the key to happiness is.....?????

is within you...

KatSkrizzle said:

Exactly.

I think Buddhism has it right, where it says that all unhappiness stems from craving or attachment. Eliminate those two things from your life and it's, "Buh-bye, Unhappiness! Don't let the door hit ya on the way out!"

KatSkrizzle said:

it sure is!

Ace said:

Hmm interesting, can you elaborate on the "craving or attachment" parts???

missfee said:

Here's a good quote from a dude named Brad Warner:


I don't believe in religion, but I think that Zen philosophy contains a lot of wisdom. Here's my advice:

Pare your possessions down to a bare minimum, do not look outwardly for validation, don't depend on others, master desire.

is a search we all must go through to find the truth about life and true happiness.

Well my personal opinion is that unhappiness lies within you when you feel like you are missing out on something, or you feel that you need to change something about yourself, or worried about what others think of you.

The key to happiness is having inner peace with yourself, and accepting yourself for the person that you are. Once you can look in the mirror and do that, there is no worry about how or what others think of you.

missfee said:

I agree with all of the above.

Ace said:[quote]

missfee said:

I understand. Those are some logical points.

Ace said:

Thanks. But its also easy to have that self doubt, like for instance if you are trying to get over a breakup. If you have been with that person for a long time and there was true love there at one point, but things just didn't work out, sometimes its easy to blame yourself for the failure and in that comes self doubt and questions (what else could I had done to make things work? what there something about me that contributed to the failure of the relationship? why couldn't i had seen this coming before now? etc.) But with that, someone told me that, you must forgive the other person and then forgive yourself because thats the only way you can truly move on.

missfee said:

I don't believe in romantic love anymore. I think that a lot of people's unhappiness centers around their desire to live a fairytale. A key element of my happiness has been jettisoning most fiction (movies, TV, books, songs) from my life and dealing with reality.

...being.

One thing....just one thing.

Nothinbutjoy said:

What one thing?

Lots of money, lots of funk, and lots of numerous dicks.

Simplicity said:

So you've never seen "City Slickers" eh?

The one thing is whatever you decide the one thing is.

Nothinbutjoy said:

Okay. My one thing is being. What is your one thing, if I may ask?

Not comparing yourself too others and make your own rules.

shows. nothing makes me happier.

evenstar3 said:

Wichc shows?
I watched 12 hours of Lost today with my friend.

Gimmesomehorns said:

oh not tv shows, i meant concerts

evenstar3 said:

OK, i wish i could see more concerts, especially Prince.
The ones ive been too havent been that intressting but i beet Prince would be awesome.

missfee said:

CHOCOLATE!!!!







....and













someone to lick it off

Ace said:

Well for me I won't give up on finding love. I don't believe that there is just that "one" out there for me, because you can have multiple true loves and it not work out. Thats just life. You win some you lose some. I do agree with your point about people trying to live fairytales instead of in reality...no one is perfect. I know so many women trying to find that "perfect man", but he doesn't exist. For me, I just want someone who is willing to compromise and accept me for who I am. If his flaws include not cleaning up after dinner, leaving the toilet seat up, or snoring at night, then I can deal with it, but I can't deal with a guy who has no goals or direction in his life or doesn't know how to place his priorities in his life.

missfee said:

that man in your avatar.

missfee said:

It's not that I've had bad experiences and they've led me to "give up on finding love". I think my feelings on the subject can best be summed up by a quotation from the Bruce Springsteen song Dry Lightning:



"Love" is marketed as a panacea. Most people's ideas about what it's supposed to be and do are taken from fiction. When it inevitably doesn't measure up to those portrayals, too many think there's something wrong with their relationship (rather than the yardstick) and go looking for something they're never going to find.

Or somethin' like that.

missfee said:

Learning to be happy no matter what your circumstances or environment.

Learning to touch peace and gratitude no matter what the people around you are doing or saying.

There's no one way to find that. For me, meditation has helped tremendously and has taught me to find that place through breathing and focusing my attention. And although I don't call myself a Christian, focusing on the trials that Jesus Christ endured really helps me put my own struggles in perspective. I make sure I am consciously focusing on what I am thankful for every single day, and make sure that I'm not magnifying my own pains and burdens.

So for me, gratitude is a way to happiness. Being humble and appreciating what I have.

An ice cold beer
A Cuban Cigar
350 grand in the bank
Sex
and Rock n roll

FunkMistress said: