issue? Is the goal to narrow that band and keep trying to push the center, higher and higher?

Just what constitutes “happiness” for you and how has it changed and how do you expect it to change?



(That should make for some interesting posts ) lmao

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/me slinks away while resisting the urge to quote Hobbes....who defined happiness as resisting the tendencies of Natural Man.

'No arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.' But then again...we HAVE a social contract, right? LMAO. With GWB as our fearless leader.

Of course, one could define Happiness via Maslow... and his hierarchy of needs. But so few people reach self actualization!!

For me....Happiness is intellectual and personal freedom. No artificial constraints impeding my ability to give this life all I've got. I *like* challenge, and I really don't want safety -- other than basic physical safety which will allow me to pursue my goals.

I do wish happiness for my friends and family, also...and I will help them when needed. But mostly I wish them the strength to conquer their own problems.

Sounds kind of Ayn Rand-ian, huh?

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Life is too short not to love and be loved....preferably multiple times in one night.

I think men talk to women so they can sleep with them and women sleep with men so they can talk to them. ~ Jay McInerney

What is this "happy" word that you speak of?

Actually, I'm a happy guy. I find joy in the little things and I don't sweat things that are out of my control. (Prime example: I'm refinancing my house and we still don't have a closing date. Mrs. WI is ready to kill someone and I'm all "it'll happen when they're ready".) This is often misinterpreted as not caring, but is really a highly developed "let it roll" technique I've perfected over the years.

I'm happy when I've prepared a good meal that everyone eats, even though a burp or fart at the table precipitates 15 minutes of mouth generated replications, giggles and raucus behaviour.

I'm happy when I'm driving somewhere on a sunny day. I'm happy when I get to work safely in a snow storm. And I'm happy when I arrive home at night.

I love my family, and though they make me insane all day every day...I'm happy when I'm with them. I plan on naming my first stroke after my wife, but I'm still happy when we spend time alone together.

Talking to Lilith makes me happy. She's a great person and my voice smiles when we speak to each other.

Doing my job well makes me happy. Going to build with Habitat makes me happy. Cooking makes me happy. Knowing my house is reasonably clean makes me happy. I don't look for the silver cloud in ever situation so much as I simply don't focus on the bad aspect of something. I don't think I'm that much different than most other people. Maybe I am.

I do get a feeling of comfort when I know I've made someone else happy. I never enjoy someone's pain, even when that someone may not share the same sentiment. I don't start out the day saying to myself "I'm gonna make other people happy today" but by being who I am, and taking the actions I do...well, it happens. Perhaps that helps. It's not a checkbox on my list of things to do as much as it is a lifestyle choice.

Tough topic to tackle! I look forward to peeking into everyone's minds for this one.

In your case, PF, women's underwear.

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On the kinkometer, my kink measures as a sine wave.

Oh, and while I'm in this thread, I may as well pass WI a sheep.

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On the kinkometer, my kink measures as a sine wave.

... with a happy lady in them is a good start.

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My personal philosophy is that happiness is mainly about choice ... I choose to be happy and so I'm happy. But I think it ties in strongly for most people with another positive emotion .... gratitude. I choose to look for good and positive aspects in people and in situations, and in the process I express appreciation often to others and to my "higher power". Because of that, even though there have been times of grieving in my life or turmoil and such, at least most of my adult life I've also had an underlying sense of happiness in even the worst moments. I adopted a personal motto several years ago ... "Life's an adventure!" So, when I look at my difficult moments, I just remind myself that this is an adventure, and there will be things to be enjoyed and learned if I follow the path with the right attitude. It's taken years to get this so it is an almost involuntary response, but it is well worth it to me!! ... I guess I could have also said ... "What WI said!"

And yes, the happiness of people I care about matters a great deal to me and I will do what I can to help them find that for themselves - and/or give something/time, etc. to aid them in the process they need to go through to get there.

Geez, where did the idea from this thread come from?

I think we've all read the love poetry & the quotes about happiness being with someone you love . . . when that falls apart, you have to use another cliche & wait for happiness again, I guess.

True happiness is probably found in being equally happy by yourself as you are when you're in love with another.

I wanted to be happy and prayed to god for an angle, but the devil sent me you, so I thought I'd see how others do it?

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For me, Happiness Is:

1) Being able to provide a good life for those I love.

2) Being loved in return.

3) Helping those who are less fortunate than I.

4) Doing the right thing.

5) Not allowing the negativity of others pollute who I am and my optimistic self.

6) Kicking the shit out of a golf course.

7) My favorite sports teams winning championships.

8) A sunny day.

9) Knowing that Jesus loves me.

10) A cold beer after a job well done.

11) Being with and loving a friend.

12) A freshly manicured yard.

13) An awesome meal followed by a damn good cigar.

14) Crocuses.

15) Blue Raspberry Mister Mistys

16) Getting dressed up and looking studly.

17) Getting lucky!

18) Taking a dream vacation.

19) Enjoying a good movie.

20) Pixies Place!

Happy Happy Joy Joy........... it's over rated!!

I think people expect to be happy, like they are entitled to it and that is not necessarily how it works. To me happiness comes from making good choices including choosing to be happy.

My list

1. Loving people and them loving me back
2. Seeing that lightbulb turn on in someone's head
3. Joking around the table at dinner
4. African Violets
5. Coffee with deadly creamer
6. Knowing something I did helped keep a child safe
7. Praise
8. Making beautiful things like jewelry or a meal people enjoyed
9. Feeling proud of my kids and loving them even when I'm not so proud
10. Associating with good people who make me laugh, and fill my pitcher

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The practice of putting women on pedestals began to die out when it was discovered that they could give orders better from there.~ Betty Grable

If I wanted your opinion, I'd remove the duct tape and ask you for it.~ Me
<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>
One man's dream is another man's nightmare~~~~> §¤ Lilith ¤§
~>My Scribbles<~
==>Gone Shopping<== ~Just a Quickie~ *~A Celebration Vacation~* ~Surprises~ Sleeping With the Window Open
What Did You Do Today? Self Defense Class ~Short Sweet Snippets~ § Summer Spin § Story Challenge Submission Pajamas

I forgot to add 2 things:

the sound of his voice when he cums

and that noise babies/little kids make that is like a deep exhalation/shiver when they stop crying after a hard cry

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The practice of putting women on pedestals began to die out when it was discovered that they could give orders better from there.~ Betty Grable

If I wanted your opinion, I'd remove the duct tape and ask you for it.~ Me
<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>
One man's dream is another man's nightmare~~~~> §¤ Lilith ¤§
~>My Scribbles<~
==>Gone Shopping<== ~Just a Quickie~ *~A Celebration Vacation~* ~Surprises~ Sleeping With the Window Open
What Did You Do Today? Self Defense Class ~Short Sweet Snippets~ § Summer Spin § Story Challenge Submission Pajamas

Both of which are usually followed by "can we get ice cream?"

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Though I am different from you,
We were born involved in one another.

For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul.

Complete surrender should not just come at moments in which one faces overwhelming odds, but in the calm when it seems one is personally in complete control of one's life.