Happiness :)

[piqaboo]

"You find yourself refreshed in the presence of cheerful people. Why not make an honest effort to confer that pleasure on others? Half the battle is gained if you never allow yourself to say anything gloomy." ~ Lydia M. Child.

This one works for me. It cooperates with Abe Lincoln's thought that folks are generally as happy as they make up their minds to be.

[DavidEB310]

Accepting another's view on happiness is similar to giving a greeting card to a loved one with someone else's thoughts. Why do we find it so difficult to express our own emotions?

These are my happy thoughts, I never require anyone to tell me what makes me happy as only I can make me happy.

Happiness to me is a Taco Pizza with Salsa and Tabasco accompaniments followed by a Cold Budweiser Draft after a long work week at a favorite local restaurant.

Happiness to me is sleeping next to the woman I love feeling a sense of warmth, security, and comfort in the tranquility of an early morning's slumber.

Happiness to me is feeling the warm summer sun on my face while watching a ballgame in the Bronx, NY.

Happiness to me is the early summer morning fresh air, as I enjoy the dawn with a cup of steaming black coffee on my deck.

Happiness is taking a long late afternoon walk in the fall, hearing the rustling leaves under my feet and seeing the dark tree skeletons against the autumn sky just as the sun is going down coloring the wisping clouded sky with a mix of whites, oranges and purples.


Happiness is a hot shower after a long workout.

Happiness is my family. Happiness is my cats. Happiness is listening to any music that provokes thoughts of past memories (even the sad memories can make one happy).

Thanks for allowing me to share. -- Dave

I hope all of you are willing to do the same, unless of course, that doesn't make you happy.

<small>[ 03-06-2006, 11:34 AM: Message edited by: DavidEB310 ]</small>

[Junebug]

"Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea."
Robert A. Heinlein

One of my favorite authors...... I always figured as did Heinlein, that women were more into cats and men into dogs!
June

[piqaboo]

originally posted by DavidEBetc:
Accepting another's view on happiness is similar to giving a greeting card to a loved one with someone else's thoughts. Why do we find it so difficult to express our own emotions?

These are my happy thoughts, I never require anyone to tell me what makes me happy as only I can make me happy.

I can make an Excel spreadsheet dance. Other people can make words dance. Some of those people express my thoughts more succinctly /clearly than I have managed to. I dont see a problem with that.

What makes me happy.....OT & Altoid pretty much dominate the field. After that, I'm firmly at the bottom of Maslow's levels. He said folks are 9 missed meals from savagery. I may be the reason the average isnt 10...

<small>[ 03-06-2006, 12:51 PM: Message edited by: piqaboo ]</small>

[DavidS]

I'm not that good at quotes (apart from the Bible which is freely available to all), but my happiness is being able to share joys with my own wonderful family and friendship with decent people like yourselves. Feel hugged (and I grew up in the "stiff upper lip" culture) .

[analog]

Originally posted by piqaboo:
I can make an Excel spreadsheet dance. Other people can make words dance.....

I'm told some people actually think in words. I think in pictures, they sorta grow up out of a semi concious turmoil that's below awareness. Transition into words comes with extreme difficulty. I think that's why I enjoy reading people who can say a lot in a few words. Eric Hoffer comes to mind.

I can make a vacuum tube amplifier dance. That's one happy thing. So is a hot air balloon. And a smile. And a kindness returned.

Another happiness, very difficult for me to achieve, is a well wrought sentence.

[DavidS]

Originally posted by analog:
I'm told some people actually think in words. I think in pictures, they sorta grow up out of a semi concious turmoil that's below awareness. Transition into words comes with extreme difficulty. I think that's why I enjoy reading people who can say a lot in a few words. Eric Hoffer comes to mind.

I can make a vacuum tube amplifier dance. That's one happy thing. So is a hot air balloon. And a smile. And a kindness returned.

Another happiness, very difficult for me to achieve, is a well wrought sentence.

Hmmm...Has the "language of thought" issue ever been thoroughly researched?
In my own experience as a full bilingual (and I have some knowledge of other languages as well), I do not find myself thinking in any particular language until I am about to put my thoughts into words. But maybe that's just me.

