Is it possible to be happy all the time?

[Billy]

Yes though it´s difficult there is a chance to establish some form of happiness. As lavezzi said if you make it to your number one goal you can come closer. But if you want to be successful and intelligent things might get difficult.

In the end it is not our decision. Decisions are made by destiny. So I hope I can at least enjoy the show

[Blue Murder]

It IS possible to be happy all the time, but I think that takes work. It's a reward, if you will -- something positive that comes from achieving a goal. Hard work paying off. But it is NOT possible to be happy all the time in today's society, unless you're bliss.

[Billy]

Blue, is it such bad?

[Winston]

Question:

What if you wake up one day and feel depressed, feel like a failure and feel like time has gone by too fast? Or what if you wake up and feel sad, deflated or down?

Should you:

1. Try to suppress such feelings and emotions.
2. Try to change them by thinking positive happy thoughts or focusing on something productive.
3. Let your negative emotions and feelings run their course, because in this universe, opposites must exist and be allowed to come out in order to balance each other out, like a Ying Yang circle.

What do you think?

[Twobrains]

What if you wake up one day and feel depressed, feel like a failure and feel like time has gone by too fast? Or what if you wake up and feel sad, deflated or down?

Should you:

1. Try to suppress such feelings and emotions.
2. Try to change them by thinking positive happy thoughts or focusing on something productive.
3. Let your negative emotions and feelings run their course, because in this universe, opposites must exist and be allowed to come out in order to balance each other out, like a Ying Yang circle.

What do you think?

Number 3. I've tried all of them and #3 is the only one that works for me, practically and philosophically. Nos. 1 and 2 are both forms of suppression. But it certainly can help to get out and do things, preferably at a manic pace, once the moping has been completed.

[PeterAndrewNolan]

Question:

What if you wake up one day and feel depressed, feel like a failure and feel like time has gone by too fast? Or what if you wake up and feel sad, deflated or down?

Should you:

1. Try to suppress such feelings and emotions.
2. Try to change them by thinking positive happy thoughts or focusing on something productive.
3. Let your negative emotions and feelings run their course, because in this universe, opposites must exist and be allowed to come out in order to balance each other out, like a Ying Yang circle.

What do you think?

Just remember "this too shall pass".

As a man who has been suicidal I can tell you that some times things can look pretty bad....but they get better again if you have the guts to make it so.

The most fulfilling thing I realised was to declare my sovereignty....and then learn how to live as a sovereign. Today I can not fathom how I lived as a slave for so long and did not notice it. That is the power of the brainwashing.

Once you realise that you are not your name, that your name is a UCC legal entity, the world looks VERY different.

[publicduende]

Question:

What if you wake up one day and feel depressed, feel like a failure and feel like time has gone by too fast? Or what if you wake up and feel sad, deflated or down?

Should you:

1. Try to suppress such feelings and emotions.
2. Try to change them by thinking positive happy thoughts or focusing on something productive.
3. Let your negative emotions and feelings run their course, because in this universe, opposites must exist and be allowed to come out in order to balance each other out, like a Ying Yang circle.

What do you think?

It's number 3 if you ask me. Negative feelings are part and parcel of human life, they shouldn't be "suppressed" but understood, and accepted. Only a deeper, phylosophical understanding of the meaning of your life, or human life in general, can put you back on a track to be "generally" more fulfilled with your life. And yet, even then, will you find moments, or days, where sadness and frustration will creep in again. It's just human. We're not meant to be perfect. If we were, we wouldn't even be living in this world.

[publicduende]

Publicduende - beautifully put, totally agree.

Thanks mate

[Jackal]

Question:

What if you wake up one day and feel depressed, feel like a failure and feel like time has gone by too fast? Or what if you wake up and feel sad, deflated or down?

Should you:

1. Try to suppress such feelings and emotions.
2. Try to change them by thinking positive happy thoughts or focusing on something productive.
3. Let your negative emotions and feelings run their course, because in this universe, opposites must exist and be allowed to come out in order to balance each other out, like a Ying Yang circle.

What do you think?

Option 1 is cleared doomed to failure over the long term.

