Happiness as a default temperament

  On 3/27/2011 at 1:57 AM, OneToThirtySix said:

I associate those types of people with being naive. I usually find out later that they are just Mormon.

AHAHAHA Oh God that's hilarious, I was just going to say that the only permanently happy person I know is my mom, and she's Mormon.

Also she's had two really severe head injuries.

Most mormons I know aren't permanently happy, but they live outside of Utah, so that could explain it.

I will say that there are probably quite a few people out there who would say that I seem like a mostly happy person but it's largely a facade.

  On 3/27/2011 at 10:42 AM, Awepittance said:

practicing buddism was probably the closest i got to achieving 'happiness' every day but i don't define that word int he sense of feeling extremely upbeat or positive, just trying to be free of negative emotions. Once you get out of practice it's not just something you can snap back into, at least for me.

I have a friend who also achieved a similar state through Buddhism for a time, and like you he hasn't been able to snap back into that headspace since he stopped practicing it. He always seemed incredibly at peace with everything during that phase, but one thing lead to another and he eventually grew disenchanted with it.

I once thought I found total happiness, but then I found out it was just mania lol

But if the delusional aspect was stripped away from it, that frame of mind would be ideal. There was a lot about the way I perceived the world then that I wish I could reclaim. I understood a lot then that I can't really fully grasp anymore. I can reflect on those things I thought and felt, but I can't KNOW it like I did then. Heh, that probably doesn't make much sense to anyone who hasn't experienced something similar... Curse these wretched shackles of subjectivity!

no one's happy all the time... otherwise, it'd cease to have any meaning.

  On 3/27/2011 at 11:14 AM, disparaissant said:

  On 3/27/2011 at 1:57 AM, OneToThirtySix said:

Mormon.

mormons are positively daft. one still owes dad some money for backing into his car

  On 3/27/2011 at 7:49 PM, hahathhat said:

no one's happy all the time... otherwise, it'd cease to have any meaning.

You'd think that would be true. But there seems to be a few examples out there of people who are happy more or less all the time and don't need sadness to measure it by. Sure, it doesn't mean as much to them perhaps, but they're in a good mood regardless.

?

i've known a few, they tend to be a bit deluded, and have never had anything bad happen to them in their entire lives.

is there a good Buddhism book? How do you learn about it?

  On 3/28/2011 at 4:17 PM, marf said:

is there a good Buddhism book? How do you learn about it?

I would say that I'm happy more often than sad, but I do get down quite frequently, and get depression/anxiety over relatively small things that wouldn't affect most people at all (which in turn makes me embarrassed and ashamed, which makes me more depressed etc). I've only learnt in the last year how to break this cycle but it's still really really hard a lot of the time.

I never really get angry... a bit frustrated sure... but the only real anger I ever feel is towards myself, and like I say, learning to stop that now. Just need to practice it more.

Interesting article btw.

Im pretty happy most of the time.

I have to be tired or something not going right for me not to be happy.

ive been on klonopin for the last 2 months. Im trying to ween off it.

waht's that

its a muscle relaxant/anti-anxiety med.

i dunno if i'd say it makes one happy, but it definitely evens things out.

it stopped me from drinking like a fish. I recommend it to alcoholics. I was just going through a generalized anxiety bout. it makes you feel goood, but im not into abusing anything for too long and the doc will wonder why the script ran out so quick too

i'm not usually outwardly happy, but i'm mostly content when i'm not at work

when i'm at work i like to glare at people and sometimes pretend i'm really angry, but i'm only mildly displeased.

I don't think these types of people are always actually happy. Many times it's a facade. But most of the time they are generally happy, by acting outwardly happy and helpful, people in general are going to have a really good first impression of you and are going to want to be your friend. These are the kinds of people that surround themselves with other really good people, they've either trained themselves to be this way, or they took on mannerisms from a parent. They have just as many natural hardships as other people, but also have more support from the people who love them.

There are different kinds of happy people too. The very successful driven types, and the lazy hippie types, and all points in between. I think to a point it is a superior way to act, although it can get out of hand and start to look very disgenuine as well if taken too far.

there is something about those sort of happy people that makes you want to throw a wrench in the works.... like, just drop a really inappropriate comment. or switch out a word in a sentence so it sounds close, but also confusing.......

the smile will be wiped off their face when they have to watch a close relative with some horrific cancer screaming in agony while they shit blood

you guys can think what you like about it, but i am quite genuinely just happy all the time, and have been for a good few years. nothing remmotely bad has happened to me, id say the worst is a girl i liked not being interested, but i just dont see the point in being upset or sad, so i dont do it. i also have a stupidly busy existence, i trotting round glasgow playing techno, piano, drinking, tripping fleeing, see friends, dating constantly, i dont have to work, and basically its just all good, all the time. im not a closet suicidal pscyopath, im not on medication(technically), i just reallly fucking like life. its great.

also, when music this incredible exists, its hard to get upset about anything.

Mostly I try to act happy even if I feel like shit, because I find that if I try to have fun, I'll at some point forget about my problems and maybe even have a little fun 'by accident'.

I've gone through years of depression and drugs, and I've gone through some incredibly happy years as well. When I'm super happy and functional and on top, I can only vaguely remember what it's like to be depressed and the state of being depressed makes absolutely no sense to me at all. When I'm in a period of depression I can only sort of remember what it is like to feel happy, but I'm so crippled from despair that there's no way I can function in the same way.. it alters the way I think, plan, judge, etc.

This whole being happy and sad thing just reminds me how much my consciousness is a result of processes going on in this brain sitting in my skull. Which can be damaged, and is completely subject to its own natural drug trips.

I can always remember what it's like to be depressed. The one thing that I find nearly impossible to imagine is the sensation of being hungry. I tried doing that the other night during a power outage, and I just couldn't do it. Smells, sounds, and most physical sensations are easy enough to recall, but for whatever reason my memory just can't do hunger. I'm experiencing it directly right now however...

I never really try to act happy, though I make a concentrated effort to be pleasant and somewhat upbeat about projects when I'm with clients. I'm just not much of an actor, but I also don't go out of my way to make my moods really apparent to the people I'm with unless it's a good one.

The power supply to my studio computer got fried when the blackout occurred, and despite knowing that there's a good chance it fried all the components within my computer, I don't feel that down about it. Most of my important stuff is backed up, though there are maybe three or four tracks I made recently that will be totally gone if it is indeed fucked. I recognize how much that sucks, but I also realize there's nothing i can do about it so I'm not really dwelling on the fact. Though not being able to work on stuff for an entire day did give me a distinct sense of temporarily having no purpose. If I didn't have an outlet for expressing my creative ideas for an extended period of time I think I would be horribly depressed. I can only post inane things on here for so long. Not that this thread is inane, there's actually a lot of good insights coming out of this. Thanks to all who have contributed!

it's just a ploy to make us pay for psychiatrists