The Key To Happiness is...........

by ISP 15 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  ISP

  ........good health and a bad memory.

  I heard that recently and it made think of the many of us who have suffered in our years of association with the WTS. Trying to cope with a traumatic past is very difficult. It is not a matter of amnesty and amnesia. You can't just 'forget it'. But some people can be haunted by their past and this seems to be another extreme. It does stop you moving on and acheiving a 'closure'. Thats why in Northern Island there is a proverbial saying as the plane comes into land...'We are now approaching Belfast, please fasten your seat belts, the weather is cloudy, the outside temperature is 11*C..and the time is 1689'. So many people there live in 1689. Nothing has moved on. It is sad.

  The question that arises is where do we want to end up? There has to be an emotional acceptance of the situation. That does not mean ignoring what happened. But it can help to move forward.

  ISP
• 

  JUSTAMOM

  Hello ISP:

  Wanted to say something in response to your statement on "The key to happiness"....

  I have come to learn lately that in order to have TRUE happiness one MUST be "a giver"...giving from the heart, not out of compulsion or obligation. Remember, "There is MORE happiness in GIVING than in RECEIVING."

  Giving of ourselves in whatever gifts we have been given is what brings happiness and joy.

  Just a thought
  JUST A MOM (Kim)
• 

  gumby

  The sermon on the mount gives many things for a person to do to have true happiness.Matt. Chap. 5 if i remember correctly.
• 

  wannahelp

  Justamom said:

  "I have come to learn lately that in order to have TRUE happiness one MUST be "a giver"...giving from the heart, not out of compulsion or obligation. Remember, "There is MORE happiness in GIVING than in RECEIVING."

  Standing ovation!!!! AMEN!!!!
• 

  Andee

  I believe that there is no key to happiness. That is a myth. Happiness is not a permanent state of being. Some days I'm happy and some days I'm not. Sometimes, even when all is right with my world, unforseen events can happen that bring despair and uncertainy. I'm sure not happy at those times.

  There is an eb and flow to life. Unfortunately, it seems some people get more crap than others. Some seem to have the personal fortitude to overcome negative experiences, while others drown in their despair.
  When I share a painful personal experience here, it doesn't mean that it still has a powerful affect on my life. It happened, and I share. Sometimes, others can relate. Unfortunately, not many of us have many, if any, positive experiences involving WTS.

  For me, although I do have many, I try to live my life with as few regrets as possible.

  Andee
• 

  COMF

  The Key To Happiness is...........

  ...hidden under the welcome mat.

  COMF
• 

  siegswife

  ...to love and be loved...or some grand marnier at the proper time...
• 

  OUTLAW

  Happiness is a warm gun..the Beatles ..white album...OUTLAW
• 

  Mindchild

  There are actually tens of thousands of surveys done around the world to determine what makes people happy. Last summer at the University of Minnesota's Chronobiology lab, I did a preliminary study of the massive amount of data for a 40 year period to see if there was time coherent spectrum which suggested that different months people are happier than others. This was defintely true. Other sociological researchers on the Human Happiness Project discovered (not surprisingly) that the culture you live in has something to do with happiness as well. People who lived in first world societies and enjoyed a higher level of material prosperity rated themselves happier than third world cultures. Climate seems to make a difference also in how people rate their happiness as well as trends in the economy.

  I think your personal attitude has a lot to do with how happy you are. There have been times when I've been filthy rich and had every toy I wanted and I wasn't all that much happier than I was going to college and taking an oath of poverty. If you recognize that you are responsible for your own happiness and that it is a choice you make to be happy or not, it can make a remarkable difference in your life.

  You certainly don't need any God, Jehovah's Witnesses, or even someone from the opposite sex to be happy. You just need to make your own choice.

  Skipper
• 

  professor

  OUTLAW took my answer. So I will have to say there is no happiness without sadness. No good without bad. If you were happy all the time, there would be no happy or sad.