if someone were said to be happy all the time, would you believe? Undefined words = Sufferance

Another reason humans suffer is because they use words without clear definitions. If you talk about a word, there is only an indirect understanding, but not something direct.

So , people can hear the word "freedom" and they may think of different things, or even believe it does or does not exist depending on their definition.

By clarifying our understanding of the words we use, by thinking of how WE define the word, we can change our lives.

The reason why I said "human" and not "animal" is because animals are not thinking in many words as humans , they mostly think in sounds, smells, and pictures, so all of their thoughts are directly connected to their experience, so they will not confuse themselves...

Now , back to the point I was making about the question:

"If someone said they were happy all the time , would you believe them?"

Someone's definition of happiness may be "getting what I want", and with that definition, it would be impossible to be happy all the time, because for most people - their mind always wants something more.

Now for a person who defined happiness as "relief ; not experiencing pain", now they can be happy all of the time.

Some people claim to want "happiness" , but then say if they were happy all the time, life would be "boring".

Well, if you defined "boring" as "never suffering" but claim you want "happiness", now you trapped yourself in a cycle. You would have to only happy temporary happiness and then suffer again, and then you'd wonder why things keep happening...


I am changing my definitions to the words I use, in order to clarify my existence and perspective of reality.
Here are my definitions of words...

Freedom
[Being able to make choices for yourself instead of another choosing for you]

Reality
[What is; All existence - synonym of "existence", "actuality" or "Omnipresence - God"]

Truth
[What happens in reality]

Imaginary
[What happens in the mind]

Mind
[The awareness of the personality]

Personality
[The Soul or Spirit; thoughts of an "I" or "me" combined with emotions, intentions, and beliefs]

World
[The perspective of reality according to a personality]

Peace
[Relief from suffering]

Relief
[Easing suffering either mentally or physically - synonym to "Happiness"]

Love
[Affection and Acceptance of something or someone]

Acceptance
[Not controlling; allowing freedom to happen - forgiveness is a part of this]

Compassion
[Relieving suffering of another - synonym to "sympathy", "care", "mercy"]

So, how are you all defining the "words" which makes up your view of the "world"?

I agree with your perception

You hit a HUUGE one here. How culture 'labels' things DIRECTLY affects how people act. This is why defining your world in your own terms is so very important. To actually 'know' and not just 'think'. To be referencing direct experience rather than accepting someone elses 'best description'.

Well said!

If anyone does not agree with me, feel free to talk about YOUR definition of these words also, or whatever words you feel are important...

In my opinion, mostly just on the word "happiness", I believe people more tie such a word toward success than anything else. Even if they themselves are not "happy". It is important to portray happiness, smiling, positive thinking, good attitude, etc... in order to attain great success in your life, career, and everything else. It's kind of cruel forcing happiness on people who can't possibly be in a state of happiness. Which can lead to contradictory states of mind such as mandatory positive thinking turning into deep depression. The word (happiness) itself becomes distorted and loses its meaning to the person.

Barbara Ehrenreich explains this quite well.



It almost seems that words are often used against us in order to force a certain way of thinking. As if our reality is being defined for us by others who would prefer the world to be shaped in a specific way. There are examples of words being shoved down our throats in order to accumulate support toward an agenda.



Though many people have a different opinion on what many of your posted words might mean to them, or how it molds their way of thinking. I strongly believe that we are shaped by propaganda that distorts our views of such terms. I know that a lot of methods employed by the media don't seem to work on me. In fact, some of their methods have struck me in such a way that I don't even use words like "Terror" when speaking anymore.

reply to post by Durrilll


Yes, this is why it is important to make clear definitions of the words we are using....

I could say "hedonism" and maybe many negative things come to people's minds...

But if hedonism is defined as " happiness is the highest good, so happiness should be the goal for all of US not just self", then it doesn't seem so bad - unless there is some sort of negative attachment with this word.

Anyway, this is just an example on why it is important to make clear definitions of the words that we are using.

Feeling fulfilled and complete with nothing lacking is wholeness.
The lack is what feels 'unhappy'.

reply to post by Itisnowagain


Yes, so we label happiness as "getting what I want"... and when we don't "get what we want" we feel lack whic is unhappiness as you said; but also, if we were to redefine simply as "not suffering" then we can realize that "happiness" is happening in every moment.

And even when "pain" happens, it need not be "suffering" unless we keep replaying the "pain" in our mind bringing keeping it here with us NOW, NOW, NOW, instead of letting go to fully embrace what is unfolding now...

I definitely think that it's impossible to be happy all the time.

