2000 year-old Secret to Happiness
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Enough with the books on happiness already! The Happiness Project, The Happiness Makeover, The Pursuit of Happiness,The How of Happiness...They're everywhere, and it's not making me happy. There is nothing new under the sun, nothing that hasn't been said for thousands of years. Take it from Epictetus who was born a slave in AD 55, obtained his freedom (that'll make you happy) and founded a school of Stoic philosophy in Rome. He believed that the essence of philosophy is that happiness depends as little as possible on external things, and to stop worrying about things that are beyond our control. Happy now?
Enough with the books on happiness already! The Happiness Project, The Happiness Makeover, The Pursuit of Happiness,The How of Happiness...They're everywhere, and it's not making me happy. There is nothing new under the sun, nothing that hasn't been said for thousands of years. Take it from Epictetus who was born a slave in AD 55, obtained his freedom (that'll make you happy) and founded a school of Stoic philosophy in Rome. He believed that the essence of philosophy is that happiness depends as little as possible on external things, and to stop worrying about things that are beyond our control. Happy now?
Posted by Layla Morgan Wilde at 3/4/2010 10:39 AM 
Categories: Photography, Spirituality
Tags: Happiness secret Epictetus
Categories: Photography, Spirituality
Tags: Happiness secret Epictetus
LOL,yes!
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Happiness is the norm and exists without any action on our part. Our reactions to our world affect our ralization of our own happiness. All those books are wrong. You can't create happiness, you can only clear away your own cobwebs and open your own doors to let your happiness be part of your life.
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I agree, happiness or joy is our natural core state and birthright.
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Feeling a little cranky today?
I agree, there hasn't been anything new in the rash of books on how to be happy - but it's making me happy that there are so many books on that subject now, and that they're selling well. It tells me that people are asking the question, and that people are craving information on how to be happy. While I agree that happiness is our natural state of being and as such, doesn't need to be created, I think there is value in books that give people tools to rediscover that state. And even though it seems repetitive to us, the same thing, said in different ways, tends to reach different people, depending on where they're at on their path.
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Cranky? No, just snarky from sensory overload
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We love process, we as human beings, and if we strive for change - whatever that is, it gives us hope for change. Hope makes us happy. When we feel stuck, we feel trapped, and therefore, unhappy. If people are isolated, getting out and volunteering will cause them to feel hope again, and therefore, happiness.
I am simply a happy person. Also a tired person, a busy person, but a happy person. Sometimes it is a bit inborn, too, but (optimism or pessimism) but if we help people, we definitely feel happier.
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Boomer, you keep amazing with your wonderful insights/information/ideas/......
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