Having covered the meaning of happiness in a blog post earlier this week, I recently came across the suggestion that happiness was a choice so I wanted to make some comments on that.
One interpretation could be that if any situation were given enough thought, it would be possible find a positive perspective or at least some sense in which things could be worse.
Another could be that happiness was inside a person rather than out in the real world and if a person realised that and believed it, they could discount their traditional reactions in favour of a sunnier disposition.
My own personal experience was of limited control over my emotions. At times I fancied that I had a shade of influence over other people's. I'd certainly made some fellow humans happy, sad or angry. For brief moments at least.
In a deeper sense, I didn't think that choice necessarily existed. I'd never seen any evidence of it. Or rather, there was a sense in which it did exist but it wasn't the sense in which it seemed to. If people could choose to be happy then everyone would all the time and the world would stop functioning because nobody would have any reason to do anything and nothing would matter.
That wasn't to say that I thought happiness couldn't be learned or conjured up. it probably could be. Just not by everyone. My impression was that like most other commodities in the world, happiness was unevenly distributed. Throughout lives and between them.
One interpretation could be that if any situation were given enough thought, it would be possible find a positive perspective or at least some sense in which things could be worse.
Another could be that happiness was inside a person rather than out in the real world and if a person realised that and believed it, they could discount their traditional reactions in favour of a sunnier disposition.
My own personal experience was of limited control over my emotions. At times I fancied that I had a shade of influence over other people's. I'd certainly made some fellow humans happy, sad or angry. For brief moments at least.
In a deeper sense, I didn't think that choice necessarily existed. I'd never seen any evidence of it. Or rather, there was a sense in which it did exist but it wasn't the sense in which it seemed to. If people could choose to be happy then everyone would all the time and the world would stop functioning because nobody would have any reason to do anything and nothing would matter.
That wasn't to say that I thought happiness couldn't be learned or conjured up. it probably could be. Just not by everyone. My impression was that like most other commodities in the world, happiness was unevenly distributed. Throughout lives and between them.
2 comments
I laughed at your previous post because you used the phrase ‘colossal waste of space’. I usually attribute that to people on my hit list;)
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I agree, you can’t just think yourself happy otherwise we’d all be annoyingly chipper all the bloody time. How tiresome. I like having something to rage against sometimes anyway. Makes you more appreciative when things are sweet.
Best you can do is try to avoid things that make you unhappy I guess.
I usually fail miserably when I try to control my emotions too. I figure not venting is unhealthy anyway and just leads to volcanic eruptions.
I hear Trumps planning a big parade. That gave me a nice WTF moment this morning. Man’s an utter loon.
A military parade! That's so Pyongyang. What's he going to do, haul the carriers out of the water and put wheels on them?
That's really true about venting isn't it? I feel like I get too close to eruption mode sometimes.
To some extent, thinking yourself happy is a skill, like some people sometimes have the experience of feeling really annoyed but then thinking and talking it through until they feel better and even laugh about it but it doesn't seem like anyone can do this at any time and it's important to note that because otherwise you put too much pressure on people and make them worse.
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