BLISSFUL-BOHEMIAN

Monday, July 7, 2008

On my mind...


Tonight I found myself reading other's blogs and avoiding
writing my own. I have many things on my mind, but I am
not sure how to share them with you. I decided like I often
do, to just sit down and start writing. What I most want to
write about is happiness. I know for sure that nothing makes
you happy. No thing, place or person can make you happy.
You have to choose to be happy, and then take that happiness
with you. Some days it is easier than others :-). Remembering
is the hard part for me. Just like living in the moment, I have
to remember to do it, it does not come naturally. Why is that
I wonder? Perhaps it comes more naturally to some and to others
like myself it is sometimes a struggle. I would like to hear what you
think about happiness? Are you happy? Do you think it's a choice?
Have a lovely Monday! Photo taken from my yard last week.

11 comments:

Sizzle said...

Happiness can be a choice. It really depends. . . We are not living in a society that honors living in the moment. It's all getgetget, taketaketake, dododo. It's exhausting!

Happiness is elusive but the pursuit is noble.

robin laws said...

oh well....i am going to think on this a bit more before committing my thoughts to paper :) this is an important inquiry you are making and it deserves more than just my spontaneous answer i think. i will come back tomorrow :)
have a nice evening annie :)

willowtree said...

Some day you're going to actually say what's on your mind.

Annie Coe said...

Sizzle-I agree!
Robinbird-Thank you for yout thoughtfulness, so glad you are here.
WT-I may some day do that, or not
:-).Don't ya love a good mystery?

sukipoet said...

Well whole books have been written about happiness and what it is and isnt. I guess I like to think that yes, I can choose my perspective and attitude about things that happen to me. I know there are many times I feel content and in the flow in my life. I guess I consider that happiness, to be in a state of effortless flow. But the Buddhists emphasize, if I understand correctly which I may not, that it is the two sides of the coin idea that causes unhappiness. IE if I am happy now and not happy later then I will desire happiness and do anything to get it back. And in that craving for happiness I will create chaos and greed etc etc. And this could be alleviated by not using the dichotomy of happy vs unhappy. Maybe when I am in the flow I just am flowing. When i'm not in the flow and low on gas and my engine sputters, that is what's happening and it's neither unhappy just as the flow is not happy.

Think of Thich Nhat Hahn's half smile. I might do my next sunday post on that. My cat half smiles. When I walk around half smiling, man do I feel better, happy, lighter. AND other people seeing my half smile, hey they smile too. Maybe that's happiness and not happiness together. Be well and happy, Suki PS thanks for this post. I didnt think I had so much to rattle on about--I surprised me.

Em said...

Happiness is most definitely a choice, and something that can only come from within.

Annie Coe said...

Suki-I totally agree. You have to trust and love where you are, no matter what-that is true happiness.
em-How'd you get so smart :-)?

Unknown said...

ah..the question of the millenium..how to be happy, I've got some so call 'rules' to follow to kickstart myself to be happy...but there are times I was down at the dumps too :( dont worry so much, we all have the same problems..different countries, ok maybe different problems...but same headache at times.

so you like snakes...that's cool. When i was having my coconut drink, we spotted a snake hovering above a branch..yikes, thank god it didnt fell on my head, I would have fainted :)

hugs always

robin laws said...

i'm back annie but i'm afraid those thoughts about happiness just flew right out of my head right along with what it was i had in mind to blog about today... and as you know zippy is no help in the memory department :)
i'm still with you though on this puzzling over the mystery of happiness.

Anonymous said...

Stephen Fry (UK actor) said "Each happiness is a victory". He has bi-polar disorder which can make him very low at times regardless of how he wants to feel. I think there has to be more to happiness than just the will to be happy. Perhaps it is a combination of your inner world and the outer world?

There are sights which cheer people up, and others which make them sad. There are times when you are so low that it is hard to be cheered by those normal sights. So my current thinking is that happiness is something which there are so many degrees of (cheerful-ecstatic) all of which are in balance with what is going on around you.

Going to need a coffee now after that deep thought for the morning.

Kelly said...

I think happiness is some genetics, some brain chemistry, some environment, a lot of choice. But in today's society, we downplay the choice part and are sucked into believing happiness comes mostly from the outer things.