Are You Happy...?

overall I am an 8, it's a life choice, you choose to be in a good or bad mood when you wake up in the morning.
 
"Fundamentally, therefore, any man can, even under such circumstances, decide what shall become of him - mentally and spiritually. He may retain his human dignity even in a concentration camp."
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Ah....but dignity & depression are different thing. I think I managed to be a very dignified depressive:p

Every self-help or inspirational book runs along the same line - "if I can do it, so can you". but the reality is that everyones life, mentality & physiology is different as is how everyone deals with the ups & downs of life.

....I can't get "Don't worry, be happy" out of my head...so I'm averaging a 9 at the moment!!
 
I'd say, overall, about 7.5

Sure there are down days but family life is great, I dont miss social life much (have v. little at mo), job is pretty good, money isnt a major or imminent worry, health of me & family is good, so nothing of major substance to complain about & you gotta be happy with that.

I think avoiding/minimising jelously/keeping up with the Jones is a good start - be happy in your own skin. Like the sunscreen song said, "the race is long, and in the end its only with yourself".

Also, if you've ever had dark days (had some, those around me had more), you really appreciate better times, you can see that things are good even if "objectively" (i.e. from other people looking at your situation) you are just pottering along like everyone else.
 
Betsy Og said:
I think avoiding/minimising jelously/keeping up with the Jones is a good start - be happy in your own skin.
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I agree. I think this is important - too many people lead lives of quiet desperation stemming from unrealistic, unfullfilled ambition. Ambition is good, but it's OK to be average too.
 
danaforever said:
overall I am an 8, it's a life choice, you choose to be in a good or bad mood when you wake up in the morning.
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not always, live with depression and the choice can be out of your hands.

But you must try and make the best of what life deals you.
 
Jack The Lad said:
It's an interesting point. An Austrian psychiatrist, Viktor Frankl, who was unlucky enough to have been condemned to the concentration camps in WW 2, but lucky enough to survive, wrote a book about the very concept of that choice you mention, based on his experiences there, and his observations of those who survived. The book is http://www.amazon.com/Mans-Search-Meaning-Viktor-Frankl/dp/0671023373 ("Man's Search For Meaning") and it is well worth reading; dark, but elevating and remarkable. It was voted one of America's ten most influential books by the US Library of Congress.

He went on to become Chief of Neurology in the Policlinic Hospital in Vienna, and used his theories to develop a succesful technique for treating patients who were suffering a variety of neurosis, by helping them to find the real purpose in their lives.

Here's a quote from the book...

"Fundamentally, therefore, any man can, even under such circumstances, decide what shall become of him - mentally and spiritually. He may retain his human dignity even in a concentration camp."
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Fantastic book. Ever read The Diving Bell and the Butterfly?
 
The Diving Bell and The Butterfly, Jean-Dominique Bauby - yes! Quite incredible, really an extraordinary testament to human spirit, especially when you realise it was written by a man who could only commmunicate by blinking his eyelid! They've made a film of it, but never got to see it.
 
Oh I never saw the film either - I see in Amazon Victor Frankl has other works - read anything else by him?

Just on the subject of concentration camps I really enjoyed The Boy in Striped Pajamas recently too.
 
Ross o Carroll Kelly did a book basically taking the mickey out of the original book title - 'Curious incident of the dog in the nighttime' - have to agree its a good read.
 
I haven't read Frankl's other work at all, but some day I hope. The Will To Meaning is supposed to be challenging, but good for an explanation of his theories and practice.


Oh sure, why not! Here are some other books worth reading.


Feeling Good - David D. Burns (Recipient AE Bennett Award for research on brain chemistry, Prof Psychiatry & Behavioural Sciences Stanford School of Medicine)


Flow: The Psychology Of Optimal Experience - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Chairman Psychology Dept University Chicago and Fellow of American Academy of Arts & Sciences)


The Origin Of Everyday Moods - Robert E. Thayer (Prof Psychology, California State University)


Peace Is Every Step
and
Anger: Buddhist Wisdom for Cooling the Flames - Thich Nhat Hanh (Vietnamese Zen Monk, exiled, living in France, nominated for Nobel Peace Prize)


Markings - Dag Hammarskjóld (Former Head Swedish National Bank, Former Secretary-General United Nations, Nobel Peace Prize posthumously)... for those of you planning to make headlines!


Almost forgot one of the greats...The Farther Reaches Of Human Nature - Abraham Maslow (died in 1970, President of the American Psychological Association, Fellow with the Laughlin Foundation). If you liked the the film "Groundhog Day", you'll love Maslow.
 
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I reckon I'm about a 5. Is that halfway up or halfway down the scale? ;)
 
I suppose it's a bad time to ask people what Sam Beckett or Franz Kafka books they've read?
 
Happy Days...?

ClubMan said:
I suppose it's a bad time to ask people what Sam Beckett or Franz Kafka books they've read?
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"How can one better magnify the Almighty than by sniggering with him at his little jokes, particularly the poorer ones."



:p
 
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