{"id":546,"date":"2007-12-18T08:02:27","date_gmt":"2007-12-18T15:02:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2007\/12\/18\/responses-to-when-youre-happiest\/"},"modified":"2018-04-04T03:14:56","modified_gmt":"2018-04-04T10:14:56","slug":"responses-to-when-youre-happiest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2007\/12\/18\/responses-to-when-youre-happiest\/","title":{"rendered":"Responses to When You’re Happiest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week, I asked you when you were happiest<\/a>. As I expected, I got a wide range of answers. I\u2019d like to share some common themes in your answers, my personal answer to this question and what I learned from reading through your responses.<\/p>\n

Happiness through Activity<\/h2>\n

A number of you mentioned that you are happiest during a state of flow. Concentrating on an enjoyable activity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m most happy when I\u2019m fully ‘immersed\u2019 in something, whether it be reading, writing, playing guitar, singing, playing computer games or simply having an involving conversation.<\/em>\u201d – Hokum<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m happiest when I\u2019m either moodling, or hanging out with friends and loved ones or in the flow state on a project.<\/em>\u201d – Jean<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a moment, sometimes extended over many minutes when my knowledge, my fitness and my readiness all come together in a way that I lose track of myself and am just part of the moment. That is when I am happiest.<\/em>\u201d – Diego<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI feel happiest while involved in an active, meaningful interaction<\/em>\u201d – Jonas<\/strong><\/p>\n

Happiness through Connection<\/h2>\n

Another common theme, both in your responses to when you are happy and when you are unhappy, was the importance of other people.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I feel a sense of being truly connected to someone or something. A girlfriend, a friend, nature…<\/em>\u201d – Frank<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cMy parents are very happy about me, so I\u2019m happy<\/em>\u201d – Nxqd3051990<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cAnother point, which is not wholly positive, is that I often feel happiness as a result of the positive opinion of others. The most prominent examples in this case are college grades.<\/em>\u201d – Hokum <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cMy happy moments rarely happen when I\u2019m alone.<\/em>\u201d – Jonas<\/strong><\/p>\n

I resonate with Hokum\u2019s comment about how happiness is often linked to the approval of other people. And unfortunately that isn\u2019t always a good thing. I\u2019ve personally been trying to see how people balance not caring what others think of you while still staying connected to people.<\/p>\n

Happiness through Wisdom<\/h2>\n

Here are some other excellent ideas on being happy offered readers here:<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe we should spend less time trying to make ourselves happy and more time and energy trying to make others happy\u2026<\/em>\u201d – Craig<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cEckhart Tolle makes a distinction between happiness and inner peace \u2014 Happiness is an emotion, and therefore, comes and goes. You generally get it right after you\u2019ve obtained what you\u2019ve wanted, but it\u2019s typically not a persistent state.<\/em>\u201d – Jonas<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI think happiness doesn\u2019t come from external situations, but comes from within. This might sound very cliche and new-agey, but I think once we\u2019ve turned around and faced all our sorrows and fears and pains and insecurities – then happiness is the natural result. It\u2019s almost as if happiness is underneath all the dust and rubbish we\u2019ve cluttered our lives and hearts with.<\/em>\u201d – Albert<\/strong><\/p>\n

My Thoughts on Happiness<\/h2>\n

My answer to the question of when I\u2019m happiest is when I\u2019m creating something. Similar to the flow state others described above, creating something is one of my most enjoyable experiences. This creative state causes me to lose awareness of myself as I try to build something meaningful. This urge to create things is what started this blog, my self-improvement efforts and my endless push towards new projects.<\/p>\n

As some people mentioned service and others opinions in their responses about what makes them happy, I believe these are often unstable sources of happiness. Ideally you should be helping other people with the things you create, but focusing entirely on helping people (and ignoring the creative urge) can leave you burnt out trying to please other people.<\/p>\n

My personal answer to the question of how to increase happy moments would be to focus on building something you deem meaningful and challenging.<\/p>\n

What are your thoughts on this subject and the ideas other readers submitted?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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