This conversation is closed. Start a new conversation
or join one »
Happiness?
If we could accumulate happiness like TEDcred points or other credentials what would you do to ensure your happiness?
Please share all your ideas for accumulating happiness?
What puts a smile on your dial?
Whether large or small please share every little thing you can think of so others, especially those who struggle with darker thoughts, can keep a check list of new ideas to spread happiness in our own and others lives!
Closing Statement from Kate Blake
Here is a really broad eclectic collection of ideas for happiness, I would strongly urge everyone to read this?
From baking with Mom, appreciating joyful moments, to setting a daily intention to be happy, to understanding that it is our own perception, that nobody but ourselves are responsible for our happiness - in that it comes from our own internal attitude, not others or external objects. That appreciation and gratitude are paramount to stimulating our healthy happiness!
Much thanks to TED and all who participated! This was definitely a very joyful and inspiring conversation to have.
May many others benefit from reading your contributions for many years to come!
adesh saxena 10+
edulover learner 10+
Colleen Steen 500+
I believe we CAN accumulate happiness/contentment, because it is a perception/feeling that we can choose.....or not.
My underlying sense of happiness/contentment stems from "being" in the moment with intent to learn, grow and evolve. So, in every moment, I feel curious and eager to learn. Often, people take so many things for granted and miss the opportunity to experience and accumulate happiness.
I appreciate the many things in my life that are often taken for granted. I appreciate washing dishes, because it means I have food in my belly and running hot water in my home. I appreciate doing laundry, because it means I have cloths on my back. Every single night, when I snuggle in my warm bed, I consciously appreciate and am grateful for the warm bed and roof over my head which provides shelter. I am grateful for the computer, which facilitates connections with people around the world....I'm grateful for friends and family.....it goes on and on. Gratitude and appreciation are some important underlying feelings that help us nurture happiness/contentment.
I make the choice to be happy/content in every moment by noticing, appreciating, and being grateful for so many people and things in my life. I put the smile on my dial. There are certainly special occasions and special people who share THEIR accumulated happiness/contentment, then the feeling is expanded and excellerated even more!!!
Happiness flows, so it can be very much a part of our daily practice when we have an open heart and mind to allow it to flow through us and out into our world.....it becomes very much a part of who and what we are......in my humble perception and experience:>)
Scotland Willis
adesh saxena 10+
Kate Blake 50+
I often wonder why we pass our power over to others so often?
Colleen Steen 500+
Kate,
Perhaps it may appear to be easier to let someone else make choices for us? If it doesn't work out well, we can always blame them, rather than taking responsibility for our own choices? I think superficially, that may appear to be easier.
When we take full responsibility for the choices we make, it causes us to be more mindful and aware of why and how we make those choices, which means we need to delve into our "self" for information. That is sometimes intimidating to some folks.....never know what we might find there!!!
adesh saxena 10+
We should not wait for right time ,favorable condition or right place to be happy......we should be happy no matter what.
adesh saxena 10+
Happiness No Matter What by Richard Carlson. Must read.
adesh saxena 10+
adesh saxena 10+
W. Ying 10+
“Pretend to be happy always” and you will most probably be happy.
It is our instinct (our ancestors successful experience).
(For details, see the 1st article, point 15, at https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=D24D89AE8B1E2E0D&id=D24D89AE8B1E2E0D%21283&sc=documents.)
adesh saxena 10+
Lena Elizabeth
Kate Blake 50+
Please share your clues so that we can reference them during our down times? The variations below are fabulous so please keep them coming?
Pabitra Mukhopadhyay 30+
That I get to see you comment or post puts a smile on my dial. That I can see people all around me doing small acts of kindness, making mistakes and learning from them, can see life flowing with excitement and hope for something better coming our way puts a smile on my dial.
Yes I am not happy at times, but that's no big deal. There is always another day.
natasha nikulina 50+
Is it actually real ?
I guess, not, what is real is JOY , it belongs to moment , to 'now'.
To reconcile those two notions and to answer your question, i would say that the more ' joy-moments ' you have the happier you are.
Sometimes we say : genuinely , unreasonably happy. Maybe what you are searching is somewhere there :)
Kate Blake 50+
natasha nikulina 50+
Thanks for your response and sorry for the delay with mine !
You ask me to share and i do, always, in this weird way, typing words, trying to express my thoughts/ feelings.
