"We are 6 billion light-years from
the edge of the observable universe,
That's a good estimate with
well-defined error bars,
Scientists say it's true, but
acknowledge that it may be refined,
And with the available information, I predict that I will always be
happy..."

with apologies to Katie Melua

"Psychologist Dan Gilbert challenges the idea that we'll be miserable if we don't get what we want. Our "psychological immune system" lets us feel real, enduring happiness, he says, even when things don't go as planned. He calls this kind of happiness "synthetic happiness," and he says it's "every bit as real and enduring as the kind of happiness you stumble upon when you get exactly what you were aiming for.""

happiness
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/97

"The great source of both the misery and disorders of human life, seems to arise from over-rating the difference between one permanent situation and another. Avarice over-rates the difference between poverty and riches: ambition, that between a private and a public station: vain-glory, that between obscurity and extensive reputation. The person under the influence of any of those extravagant passions, is not only miserable in his actual situation, but is often disposed to disturb the peace of society, in order to arrive at that which he so foolishly admires. The slightest observation, however, might satisfy him, that, in all the ordinary situations of human life, a well-disposed mind may be equally calm, equally cheerful, and equally contented. Some of those situations may, no doubt, deserve to be preferred to others: but none of them can deserve to be pursued with that passionate ardour which drives us to violate the rules either of prudence or of justice; or to corrupt the future tranquillity of our minds, either by shame from the remembrance of our own folly, or by remorse from the horror of our own injustice." Adam Smith

http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/tms/tms-p3-c3b.htm

Happiness is not worrying if you are happy or not.

Good links. There has been some good writing lately on the overrated nature of being happy. Turns out that a measure of depression and anxiety are actually GOOD for us, and that we shouldn't reach for a bottle of happy pills at the slightest tear.

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Does anyone think it's weird that the two biggest goals of our time are "tolerance" and "zero tolerance"?

The Buddhist parable of the mustard seed is instructive.


http://www.plochman.com/religious.htm

last time I checked, the Buddhist set themselves on fire, I guess you would think THATS instructive?

__________________
Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.-KC Theisen

"Statistics: The only science that enables different experts using the same figures to draw different conclusions." — Evan Esar

Vigilance is the price of liberty. - Motto of SHAPE

"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedies." —Groucho Marx

Why would I?

I don't know diuretic, I'm asking YOU, just in case that escaped your radar.

__________________
Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.-KC Theisen

"Statistics: The only science that enables different experts using the same figures to draw different conclusions." — Evan Esar

Vigilance is the price of liberty. - Motto of SHAPE

"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedies." —Groucho Marx

I was surprised at the question. It's a huge logical leap from a Buddhist parable demonstrating that human existence will always be saddled with sadness as well as happiness, to the issue of South Vietnamese Buddhist monks self-immolating as protest against the Diem regime in South Vietnam. But on reflection I think it was about criticism of me rather than a reference to my post. Yes, that makes sense. But I'm sure other posters would prefer to read substance rather than sniping so I'll leave it at that.

For those interested in this topic, "Thirteen Conversations About One Thing" delves into this topic. While it is probably 80% depressing it is thoughtful and complicated. Check it out.

"The lives of a lawyer, an actuary, a housecleaner, a professor, and the people around them intersect as they ponder order and happiness in the face of life's cold unpredictability."

More irony - in a thread about "Happiness" we can get grumpy

Anyway the first one to mention Forrest Gump gets it