[lliam]

K
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"Birds sing after a storm; why shouldn't people feel as free to delight in whatever sunlight remains to them?" ~ Rose Kennedy

"We always have enough to be happy if we are enjoying what we do have--and not worrying about what we don't have." ~ Ken Keyes, Jr.

"Even if we can't be happy, we must always be cheerful." ~ Irving Kristol

"If my heart can become pure and simple like that of a child, I think there probably can be no greater happiness than this." ~ Nishida, Kitaro

"It is not God's will merely that we should be happy, but that we should make ourselves happy." ~ Immanuel Kant

"My happiness derives from knowing the people I love are happy." ~ Holly Ketchel

"The secret of happiness and prosperity in this world, as in the world to come, lies in thinking of the welfare of others first, and not taking one's self too seriously." ~ J. Kindleberger

"I'm fulfilled in what I do... I never thought that a lot of money or fine clothes -- the finer things of life -- would make you happy. My concept of happiness is to be filled in a spiritual sense." ~ Coretta Scott King

"We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have." ~ Frederick Koenig

"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." ~ Helen Keller

"No matter how dull, or how mean, or how wise a man is, he feels that happiness is his indisputable right." ~ Helen Keller

"When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us." ~ Keller

"We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements in life, when all we need to make us really happy is something to be enthusiastic about." ~ Charles Kingsley

[lliam]

Originally posted by DavidS:
I'm not that good at quotes (apart from the Bible which is freely available to all), but my happiness is being able to share joys with my own wonderful family and friendship with decent people like yourselves. Feel hugged (and I grew up in the "stiff upper lip" culture) .

What part of the UK do you live Dave ?

Your quote reminds me of a poem I read some time ago:

A TIME TO REMEMBER
------------------

They come into our lives for such a short time
a time we wouldn't trade not even for a dime
Then before you know it the years have flown by
and then all of the sudden we're saying good-bye

It wasn't that long ago we said our good-byes
we held on to you tight as you closed your eyes
Your spirit has flown home on the wings of a dove
into God's loving arms in heaven above

Over the days we've shed many tears
but the memories we have will live on for years
We feel your presence and we know that your near
you're keeping us safe and calming our fear

We think about memories from years past
when you were young and strong and ran so fast
we remember all the great times that we all had
how you always made us happy never made us mad

They were the best and happiest years we had
we'll always look back on them and never be sad
We look forward to the time we'll be together again
and we thank the Lord for such a great friend

Now you run and play up in Heaven above
cradled in God's arms covered with his love
Playing by the Bridge waiting for the day
we come down through the meadow to the bridge to stay

The love that you showed us we'll never forget
because to us you're one very special pet
You're like a star in the dark of night
always watching over us with the Lord's light

So now we take time to remember our best friend
who will always be with us even to the end
We'll always remember you the way you were
one big lovable huggable pile of fur

John Quealy

[Shapley]

"Happiness is a warm blanket" - Linus Van Pelt

[Junebug]

That is funny Shapely. I would think for Linus, happiness would be the mere absence of his female tormentress----LUCY!
June

[Shapley]

"Happiness is a warm puppy" - Charlie Brown

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

Happiness is a sale at Rosie's, on a weekend I have spare money.

[BigJon@Work]

Originally posted by DavidS:
Hmmm...Has the "language of thought" issue ever been thoroughly researched?
In my own experience as a full bilingual (and I have some knowledge of other languages as well), I do not find myself thinking in any particular language until I am about to put my thoughts into words. But maybe that's just me.

What language do you dream in?

[DavidS]

Originally posted by lliam:

but my happiness is being able to share joys with my own wonderful family and friendship with decent people like yourselves. Feel hugged (and I grew up in the "stiff upper lip" culture) .

What part of the UK do you live Dave ?

Your quote reminds me of a poem I read some time ago:

A TIME TO REMEMBER
------------------John Quealy [/QB]

I was born and bred in London, but have lived in Israel for about 37 years. I get back to the UK for family visits every 2 - 3 years.
Thanks for the poem; my statement about happiness was not (consciously) a quote, and I'm glad it harmonised with your source. "Great minds think alike"...

