The Elusive State of Happiness

ninakang

I'm fortunate to have had a nice life so far and appreciate it. Good friends, completely barking family, lovely husband who puts up with me, beautiful kids, good job, enough money to live on and to save a bit...

A lot of things make me happy but as I've got older I've found it's usually the free stuff that makes me happiest, playing with my kids, making people laugh, laughing, talking... It's worth more than any handbag or pair of shoes.

Not that I wouldn't turn down a new pair of shoes... :-)

Nx

joyful164

naseebapnaapna wrote:

happiness, is where adn when you find it.

i good sleep makes me happy. copable pain makes me happy.

to find a pair of shoes that looked good and didn't make my feet, legs, back, shoulder ache even more, would make me ecstatic

when i am in a depression i just try to not get angry at life or people who are not suffering as i am at that time.

happiness is elusive because we look where we may be made happy, not where we may make others happy, especially those whom we don't know.

sangita

I like this sanjita

Joy

naseebapnaapna

thanks joy, that's very kind of you.

i think most of us will agree with nina, that the most joyuos things that are precious are like gossamer, we are not able to touch them, or hold onto them, but would not be without them.

sangita

joanlawson

Do you find that some moments of happiness stay in your mind for ever?

Sometimes it is the simplest things which you remember, eg I remember helping my Grandad to collect the eggs which his hens laid when I was a child. Then he let me choose one to have for my tea. Then happiness was a boiled egg. :!:

ninakang

Joan

I think it's not only the simplest things you remember but the warmth, security and happiness you felt at the time.

My earliest memory is of being carried downstairs by my brother in the mornings. He did this every day before he went to school, piggy back, till I reached about 7 or 8 years old, because I never was (and still aren't) very good at getting out of bed in the mornings. I didn't even properly wake up until he put me down on the settee, but I remember feeling very loved and lucky to have a big brother.

Rehab

You old softie :-)

Nx

joanlawson

According to the latest research on the Elusive State of Happiness, we are at our happiest at the age of 74. This was the conclusion of a long-term study of 21,000 people, who were regularly asked how happy they were with their lives.

Apparently, happiness starts to dip in the teenage years, and continues on a downward spiral until the age of 40. It then levels off until 46, before becoming more upbeat in the 50's and 60's, with satisfaction peaking around 74. After that, it drops off as people become more affected by health problems.

It is thought that older people become more appreciative of what they have, and may find a desire to make the most of their remaining years. This awareness of impending mortality may lead older people to focus on ways to make their remaining experiences as enjoyable as possible.