Defining Happiness

@else34 (13515)
New Delhi, India
November 15, 2015 6:27am CST
I had somewhere read a sentence perhaps by George Bernard Shaw,'If you want to be happy,be.'It means,being happy or unhappy is in our hands. My parents say, you are happy if you think you are happy.Obviously they support Shaw. I think and ask myself,'Am I happy?' I would be lying if I say I am.There are many things I need,but don't have.And I don't know if having everything or nothing you need has any thing to do with my being happy or unhappy. Will then I become happy if I now say,'Yes,I am happy?'Obviously,'No.' What then happiness is? I would say,you are happy if you are satisfied.Does' happiness' mean 'satisfaction.' If so,then is happiness is all about being satisfied despite not having things you want to have? How would you define happiness?
8 people like this
9 responses
@Jessicalynnt (50523)
• Centralia, Missouri
15 Nov 15
It's hard to be happy when you have no food, no shelter. But I would think that once basic needs are met, happiness lies more in mindset
2 people like this
@else34 (13515)
• New Delhi, India
16 Nov 15
@Jessicalynnt,Absolutely right.Basic needs must be satisfied.Without it one can't be happy.But is is that easy as Shaw says that if you want to be happy,be.Food,shelter and cloths are our basic needs.If we have all the three,we desire having more and more.Desires can never be satisfied.And as long as you desire,you can't be happy.
1 person likes this
• Centralia, Missouri
16 Nov 15
@else34 I think some desire is ok, the desire to have more motivates it, but it shouldnt stand in the way of contentment for what is had, again as long as basic needs are met. I am NOT going to tell a homeless guy he should be happy and content because he is alive or something, seems rude
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@else34 (13515)
• New Delhi, India
17 Nov 15
@Jessicalynnt The more I think over it,the more I get confused.Don't know what to say.
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@babaraimc (1310)
• Pakistan
18 Nov 15
happy is ........... i dont know but it is something , i am sure like feeling of happy
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@else34 (13515)
• New Delhi, India
18 Nov 15
@babaraimc,I think,it is the state of mind when you rise above your desires and get ready for everything that is given to you by God.A feeling of fulfilment.
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@else34 (13515)
• New Delhi, India
18 Nov 15
@babaraimc Maybe that's what we call happiness.
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@babaraimc (1310)
• Pakistan
18 Nov 15
@else34 yeah i think so, in psychology they said this a feeling of satisfaction
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@scheng1 (24649)
• Singapore
15 Nov 15
I think it is time for you to de-link happiness from your desire or material things. Everyone can choose to be happy. Even a hungry person can choose to be happy by thinking about food. He does not need to see and smell the food before he decides to be happy.
1 person likes this
@else34 (13515)
• New Delhi, India
15 Nov 15
@scheng1,You are right.But I have a question.Suppose,I am hungry,but have nothing to it.My hunger is making me utterly restless.In that situation if I think I am happy,what difference would it make?
1 person likes this
@scheng1 (24649)
• Singapore
15 Nov 15
@else34 you do not have to think about happiness. You can think about food. You can think about the curry, the oyster, the chicken or whatever, and the thought of food will make you happy.
1 person likes this
@else34 (13515)
• New Delhi, India
16 Nov 15
@scheng1 Well,if an extremely hungry thinks about food or how to get food which they don't have now,can they be happy until they get it?
@yalul070 (1713)
• Manila, Philippines
17 Nov 15
both happiness and satisfaction are hard to define. but shaw is right, you are happy when you think you are happy. it's really just a state of mind. many people don't have even the basic necessities, but they are happy.
1 person likes this
@yalul070 (1713)
• Manila, Philippines
17 Nov 15
@else34 well if it's a beggar, then he's probably not happy because he's begging for something that he doesn't have. but even a very poor person can be happy if the measure of happiness for him is not material wealth.
@else34 (13515)
• New Delhi, India
17 Nov 15
@yalul070,I agree with you.I know,Shaw is right.But the question in my mind is,can a beggar who is extremely hungry and has nothing to eat be happy despite being unable to satisfy his hunger?Food is one our basic requirements.Can one rise over it?
1 person likes this
@hema7213 (3517)
• India
16 Nov 15
happiness is when you are mind is in calm state and you are enjoying your life....happiness is actually reveal only when your inner soul is happy with all the satisfaction of life....only a person can make him/her happy and no one else....
1 person likes this
@else34 (13515)
• New Delhi, India
16 Nov 15
@hema7213,You are right,but my question is that whether one can be happy if one has nothing even to satisfy one's basic needs like hunger.Can one rise above one's basic needs?
@else34 (13515)
• New Delhi, India
17 Nov 15
@hema7213 Beggars too can't answer.Are beggars happy?Obviously,No.
@hema7213 (3517)
• India
16 Nov 15
@else34 well it is difficult question for me....it should be asked to some begger ....they don't have the food to eat ?
1 person likes this
@Lucky15 (37374)
• Philippines
17 Nov 15
happiness is when someone is contented with what i give
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@else34 (13515)
• New Delhi, India
17 Nov 15
@Lucky15,Or,when someone is contented with what they have.
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@Lucky15 (37374)
• Philippines
17 Nov 15
@else34 indeed
@kiran8 (15348)
• Mangalore, India
19 Nov 15
Happiness is a state of mind which gets influenced by other factors...Either way unless you are mentally satisfied and at peace it is not possible to be happy !
@shshiju (10342)
• Cochin, India
19 Nov 15
Interesting question. People want to make wealth to become happy. But wealthier people don't get the happiness. If you have good relations, and in your own comfort surely you have happiness.
• India
15 Nov 15
Happiness is a feeling which resides in the hands all the individuals, so if you are not scared of losing anything or you are not attached / dependent on anyone your feeling of happiness always stays on top because irrespective of whatever happens you are not bound to respond to that situation so you are always Happy.
1 person likes this
@else34 (13515)
• New Delhi, India
15 Nov 15
@ajuharsh,You are absolutely right.One becomes happy when one become independent.But don't you think that independence,in true sense of the term,also means independence from the feeling of being needy.I mean,it is perhaps all about rising above needs.....Excuse me,please,it is perhaps too difficult for me to express myself in English.