Happiness Is A Decision
Is happiness a decision, something that we have to decide or is it just pure fate. Is this something that we have to decide i.e., whether we want to accept our present situation and circumstances as they are without doing anything or even looking for a solution or we accept each one of them and decide to work on them and then start working on some solution.
Anything that happens or will happen depends on our current decisions to some extent. If we are serious with our life then we can make some changes now and then whenever we feel something is not going right. This can be applied to every sphere of our life whether its our personal life, home, family, job, career, studies, business. A positive decision always brings a positive result which means an everlasting happiness.
We all know what is good or bad for us, we read, we watch, we hear and we learn more ways, better options which can be included in our life, to add a new dimension to our life, to further improve quality of our life. We all get quality information and useful tips from a number of sources, which can even include solitude (listening to inner voice) but do we really decide anything, do we take these little decisions or at least write them, read them or keep them for future reference so that we may explore the idea and then make some decision for its inclusion or acceptance.
Anyway if you have decided to be happy then there are so many resources both online as well as offline which can help you find true happiness in your life. I feel the decision to enjoy happiness in life is a part of positive approach to life also called positive thinking. A strong decision is always supported by everyone in our surrounding whether animate or inanimate because a decision is a decision and is therefore only possible destination and things is therefore acceptable to us.
There is a good post on the above subject titled What is Happiness? Definition of happiness on the blog called Life Optimizer on Personal Growth and Effective. This is a good blog and an effective one too. I hope this to be a useful supplement for this post on happiness.
You can also read previous posts on the above subject in Role of Happiness in our life.
I think that ones extreme surcumstance are eliminated happiness is a decision. but for someone that has to worry about getting the food of today happiness can+t really be in focus.
ReplyDeleteThanks for comment Poker. Well, you are right someone who is under extreme pressure even for survival can't think of happiness (as we understand it).
ReplyDeleteHappiness that I'm talking about is not limited to freedom of mind, freedom of choice, but I am talking about the hope, the will to overcome a circumstance, which gives a feeling of satisfaction (a form of happiness).
Our circumstances aren't always in our control but our actions (or at least our thoughts) are, we can always hope against hopelessness. We can always try to find a solution when there is apparently no solution available.
The Time of Our Lives by Max Weismann
ReplyDeleteThe book of Genesis tells us that we are made in God's image and the Garden of Eden was a paradise where all needs were met in abundance. There was no need for toil of any kind, in fact it could hardly be considered a paradise if toil was necessary.
Yet for most of us, work or toil occupies a considerable portion of our time. All of us who work for a living contrast that with our free time for leisure. Most of us have to work or toil (8± hours a day) for subsistence compensation, we need to sleep and take care of our biological needs also consuming approximately 8 hours a day. This leaves about 8± hours a day left for what?
And Plato's Socrates at his trial in the Apology tells the court, ...you will not believe that I am serious if I say that daily to discourse about virtue, and the other things about which you hear me examining myself and others, is the greatest good of man, and that the unexamined life is not worth living...
And Aristotle in his great book on Ethics says, ...It is not unreasonable that what men regard the good or happiness to be seems to come from their ways of living. The mass of people regard it as being pleasure, ...they appear to be quite slavish in choosing deliberately a life suitable to beasts, but their view has some support because many of those in high places share their tastes.
Perhaps to say that happiness is the highest good is something which appears to be agreed upon; what we miss, however, is a more explicit statement as to what it is. Perhaps this might be given if the function of man is taken into consideration. For just as anyone who has a function or an "action" to perform the goodness or excellence lies in that function, so it would seem to be the case in a man, if indeed he has a function. But should we hold that, while a carpenter and a shoemaker have certain functions or "actions" to perform, a man has none at all but is by nature without a function? Is it not more reasonable to posit that, just as an eye and a hand and a foot and any part of the body in general appear to have certain functions, so a man has some function other than these? What then would this function be?
Now living appears to be common to plants as well as to men; but what we seek is proper to men alone. So let us leave aside the life of nutrition and of growth. Next there would be the life of sensation; but this, too, appears to be common also to a horse and an ox and all animals…
Then comes Mortimer Adler, who defines toil as work that no one would do if they were not compelled to do so. He goes on to say, There is nothing intrinsically good about toil, neither in itself nor as a means to a good human life. However, this is mitigated by two extrinsic considerations, which cast some measure of favorable light upon toil. Toiling is a more honorable way of obtaining a needed livelihood than stealing. It is also a more dignified way to take care of one's economic needs or the needs of one's family than receiving a welfare handout. To this extent the person compelled to engage in toil preserves his self-respect by doing so.
We all aspire to live a good life or become happy. But unless we think that the money we earn is the sufficient means for living a good life, Aristotle reminds us that the life of a money-maker, is one of tension; and clearly the good sought is not wealth, for wealth is instrumental and is sought for the sake of something else.
How are we to answer Aristotle's question: Does man have a function, and if so, what would this function be? Can we state it at least in a general way or outline as to what it is that we ought to do with the time of our lives?
Thanks for your in-depth comment Max. I agree with most of what has been said by these great philosophers.
ReplyDeleteMost of us are actually working as machine to get as much output as we can to make more and more money. This has actually ruined our life and happiness.
Today we think that science has helped in making things easier for everyone and turning this world into a beautiful place but it is not so actually today's world is a complex place. Most things that exist today are counter productive i.e. they are not supporting life on this planet (they are destroying it) which has resulted in poor physical and mental health, health problems and a number of environment issues. Look at the global warming, water scarcity, food crisis.
The solution is to keep life simple, do things for pleasure, enjoy work, family and relationship. Life isn't a competitive exam where each one of us has to score more, its just the opposite, its a place of uniqueness. Each one of us are unique individuals, we may look similar but we are all unique in the way we do and think and therefore each one of us enjoys things differently.
Even if all of us are given the tasks that we really enjoy, all of us will not watch tv, play games all the time, drink or do other anti social activities. We are all misled in one way or other we don't know the path or destination, we think that money is the key to solution and working day and night is the only way to earn more money.
We don't have enough time to think, I started this blog to share my heart, discuss things that I feel have solution, I don't know whether I am able to communicate my feelings well or not but I hope to improve it over time, as I believe there is a solution and we should not feel disheartened with problems that are faced in this time.