Is anyone truly happy?

This question has been on my mind lately, the more awakened i have become over the years, the more i realise my life is not being lived the way i feel the spirit is intented... i also observe people who are not 'awake' yet, and am able to feel their vibes/emotions and they seem to be the most unhappy, most unsatisfied and most frustrated, let me elaborate..

The majority of people i know live in this 'routine' that in reality we have no choice to follow, people seem 'stuck' and thats exactly what i believe is happening to our spirits - we are stuck, stuck in the same routine, the same daily chores, the same daily stresses, alot of people spend their whole lives spiritually in the same place, without ever achieving real happiness.

Lets assume our spirits are here to evolve, which i believe they are.. lets assume in order to find true happiness and contentment, that we have to spend our time here enduring different emotions and experiences, learning and finding our own state of happiness, for one person it may be the smell of a certain flower or another person it may be the sound of waves, happiness should be the feeling of being free to explore ourselves and the world, and to have time to 'find ourselves'.

We are simply not living how we are meant to live, thats why i believe so many people are unhappy, so many people are 'happy' on the outside, but crying on the inside, so many people are confused and frustrated without knowing why, we can not evolve spiritually when we have to get up at 6am for work, go home and complete mundane chores, cater to family members, and then spend the remainder of time worrying about bills, money, the future etc..... we cannot afford to 'live in the moment' anymore, we are essentially, not being ourselves. Whether we want to accept it or not, we live to earn money, we are a slave to the one thing that consumes most of our worrying thoughts, and people who have all the money they could ever wish for, are probably even more unhappy, they believe they have achieved the ultimate goal, but still feel empty and unsatisfied, once again, i believe that is because we are not evolving, or progressing spiritually.

How many of us wake up with the feeling of excitement and wonder as to what the new day will bring, how many of us can spend an hour or so in our gardens when we wake up and listen to bird song and maybe meditate? how many of us can spend a day gathering and preparing a meal for all those we love from scratch and together, using fresh foods.. how many of us can just decide to go on an adventure for a few weeks, exploring new ground and places? how many of us have a aching to get back to nature and the basics of life, but know it is seemingly impossible in this day and age? imagine the satisfaction of building your own home and communities and grow food, to sit round a warm fire under the stars with our loved ones without any worries of bills/money/stress..... to me that would be bliss..

I believe thats how life should be, we should be actually 'living' and working with nature, i cant be the only one who feels like this? feeling like im living my life the complete opposite as to what i should, feeling trapped and stuck, feeling like a slave to a reality that was forced upon us, and not feeling deeply truly happy with my life, on the outside, im an outgoing, 'happy' 27 year old, but internally im longing to be 'free' and at one with the universe, i am longing to break free from this draining routine and structure we call life...

We are living artificially and thats how i feel, artificially happy...


*although ive only just joined, ive been reading the boards for years so am familiar with all things ATS! *

reply to post by Shewolf


Quote from you:
“How many of us wake up with the feeling of excitement and wonder as to what the new day will bring, how many of us can spend an hour or so in our gardens when we wake up and listen to bird song and maybe meditate?”

I can only answer for myself. Yes I feel the excitement in been a live, I meditate first thing when I wake up and strait after water the plant that I grow in my balcony. Then I have some breakfast with my girlfriend and we laugh about what we said or didn’t said the day before. Then the day takes over.
I am happy? How would I know when this concept is just man made, I my a live? Yes very much so.
I try to make sure that I don’t get too attached to this world as one day I will be called somewhere.
Kacou.
Ps. You have a good “plume”.

I tend to think of happiness as an extreme emotion. I prefer content. Despite the world around me I am very content.

While I'm satified with my own situation, I am not complacent. Do I want more of certain things? Occasionally. Do I want to improve certain aspects of my life? Of course. Do I sometimes get sad? Occasionally. Do I feel discontent for the world around me? Absolutely - and I try to change what I can.

I do agree with you that we need to get back to basics - family, nature, sustainable living and not gross consumption, and a concern for our fellow man.

One of the biggest and harshest lessons of my life resulted in this personal fact: happiness is a choice. It isn't something we either have or have not, it isn't something that is given or taken away. To be happy or not to be happy is a choice we make for ourselves every minute of every day.

Certainly there are times when things are happening around me that make it difficult to choose happiness (read: I'm depressed or angry or whatever) so I take the steps and actions to get back to happy once more. Sometimes it is a change of perspective and sometimes it is good ol' fashioned hard work and tough decisions followed by tough actions. But sometimes you just need to clean house, you know?

One thing worth remembering is that happiness as any emotion will not last for too long, because anything that is constant/static even an emotion will lose its value. That is why stagnation is believed to be more to the negative than positive.

So it is rather impossible to live in a "constant" state of happiness. Rather if you are happy then happiness will be translated into a state of inner peace which can be constant in a sense.

But even that feeling will lose its intensity in time and you will search for new things, new happiness. This is because evolution and progress is infinite, there is always more to what you can become.

Thing is that on Earth everything we can ever experience is only a small portion of what it could be. Even happiness, that which we know, is nothing compared to what there is far above us. But this just reflects our current level of awareness and development. We are not one with nature or anything, we are pretty much against anything good.

As long as we are like we are we will not be able to enjoy real happiness or any other intense awareness or knowledge. But be optimistic, because in the end we will all return to what we truly are. Infinite in every way, even towards happiness.

All we have to do is stop thinking about future or past, live your life now and enjoy every second. Do what is right not what would make you feel good. Live in peace and not in fear. Your mind is what creates reality. Imagination is the potential beginning for a new reality. So be careful what you wish for.