Are you happy?

Self-complacency and a chill

After writing the previous post I feel that I might have lapsed into the 'vice' of self-complacency, and also felt the involuntary chill of a fear that God might decide to try my patience and loyalty with some trials.

So, I pray to the Lord to stay His hand.

Primitive isn't it?

Yet, religion is I observe basically a very primitive emotion, that of anxiety that the powers that be might just get envious or naughty or malicious when they see some humans apparently getting on pretty well.

And that is why I am a rationalist, in order not to act out all the primitive fears of man, face to face with the unknown powers of the invisible world, which invisible world is also endowed by man himself with personalistic traits -- like us humans.

Pachomius2000
 
i remember a few years ago, i went through a period of intense religiosity. central was a very comforting, assured faith in the existence of God or a sort of all-powerful, transcendent goodness. taking refuge in this faith brought me a good deal of happiness, though my willingness to listen to points of view unlike my own was very low. i think i could say that i was happy in my faith, but it wasn't a happiness that let in much of the world beyond what i felt would help strengthen my particular beliefs or world view. i was only happy within my faith and religiosity, not with the greater world. which may be one of the reasons this formerly intense faith eventually wore down and no longer brought comfort.
 
I've asked myself this question quite a bit.

I would say that "happy" is not descriptive enough for how a person feels about their life. Terms such as "hopeful perserverance", "deep understanding", and "calmness of mind" are what I view as the major forerunners of an overall "happiness". Transversely, ideas such as "confusion of ethics", "image crisis", and "social paranoia" would be found in the camp of "unhappy".

Striving for happiness, imo, simply leads to a rebound effect when imminent failure occurs. I would say that it is less of a rocky road if one can become aware of the roots of thier unhappiness and accept it, and only then begin working towards a solution.

Dwelling on the past or worrying about the future seems to be my main source of confusion of self and socail paranoia. I try to become aware of why I tend to think of these things, and this helps me to, in turn, be more aware of how I act in the present (which thoughts of past and future stem from). This makes life less about doing away with depression and attaining happiness, and more about continually building towards something better.
 
I'm not happy. I'm faced by constant challenges and problems to overcome. Have I got anything to really complain about? Not really - just need to plan some personal leisure time, and work more efficiently to earn it. :)
 
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