You wouldn't know what it's like to be happy unless you have bad times. It's all relative as they say, your life may bring you great joy, but to someone with more money/friends/time/etc your life may be boring and sad.

Contrast is what makes the world what it is, the bad times make the good even better.

Although I slightly disagree with your OP as I think being happy is a universal ideal. WHAT makes you happy varies person to person, but the feeling of being happy is universal.

I like where your going with the whole words and meaning thing. I've always thought that if we could telepathically communicate many of the world's problems would go away. We use words to represent ideas, feelings, objects, etc, but the word doesn't mean what people think it does, the word means what your mind is experiencing when a certain feeling is experienced, or object is seen, etc. I hope you get what I'm saying here. There are so many times that things are almost impossible to put into words, and could only effectively be communicated through direct mind to mind contact. I think the ability to be completely and totally clear and understood at all times would ease some ills, as a lack of communication causes a great deal of suffering. Not from a lack of trying, but because language isn't sufficient to express and communicate certain things, which often happen to be the most important and influential things.

reply to post by James1982

Originally posted by James1982
I definitely think that it's impossible to be happy all the time.

That depends, how are you define "happiness"? Under certain definitions it would be impossible, under other definitions, it is very possible.

Originally posted by James1982
You wouldn't know what it's like to be happy unless you have bad times.

A baby in its mother's womb, knows peace even though it isn't labelled and there is no conflict ("bad" times).

Originally posted by James1982
We use words to represent ideas, feelings, objects, etc, but the word doesn't mean what people think it does, the word means what your mind is experiencing when a certain feeling is experienced, or object is seen, etc. I hope you get what I'm saying here. There are so many times that things are almost impossible to put into words, and could only effectively be communicated through direct mind to mind contact. I think the ability to be completely and totally clear and understood at all times would ease some ills, as a lack of communication causes a great deal of suffering. Not from a lack of trying, but because language isn't sufficient to express and communicate certain things, which often happen to be the most important and influential things.

Hmm, I see. This is why I like creative people who make up compound words to express their idea, or even linguistic people who learn many words to express, but I do agree that most do not have the time to do all of that and therefore the communication is not precise, or even worse, we can't find the word when it is needed.

reply to post by arpgme


I still maintain that being happy is a universal idea, like I said the method to obtain this feeling changes but the feeling itself is the same for everyone. We assigned the word "Happy" to represent this feeling itself, not the actions that led up to the feeling. If I'm happy because I have a cheeseburger and you are happy because you have a cool new car we are both experiencing the same feeling.

I think the issue is assigning words to feelings or ideas that can't be properly explained, they can only be felt. When you define the word happy you destroy it's meaning as you can't define it.

I get what you mean, if I DEFINE happy as a cheeseburger and you define it as a new car, it's different cause but still the same feeling.

I think metaphors are a great tool we have invented to help and express what we mean. There are some situations where if you explained what was going on in the constraints of the situation, it would be hard to understand.

It's like if someone never knew what "war" was, and you tried explaining it to them, and they were huge football fans. You could make a metaphor about how war is like football, many times with more than one team playing. This simple comparison opens up a huge understanding of the concept of war without lengthy explanation. The person will understand the drive that each side has to defeat the other, the feelings of sadness upon being defeating, joy when victorious, that people will look on from the sidelines and cheer on their favorite team (country)

I bring up the metaphor thing because it ties into what we were talking about being happy and sad. If I was experiencing joy because of a certain experience, and tried to explain to someone else what I was feeling without specifically using a representative word (happy) I could use a metaphor to convey the feeling and emotion. Say this other person gets joy our of fishing, I could construct a metaphor to explain that the feeling the other person gets when fishing is the same I get when doing this certain activity or whatever it is. The person will instantly get that you are trying to convey the idea of being happy. They will remember the feeling they get when fishing, and understand that I am feeling the same way about this activity.

The words and definitions don't matter because they complicate things and leave room for misunderstanding. Metaphor and simile allow you to convey the base level emotion or idea without long, drawn out explanation and thinking. It's an instant, full understanding of what is trying to be conveyed, instead of trying to piece together what is being said.

Originally posted by arpgme
If anyone does not agree with me, feel free to talk about YOUR definition of these words also, or whatever words you feel are important...

Maybe the problem stems with trying to figure out the world with figures (words). Words, language, thoughts, are all abstract in contrast to the happening world, therefore any definition will only complicate things.

Originally posted by James1982
reply to post by arpgme

 

I get what you mean, if I DEFINE happy as a cheeseburger and you define it as a new car, it's different cause but still the same feeling.

And depending on the definition, it's not even the same "feeling". To some, happiness means peace and calmness, to others it means excitement and enjoyment...

To some, it means any or both...