Is the pursuit of happiness making us miserable?

Is our relentless striving to feel good no matter what actually making us miserable? Would we be better to accept that life comes with good times and bad, and make peace with that?

Is that coined in America"pursuit of happiness" not a pursuit of money and material things?

A very important reminder burgundia!

I had submitted this to PA2 a while back and thought it might fit this subject. Since I metaphorically rid myself of all my possessions within my mind, I have never been happier or healthier. It is a journey I would highly recommend to anyone who is feeling the everyday pressures of keeping up. Everything we truly require for complete full joy is withing ourselves, or just right in front of us. Sometimes people just need to be reminded that what they are searching for, is something they have not lost, but instead, have forgotten about.

in love & light

i don´t get angry or desappointed anymore, i allways had been a positive and happy person, and happiness is in us and around us.
like Rosie said "people forgot"
i used to explode easily, 10m. after everything was ok, i realise thats no point of letting the feeling of anger/desapointment/depression be on you, it doesn´t solve your current problems.
i enjoy my life day by day, no plans, theres allways something that make me laugh and feel good about life itself.
live a simple life and enjoy simple things.

Hi guys, am I not allowed to post a picture? I have tried to post one that goes with my post on this thread,
but it keeps rejecting it.

Am I missing something? Any help would be highly appreciated.

What kind of Pic Format is It ? IE .png, .bmp, .jpg, .tiff, etc.

Thank you for sharing this wise woman's words with us Truth.
Plotting happiness against time is like looking for one's glasses while having them on.

Her story brought this one to mind :

A beggar had been sitting by the side of the road for thirty years.
One day a stranger walked by.

"Spare some change?" mumbled the beggar.
"I have nothing to give you," said the stranger. Then he asked: "What's that you're sitting on?"

"Nothing, " replied the beggar. "Just an old box. I've been sitting on it for as long as I can remember.

"Ever look inside?," asked the stranger.

"No," said the beggar. "What's the point, there's nothing in there."

"Have a look inside," insisted the stranger. The beggar, reluctantly, managed to pry open the lid. With astonishment, disbelief, and elation, he saw that the box was filled with gold.

I am that stranger who has nothing to give you and who is telling you to look inside. Not inside any box, as in the parable, but somewhere even closer: inside yourself.

From The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle


Love Always
mudra

Your testimony is interesting Rosie .
I reminds me of Heidemarie Schwermer who has lived without money and possessions for 13 years.
I made a post about her here : http://www.themistsofavalon.net/worldwide-sustainable-communities-f16/new-economics-or-no-economics-t218-15.htm ( post 27)
It would be nice to hear more of your own experience .

Love from me
mudra

I don't pursue happiness nearly enough, so tomorrow that's my plan. It may involve oil and money, why the hell not?

Another answer to happiness.
J.Bolte proposes an extreme solution which reflects dichotomy. Let’s forget about left brain. I agree that right brain is very important and is a source of creativity, spontaneity, and insight. But the key is to find connections between 2 hemispheres. It is established that the art making process connects both right and left brain. But as our culture glorifies mind, we forget about our body that is feelings and emotions. More and more we intellectualize and rationalize about feelings, life, spirituality than experiencing and living our life.

For me happiness is when being creative. This can be in music, art, cooking, gardening, landscaping, building, writing, etc. Happiness is also learning new things. It's listening to great music, watching parades, watching children at play or involved in learning new things.

Happiness is also sharing and spending time with loved ones. It is hanging out in nature. Happiness is having the money to pay the bills. And it is having the freedom to explore this planet wherever and whenever.

My mother once said like a string of pearls, happiness comes in moments, yet for my husband happiness is an internal constant which also means it can be a state of mind. I view happiness as unfolding like the petals of a rose. One just needs to be in alignment with the Divine and happiness just "is."