Maslow set up a hierarchal theory of needs. With the physical needs at the bottom and the human needs at the top. Each level is somewhat dependent on the previous level for most people.
Physiological Needs (Food/Shelter),
Safety Needs
Love and Belongingness Needs (Needs to escape loneliness and alienation and give/receive love, affection and the sense of belonging),
Esteem Needs (Need for a stable, firmly based, high level of self-respect, and respect from others in order to feel satisfied, self confident and valuable. If these needs are not met, the person feels inferior, weak, helpless and worthless.
Self-actualization Needs (Maslow describes self-actualization as an ongoing process. Self-actualizing people are… involved in a cause outside their own skin. They are devoted, work at something, something very precious to them—some calling or vocation. Maslow also describes self-actualization as a person’s need to be and do that which the person was born to do).
For further reading go to
http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/maslow.html
Perhaps it is balance which is vital...
Frankly, I find it tedius to be forever taking my pulse. Am I happy? Are my needs getting met? Who am I?
I experience great happiness when I am not "in" myself worrying about how I am but rather just being and doing whatever it is I am up to at the moment.
I agree with so much that shav said. Crativity is vital. Let go of stuff, so there is time for the people and things which are important. Turning off the TV is a good thing for me...in fact, the last time I moved it stayed behind...not getting caught up in the grass is always greener or worrying that someone has something I don't....or getting trapped in jobs and places out of habit.
Kids and partners and aging parents change the balance of a life and it's priorities. When others are dependent on us, we get obligations. And, special joys....there is nothing like having a little kid come to you with a boo-boo and the confidence that you can make it better. I have seen too many kids damaged because the parents were busy pursuing their own bliss...
So, having said all that: I take my pulse, "Am I happy?" Yes, life is hard right now and I am having to make hard choices and face fears. I have been happier and more at peace. But, yeah, life is good. I live an amazingly decadent life in a first world country in a beautiful rainforest where bears cross the road in front of me. I come home eat from full cupboards, sit at my laptop and goof off at RHP, e-mailing friends or reading a book after a good long dog run. So, there is one more important thing about happiness: attitude.
Balance, priorities and attitude.....and maybe, moderation. I once ate so many cherries while cherry picking that my teeth were sore for days afterwords.....
Respectfully submitted
Originally posted by AynatMaybe that's a good indicator that you are truly happy- when you don't have to worry or wonder "whether" you are happy. You just are.
I experience great happiness when I am not "in" myself worrying about how I am but rather just being and doing whatever it is I am up to at the moment.
ncrosby🙂
Originally posted by shavixmirNot to quibble needlessly (...but needfully?) but I think that happiness is not so much an internal phenomenon as it is a state where one loses the division between internal and external and treats the people & the universe as oneself, as one would like to be treated, without thinking of they/it as being other/outside/opposed.
I do see what you're saying ...People who really find happiness are looking internal. What do they want. What do they need.
They won't have to step on others. At the very most they'll smile at others and try to get them to come along.
A fine distinction. A dissolution of ego.
Originally posted by shavixmirWhat if picking your nose makes someone else unhappy?
I do see what you're saying.
What I'm wishing to address however is that anybody who seeks happiness over the backs of others is obviously selfish.
If someone is selfish (or ego centric as the official term is), then they automatically wish to be better, have more and do gooder than others.
The "want" to do and be such is counter productive t ...[text shortened]... to step on others. At the very most they'll smile at others and try to get them to come along.
Originally posted by VargFirst off - always pick your own nose... Don't force anyone else to.
What if picking your nose makes someone else unhappy?
It's easy to see why that would make someone unhappy. I'd be very unhappy, I'm sure, if I had to pick your nose. Have your fingers all been amputated, then? Just pick your own nose!
If that doesn't work then maybe its really time to get a warm gun, huh?
Suicide is supposed to be painless... Let us know?