What is Happiness?
Posted: Wednesday, October 19, 2011
by Jessie I Snyder
TRUE INSPIRATIONS
Happiness is a mental state of well-being characterized by positive emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. The emotion of happiness is not obtained simply by entertaining your impulses or fancies. It is the satisfaction and contentment that one feels when they accomplish something good in their life. Your core motivation to be happy is surrounded by layers of other desires. Like an onion, you must first peel away the layers to reach the core.
It has been proven that happy people live longer than unhappy people. The main ingredients of happiness are simple. Happiness is a state of mind. It cannot be found in the material things of the world, such as wealth, power, or fame. It is something you must find within yourself. To become truly happy in your life, you will need to make a conscious effort to seek it.
Aristotle defines happiness as:
“Happiness is the meaning and purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.”
To be truly happy you must first love yourself, think positive in every situation, and forgive and forget; I know that can be hard to do sometimes, but trust me if you can forgive and forget you can have a happier life.
“Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.”
-Marcus Aurelius Antoninus-
Focus on the present and live your life to the fullest.
“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 that has been opened for us.”
-Helen Keller-
Don’t forget to be grateful.
“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.”
-Fredrick Kconig-
So in conclusion, happiness is a way of thinking. Happiness is not a temporary indulgence of pleasure. It is not an achievement or something you can buy. It is not even the experience of falling in love. Happiness is a sense of contentment, a feeling of satisfaction, an appreciation for the blessings you already have, a realization that you are valuable just as you are, no more or less than anyone else, a joy of feeling connected, a freedom of feeling unique, an excitement in knowing that there will always be something new and unknown to experience, and a confidence that everything will turn out just fine even when all seems to be falling apart
This Article has been viewed 491 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (5 total)Thanks :)
Excellent article!
True words to live by!
good work
Good piece - and I like the progression to JOY - our joy comes not dependent upon our circumstances but dependent upon our Lord. when we run short in our natural selves Jesus will give us joy himself. Through many years I have found that the "joy of the Lord is our strength"...It is true in my life and I suspect in yours too!
Love this: “Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking."
-Marcus Aurelius Antoninus-
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.