Are you happy?

[sally_smith]

Are you truly happy? and if so, what the key to happiness?

[worder]

no. do something you love for a living, the pay does not really matter. and have someone to love who loves you back. if you have these, call yourself rich.

[andy hughes]

I don't think 'true' happiness is actually part of the human condition. I believe we must experience light and shade in our moods and attitudes, you can't experience bveing happy unless you have experienced being sa, because you need to know one to experience the other.I believe that happpiness is a state you can enjoy most, but not all the time, and the way to it is to be at peace with yourself, and if possible, those around you. That sounds simplistic, but if you work at the things that make you happy, and ever more at the things that make you unhappy, you can get there.

[boognish76]

There has been some research done on this topic recently at it was found that the key to happiness is close personal relationships with friends, family, etc.

[HGKinsey]

It's all about having high personal self esteem (not to be confused with arrogance which is a completely different thing). If you are lucky you will have been brought up to be positive and have confidence in yourself. If not, it is in fact something which can be gained through personal improvement. I am happy most of the time, but am saddened by the normal things which should make a person sad.

[Greedyfly]

I do something I truly love doing and I am not happy worder

[meagain]

Great sex, with someone just as much in love with you as you are with them. (and he doesn't mind strechmarks!)

[worder]

then, Greedy, you need someone in your life, why wait to be happy? and, i agree with meagain, you can't beat great sex

[Anim8]

No. The key to happiness is to be content with your situation.

[saffstar]

I suffered with depression throughout my teens but gradually, as I got older, I managed to heal myself. What I've found is that to be happy you need to learn to be accepting of yourself and all your faults (as much of the time as possible) and as accepting as you can be of your situation. Train yourself not to dwell on what's wrong and also to stop worrying - if you can do something to help resolve a problem, then do it, don't worry about it; if there's nothing you can do, then there's no point worrying - learn to live with it or, better still to forget about it. Something else that I've found is important is to always try to focus on and appreciate when things are good - 'take time to smell the roses'. That way, when things are bad, the feeling of happiness is still pretty clear in your mind, making it easy to remember that things are brilliant sometimes. Finally, nothing helps more than life experience - for example, last year I suffered a very difficult bereavement and, awful as it was, because I've been through them before, I knew that eventually I would start to feel better, which helped to ease the desperation, if nothing else. I'm with Andy Hughes, I think to truly appreciate the good stuff, you have to go through the bad. As to the first part of your question, I think I'm about as happy as a person can be and that makes me happy in itself!

[zeus]

at the moment i am happy!! although i av got sun stroke and feeling poor. i have found that life is to short to dwell on the negetives and to focus on the gud things in life. at the end of the day, the more positive we think, the more positive things happen. (sometimes this is called luck but really its not luck)

[karincon]

I take it Sally that you are not too happy at the mo.. Happiness is to accept what you cant change or get rid of it. Having a good job with a steady income helps but then having a steady income without a good job would be even better. Great sex can be enjoyed with a little help from ann summer. Knowing that the people you love the most are there for you when the going gets tough helps to keep you sane. To be truly happy will only work for a while as with everything else nothing lasts. Take whatever comes your way if it makes you feel happy then go for it. If it doesn't then get shot of it. Life is too short to hold onto the things that do not want to be held. This is your life, one chance, enjoy it.. Hey smile...

[sally_smith]

Thank you all for your responses... a lot to think about.. I have to say that I am not happy - hence posting the question. I cant work out why I am not happy. I have a good job, nice house and wonderful friends and partner. But deep down I have to be honest and say, no I am not happy. However, will spend time reading your postings and maybe happiness will arrive at my door.

[TheBrad]

I think it must be the individual sally. I have had everything i wanted in my life but still feel pretty miserable most of the time. I have a great family that i love and a well paid job that i desperately wanted but i still continually feel that something is missing. i don't know wot it is as there is nothing else i want. I wish i had an answer but i think i'm just naturally a miserable sod!

[zeus]

Your unhappiness is probably through being narrow minded and never "visiting Liverpool although you know where it is" (TheBrad) You know what i mean!! Thats whats missing.