I do not know that I can define happiness by what it is, but I do know I can say what it is not. This feeling you describe is not happiness. It may be pride in a cool thing. It may be satisfaction in a well made thing. It may be vanity in a fashionable thing. Happiness does not come from things.
Happiness is clarity.
I elaborated on my meaning in another post on this thread.
Ecco, your response says alot more than i think even you realise. Instead of considering the idea even for a second you defend your position by questioning mine, a logical fallacy. I didn't mean apathy in a negative sense, purely as a reaction to something but it seems i was more right than you care to admit, interesting and at the same time a tad disappointing.
Ok Hexi. Now we move from honest exchange and even potentially constructive criticism (my long-winded responses, to you) to you assuming you know my ongoing inner state based entirely on your own unquestioned assumptions about me and the world around you. A fact that you do not even realize, ironically enough. How do you know what I have and have not considered, even now? Why were my questions interpreted, by you, as defense? How do you even know what my position really is and more importantly, why would you assume I have one to begin with? If you had bothered to answer my questions above, showing me evidence of why your view of my comments is the most accurate one and that ergo I should adopt it, then we might be on to something. But alas, you find yourself a tad disappointed by your own unquestioned and thoroughly believed thinking. Which is fine.
There is no resonance between what we see on an individual level, as you pointed out in another thread and again that is fine. I will not attempt to change your mind or argue my point of view or try to make you wrong. I will respect your right to say, think, do and believe in whatever ways make you happiest. Variety is the spice of life! And on that note, I am going to ignore the rest of your comments. I simply have no desire to play these types of word games. Whitewolf wore me out on the whole “you must be *fill in the blank mental illness* because you don’t think as I do” vibe. Even my patience has limits. :-(
Apathy is not a mental illness and indeed it was sought after by christians, jews and buddhists alike as a mental harmony. Your post about you not caring about such things as happiness or unhappness and the questioning of the meaningfulness of it all led me to that assessment. You are not a special little snowflake with special mental powers and understanding, get over yourself. This is meant for others, by the way as i assume you wont be replying.
I have changed my mind about ignoring your posts. It didn't feel wise to me. Ignoring you is like ignoring a part of myself. That is not self love. I imagine you don't care, and as always, that is fine. And yes, I know I am not doing you any favors. Kindness to you is kindness to me and that's why I am apologizing for the intent of previous comment.
My posts came across as hostile, which was not the original intent and out of habit i jumped to tear apart you through your response. Wether or not i was right is irrelevant, and the reasoning meaningless, even to myself. Let's just leave it at that and i'll be more considerate in the future.
The inherent difficulty of discussing happiness: happiness is a word that covers so much:
Happiness is when I'm going out with friends.
Happiness is when I'm devouring my favorite food.
Happiness is when I'm in love.
Happiness is when I just bought a nice car.
Happiness is when I'm playing basketball.
Out of all of these the most important happiness in my life is living with purpose, more specifically my work. I can sacrifice my social life, food, money, car and basketball for it. Love though, is as important as purpose. These two components of happiness are lasting and transcends all.
Happiness is when I'm going out with friends.
Happiness is when I'm devouring my favorite food.
Happiness is when I'm in love.
Happiness is when I just bought a nice car.
Happiness is when I'm playing basketball.
In my opinion all of the above are joyfullness, not happiness. Except maybe "Happiness is when I'm in love." To me, that's true happiness
Out of all of these the most important happiness in my life is living with purpose, more specifically my work. I can sacrifice my social life, food, money, car and basketball for it. Love though, is as important as purpose. These two components of happiness are lasting and transcends all.
What happiness will you find when you are retired? I'm not really quibbling with you - I think life has a purpose and in that purpose is happiness.