As for the description, it's always difficult to describe experience and joy is experience.
For me it's always aesthetic ( a kind of :) ) and it comes with/in/due to NATURE, sounds trivial, but it's true. And i am not talking about stunningly beautiful landscapes, they are great, but it's not the point. I can be stunned by beauty anywhere; it can be a patch of grass or a bush or ...puddle, reflecting the sky in between the yellow-greenish-reddish leaves happily drowning in it or ... anything. What is necessary is to be tuned to see. As close as i can describe : it's perfection harmony beauty. Colour form texture, light, shade, sound, wind ... dryness or wetness... is exactly as they all should be to create this beauty for this exact moment and it's perfect ! How can i describe this ??? ! At these moments i love everything sooo... much and feel gratitude i don't know to whom. It's JOY ! Or whatever it is, it's real !
The rest comes with: i know that God is , though i am not religious; people are easy to love... so, it is unfolding into my life. Joy moments have wonderful capacity, they multiply !
Frankly, i am addicted to such moments, this is something i can't do without :)
Kate Blake 50+
Much thanks for this 'deep' contribution.
Pabitra Mukhopadhyay 30+
natasha nikulina 50+
Ed Schulte 50+
!!!!!!!A "JOY-filled" post !!!!!Ty nn!!!!!
natasha nikulina 50+
Hi, Ed !
Ed Schulte 50+
Lionel Leigo
What makes me happy is knowing that what i have is : what i asked for, is more than enough, is what i always wanted so much that i can give some away to those who need more.
kind of like the term "Glocal", Global and Local combo, if we do it locally, do it well, do it together and do it for each other, it could spread, no matter how many freeloaders there are, i'm talking about a community based on time as love rather than time as money.
Alan Russell
Kate Blake 50+
Alan Russell
Lionel Leigo
Cheikh Bamba BA
Kate Blake 50+
Cheikh Bamba BA
But others, however, are struggling to achieve their goals because they know where they want to go. They know what they are for levent early in the morning. Their entire being is stretched to their purpose and at any time they don't forget this desire that tugs and pulls them toward their goal. And, believe it or not it pays.
That's why I think frankly that happiness is to Stay focused and Never stop fighting... no matter what happens !
W. Ying 10+
I think:
(1) Valid happiness is short-time feeling of things being a-step-better for keeping our DNA alive.
(2) The feeling is difficult to be accumulated without the conditions necessary for making the feeling.
(3) Pursuing no INVALID happiness often make unhappy people happy.
(For INVALID (ineffective) happiness, see the 1st article, points 1-3, 14, at https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=D24D89AE8B1E2E0D&id=D24D89AE8B1E2E0D%21283&sc=documents)
Mark Meijer 100+
I don't think happiness is anything you can accumulate, it's only what remains when you're no longer compelled to accumulate anything.
It's interesting that the U.S. constitution lists your "unalienable rights" to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But it does not list happiness. Somehow that always remains a pursuit and is never actually arrived at. Might be a hint.
W. Ying 10+
What we can accumulate is merely the result (most important data) of happiness.
Not the experience (feeling) of happiness.
(For details, see https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=d24d89ae8b1e2e0d#!/view.aspx?cid=D24D89AE8B1E2E0D&resid=D24D89AE8B1E2E0D%21367&app=Word')
Kate Blake 50+
Can you share any tools or techniques that you use? Below are some very practical examples.
Mark Meijer 100+
Kate Blake 50+
I can only agree that chasing, or addiction, to fleeting pleasures is not true happiness. Having said that why not enjoy them as they arise? Eg. Not pursuing them but as they do occur in our life from time to time why not enjoy that brief pleasure?
Am most grateful for all the insightful suggestions posted here!
Have a good day Mark, our world is a better place when we are more positive and kind to others.
Mark Meijer 100+
I do enjoy things as they arise, like I said, I like fleeting pleasures as much as the next guy. I didn't mean to say anything against them. Only against addiction to them, and even then only with regards to my own preference for myself. I wasn't lecturing. I really do wish you well no matter what happiness means for you.
I think everyone has to find their own way, I genuinely hope they do, and whatever way I find for myself is simply the way that happens to suit me. Nothing more and nothing less. This wasn't my argument against your conversation, it was my contribution to it, for whatever it may be worth to whomever reads it.
