What Is Happiness



Art provided through "Google Images". Titles and compositing

by F.B. Noodleman. Special thanks to Dicitonary.com and Wikipedia.

What  is  Happiness?

By Felicity Blaze Noodleman

This week we’re going to explore the concepts behind being happy.  Gregory asked me to write about it because he sees me as a cheerful and happy person and wants to know my secret!  I was suppressed because I’m just like almost everyone else; an average person who is just struggling from day to day trying to make it.  Well here goes – I’ll try my best.  Dictionary.com defines happiness as follows:

hap·pi·ness

 /ˈhæpinɪs/ Show Spelled[hap-ee-nis] Show IPA

noun
1.
the quality or state of being happy.
2.
good fortune; pleasure; contentment; joy.
How to be Happy www.forbetterliving.org/ A Common Sense Guide that anyone can use to have a happier life.
Origin:
1520–30; happy + -ness
Related forms
o·ver·hap·pi·ness, noun
Synonyms
1, 2. pleasure, joy, exhilaration, bliss, contentedness, delight, enjoyment, satisfaction. Happiness, bliss, contentment, felicity imply an active or passive state of pleasure or pleasurable satisfaction. Happiness results from the possession or attainment of what one considers good: the happiness of visiting one's family. Bliss is unalloyed happiness or supreme delight: the bliss of perfect companionship. Contentment is a peaceful kind of happiness in which one rests without desires, even though every wish may not have been gratified: contentment in one's surroundings. Felicity is a formal word for happiness of an especially fortunate or intense kind: to wish a young couple felicity in life.


Wikipedia.com defines happiness as a mental or emotional state of well-being characterized by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy.   A variety of biological, psychological, religious, and philosophical approaches have striven to define happiness and identify its sources.Various research groups, including Positive psychology, endeavor to apply the scientific method to answer questions about what "happiness" is, and how we might attain it.Philosophers and religious thinkers often define happiness in terms of living a good life, or flourishing, rather than simply as an emotion. Happiness in this sense was used to translate the Greek Eudaimonia, and is still used in virtue ethics.Happiness economics suggests that measures of public happiness should be used to supplement more traditional economic measures when evaluating the success of public policy.

 

The "Smiley Face" has its origins in the psychedelic 1960's
and the LSD culture.It has become the universal symbol for happy.

Oops – thought I saw my name in there!  Now we have several sources to begin exploring the meaning of happiness for ourselves.  Have you ever met someone who was always so happy that it seemed just to gush forth from them, spilled over and filled the whole room.  Their eyes just seem to illuminate so brightly toward you they twinkle and with a smile which seems to shine equally as bright. 

I’ve met a few people like that which have left me wondering what their secret was.  My aunt was like that.  She was always so glad to see you – and it wasn’t just with family, she was like that with everyone.  She could make you feel so good.  It seems these people take pleasure from bringing pleasure to others.

Here a few points to think about for becoming truly happy:

·       Happiness is many things to different people and at different times.

·       Is materialism a source of happiness or vice versa?  Can what we think will bring us happiness bring us unhappiness?  I think we can call it the “Twilight Zone Syndrome”.

·       Happiness needs a good foundation to build upon.

·       Happiness will work better for you in achieving your goals.

·       Happiness is supported by family, friends and spiritual higher powers.

                      Truly happy people often give freely to help others.

Music brings me a great deal of happiness.  It’s kind of a “whistle while you work” kind of thing.  I will always think of a song throughout the day even without thinking about it a song will just pop into my head.  Comedy is also a source of happiness for me.  My comic education was learned from the great comedians of early television who perfected their craft in Vaudeville and Broadway.  Red Skelton, Lucile Ball, Milton Berle, Jackie Gleason and Sid Caesar.   Sadly we don’t seem to have entertainers like those today.

Try to avoid temporary fixes for happiness such as drink or drugs.  These crutches are only meant to help us transition through a rough period until we are able to become stable on our own.  Although these substances can make us feel very warm and fuzzy they can also cause a great deal of unhappiness when abused so be very careful with them.  They could cost you an awful lot.

The one out of hundreds who sparkles with happiness!

A logical perspective to view happiness is through a subtractive process which is to say happiness is the absence of unhappiness.  If you remove all the pressures and stresses of everyday life than what is left over is happiness.  That which which remains in their place is relief from uncomfortable situations.   Have you ever gotten out of a big jam and found yourself smiling with relief?  That’s what I’m talking about.

Doesn’t it seem like there are a special breed of people out there who are just bent of breeding unhappiness?  You know the grumblers, the complainers and the “buzz kills or B.K.’s”.  I try to avoid them and justify my leaving with a “have a good day” or a “best of luck to you” and remove myself from them as quickly as possible!

There also those people who are similar to the people whom I’ve just described who derive their pleasure and happiness from bringing unhappiness to others.  They have crossed over to the “dark side” and are characterized as some kind of a dark caped villain but in reality they are very crafty and you would never suspect what they are really up to.  Beware of them.  They are lurking in so many places!  They thrive on seeing others suffer and are somehow validated feeling superior because of their actions.  They can be very dangerous and should be avoided at all costs!

Well that “Plumbs” the depths of my knowledge on the subject of happiness!  Join us next week as we take on the subject of “Scientology” and the “TomKat” Divorce.  I’m felicity and hope you’ve found something of value you can can use in your quest for happiness.

Can you make this your family portrait?