[DavidS]

Originally posted by BigJon@Work:

What language do you dream in? [/QB]

I dream in pictures, but when I dream that I'm talking, it usually depends on the audience or geographical location in the dream. Sometimes I get it absurdly wrong, or just can't recall what language I conversed in.

[shostakovich]

"One of my favorite authors...... I always figured as did Heinlein, that women were more into cats and men into dogs!
June"

-----------------------------------------------------

That's interesting. When I was a kid I actually imagined that cats were all female and dogs were all male. Did Heinlein ever conjecture that dogs are from Mars, cats are from Venus?
Shos

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

No, silly, dragons are from Venus. I'm not sure what shape Martians are, but they share water. Grok?

Oddly, in German, all dogs are male, and all cats are female. So, Shos is right.

[DavidS]

As a child I came to associate FElines with FEmales.
Me, I have always preferred cats and admired their independent character - though they are capable of returning affection - clean and aesthetic habits etc.
My Mum could not stand it when our cat tried to schmooze her up (at mealtimes) by rubbing itself against her legs, because, as she put it, "they go into all of the dustbins." And I would reply, "But when they come out they lick themselves clean!"

[lliam]

L
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"People are just as happy as they make up their minds to be." ~ Abraham Lincoln
"Do not worry; eat three square meals a day; say your prayers; be courteous to your creditors; keep your digestion good; exercise; go slow and easy. Maybe there are other things your special case requires to make you happy, but my friend, these I reckon will give you a good lift." ~ Abraham Lincoln

"You can always pick up your needle and move to another groove." ~ Timothy Leary

"Life is made up of small pleasures. Happiness is made up of those tiny successes. The big ones come too infrequently. And if you don't collect all these tiny successes, the big ones don't really mean anything." ~ Norman Lear

"The greatest pleasure I know is to do a good action by stealth and have it found out by accident." ~ Charles Lamb

"Genuine love will always feel urged to communicate joy--to be a joy-giver. Mankind needs joy." ~ Lawrence G. Lovasik

"Nobody needs a smile so much as the one who has none to give. So get used to smiling heart-warming smiles, and you will spread sunshine in a sometimes dreary world." ~ Lawrence G. Lovasik

"Try to make at least one person happy every day. … If you cannot do a kind deed, speak a kind word. If you cannot speak a kind word, think a kind thought. Count up, if you can, the treasure of happiness that you would dispense in a week, in a year, in a lifetime!" ~ Lawrence G. Lovasik

"Cheerfulness is a very great help in fostering the virtue of charity. Cheerfulness itself is a virtue." ~ Lawrence G. Lovasik

"Happiness is a by-product. You cannot pursue it by itself." ~ Samuel Levenson

"Pluck the lute in the moonlight or recite poetry among the blossoms." ~ Ding Ling

"I can but think that the world would be better and brighter if our teachers would dwell on the duty of happiness as well as the happiness of duty; for we ought to be as bright and genial as we can, if only because to be cheerful ourselves is a most effectual contribution to the happiness of others." ~ Sir John Lubbock

"Happiness does not depend on what happens outside of you but on what happens inside of you; it is measured by the spirit with which you meet the problems of life." ~ Harold B Lee

"We cannot be contented because we are happy, and we cannot be happy because we are contented." ~ Walter Savage Landor

"Happiness is something that comes into our lives through doors we don't even remember leaving open." ~ Rose Wilder Lane

"Seek not happiness too greedily, and be not fearful of unhappiness." ~ Lao-Tzu

"I am learning to understand rather than immediately judge or to be judged. I cannot blindly follow the crowd and accept their approach. I will not allow myself to indulge in the usual manipulating game of role creation. Fortunately for me, my self-knowledge has transcended that and I have come to understand that life is best to be lived and not to be conceptualized. I am happy because I am growing daily and I am honestly not knowing where the limit lies. To be certain, every day there can be a revelation or a new discovery. I treasure the memory of the past misfortunes. It has added more to my bank of fortitude." ~ Bruce Lee

"Many search for happiness as we look for a hat we wear on our heads." ~ Nikolaus Lenus

"Happiness isn't something you experience; it's something you remember." ~ Oscar Levent

"The happy think a lifetime short, but to the unhappy one night can be an eternity." ~ Lucian