It would seem that I say a lot of things that a lot of people don't like. I don't say them because they don't like them, I say them because they ask, and they just don't like my answers. But those honestly are my answers nonetheless. I don't mean anything by it. Maybe I should just stop answering. But then, why do they ask? Only to hear what they want to hear? Don't they want something to take home and consider? Isn't that what we're all trying to do here? I don't know man. It may seem so, but only as long as you stay on the reservation, where it's safe and familiar.
Whatever. Sorry for rant. It's not at you. Just, off my chest. All the best.
Kate Blake 50+
I'm always glad for any input positive or constructive, certainly made me think how I worded the topic, and I didn't do it well. So it's even more amazing that most people have understood where I was coming from.
And happiness is a very different thing for everyone, that's why I wanted to brainstorm various ideas so that when someone was having a dark day they could read those possibilities and maybe one might be of benefit ...
Much thanks for all you do for us at TED!
Mark Meijer 100+
Feyisayo Anjorin 50+
Sometimes depression gets hold of me, and I tell myself "dude, dont make yourself miserable, leave that to the opposition and the enemies".
I'm happy most times, because I choose to be.
Kate Blake 50+
greg dahlen 20+
Kate Blake 50+
So don't winge and carry on to friends and neighbours but address the issue at the source. Great advise to ensure a quieter space for you and your neighbours, well done.
Grace Greene 10+
Kate Blake 50+
Can you share what you do to keep your day happy? Do you set a definite intention each morning, how? What clues can you share to brighten other people's day?
Grace Greene 10+
It begins with reviewing my goals.(5 minutes to experience the joy of how it feels to have met them)
Then deciding on a Question of the Day (because I have learned that questions are always answered. This morning's question was, "What wonderful thing will happen within 10 minutes". That was a scary question, because I usually give myself a day to see results. I'd never tried such a short time frame before. The answer came through something amazing that I learned.
Next I decide on my affirmation of the day. Today's is "I am loveable, I am love. I am loving. Love is the power of the universe. I am powerful". It changes daily as well, though if I have a really inspiring one, I allow it to run for as long as it feels good.
Then I watch something motivational. I like to exercise while watching - thus killing two birds with one stone. Then I visualize a goal I have (20 minutes - same goal until met or 28 days - though if it's a long-term goal, as my most challenging one is, I will pick it up again after a break, but only when real advance toward that goal is obvious). Then I do a task relating to one of the goals I have. Each step of the way, my joy increases because I feel more and more empowered.
After the task (1 hour), I meditate (20 minutes). Then I get into my day. I have learned to pay attention to what I am feeling, so if I am feeling stressed, I replace it with a more empowering thought (the daily affirmation - already decided upon)
In the afternoon, I add another visualization as practice. I practice manifesting things, solutions, and/or situations. It's so exciting when manifestations appear and even more exciting when they appear the next day (or sooner).
Add a short meditation when I first fall into bed - no proscribed time length.
Who REALLY wants to invest their time in feeling anything less than a profound sense of peace and joy (which, for the sake of this conversation, I will errantly call happy)
Kate Blake 50+
Michael McWatters
Kate Blake 50+
Can you give us a few examples of how you help others? Much thanks K
Michael McWatters
I hope to be able to do even more someday, but even these little acts are rewarding in and of themselves.
Kate Blake 50+
Branislav Ivkovic 10+
Kate Blake 50+
Branislav Ivkovic 10+
Hopefully that answers your question better.
pat gilbert 50+
Do not neglect your own best friend, yourself
Do not do things you do not agree with in other words be true to yourself
Be your own adviser
Kate Blake 50+
How do you look after yourself?
Rhona Pavis 50+
Kate Blake 50+
Can you give us a few specific examples of how positivity has helped you?
Rhona Pavis 50+
Scot Wilcox 10+
Kate Blake 50+
Are there a few well known religious people who you think have achieved true lasting happiness?
And can you give any more clues on how we can get there? Thanks for your input.
Scot Wilcox 10+
Kate Blake 50+
I was thinking of people like Mother Teresa, Gandi and Dalai Lama, but now I've typed those names in I've only seen the last name laughing and seeming happy despite the horrid happenings to his country and his people. The other two were far more serious but maybe content - I wonder if they were content with their achievements before they died?