I don't agree with with Option 2 the way it is phrased. However, you could try to think positive thoughts or do something productive just because they bring joy to you and others, but you should do this without any expectation of changing your previous negative thoughts--that may happen anyway or it might not, but it certainly won't happen if you try to force it. And a much more transformative type of positive thinking is to rejoice in others' success because this also helps to reduce selfishness, which is a major root of suffering.

I also don't agree with Option 3 the way it is phrased. If you let your negative emotions "run their course" but you are completely immersed in them like some kind of animal who just reacts and can't metacognate, I don't think that's very helpful. I think that's just practicing being out of control, like a grizzly on a rampage (of course, if you can put the energy of these negative emotions into something postive like exercise, then that's different and shows a degree of control).
I think it's better not to try to stop your negative emotions, but at the same time, you should reflect on how impermanent and, from the ultimate point of view, unimportant your negative emotions are and you should also think about how many other people in the world suffer from the same negative emotions as you do and try to feel compassion for them.

I think the long-term solution is to meditate so that you're not too attached to your emotions in general. Hungering for bliss and running from pain will just lead to more pain, because ordinary life consists of unavoidable pain.

[lavezzi]

Question:

What if you wake up one day and feel depressed, feel like a failure and feel like time has gone by too fast? Or what if you wake up and feel sad, deflated or down?

Should you:

1. Try to suppress such feelings and emotions.
2. Try to change them by thinking positive happy thoughts or focusing on something productive.
3. Let your negative emotions and feelings run their course, because in this universe, opposites must exist and be allowed to come out in order to balance each other out, like a Ying Yang circle.

What do you think?

Feeling "sad, deflated or down" has no power over you on it's own, it only does when it's accompanied by thought, and thought only has power over you when you consciously or unconsciously associate it with yourself.

Desire and fear always go hand in hand; if you desire something, you automatically fear not getting it. Your desires are what're arising fear within you, and fear is what links you with your negative emotions and causes them to occur. We only desire that which we do not understand, because we believe the illusion of acquisition. In reality there is nothing to gain in this life; we are born with nothing and we die with nothing while never having anything in between, only conceptual beliefs and perceptions. Only when this concept is truly grasped and internalized can we be free from suffering.

[Winston]

Lavezzi,
When did you become an enlightened Buddha? lol. Did you have a recent awakening or something?

I thought you were just a wandering Irish kid? lol

[polya]

What is this concept of "happiness" anyway? Transcend both happiness and suffering and remain fixed above the duality. That is what the Bhagavad-Gita says.

I don't really think in terms of "happiness" or "suffering" anymore.

Is being fixed above the duality happiness or some other emotion? I love gurus who say do this.. or do that... but never tell you HOW to do it & are living in an ivory tower away from the worries of normal life (e.g. working, dating, living...).

[Winston]

My dad wanted me to share this quote about happiness with you all...

Dear Win,

While packing our books, I picked up a book "Give Happiness a Chance" by Phill Bosmans. In one topic about happy people::

" In searching for the deepest reason for human happiness, I have never found the source to be money, possessions, luxury, laziness, profiteering, party going or excitement.

With happy people, I always found, deep down, a sense of security, a great simplicity, and a spontaneous joy in little things,

With happy people I was always surprised by the absence of stupid desires.

With happy people I never found restlessness or passionate searching. And most often they had a good dose of humor."

What do you think about this? Maybe you could discuss this topic with your forum members, like the definition of happiness, the different between pleasure, excitement and happiness, etc.

Love,
Dad..

[lavezzi]

now that i feel ive concluded my amazing spiritual journey over the last 6 months or so, i can say it is very possible to be happy all the time.

being happy is your natural state when you do not posses a sense of "this moment could be better if..". therefore, from my personal experience, the key to finding spiritual happiness is to reflect deeply on your desires and motivations with the goal of seeing and fully realizing their entirely illusory nature.

there are many paths to truth, but the most important thing to remember is that no one can do it for you, it has to come from YOU 100%. words are only pointers, awakening is beyond words and it can never be taught.

always remember: life is only a temporary dream. im getting a stronger sense every day that when you die you simply wake up. but even if this life is all there is, theres no negativity in that because it would have always been our destiny. getting to experience three dimentional existense is really incredible, the only negative is that those around you do not see the sunset over the lake as their eyes are glued closed.

i probably sound like a gigantic hippy faggot but i speak truth, seriously wake the hell up.