I am thinking

If we are discussing happiness in terms of life in this world....change is essential.

What fails to change....dies.

If we are moving to spiritual...then a firm mindset might be the ticket.
An eternal soul might lean to thought and feeling that seems unmovable.

underthesun said:

Why must this woman be 'fooling herself' about being happy? Can she not actually be happy? I'm curious as to what you mean about this 'perspective of truth and life'... what are your criterion? And why should these criterion, not identified by her, be the judge of whether or not she is happy?

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Real happiness stays with a person. Happiness that is created by the person by self hypnosis is fleeting. Change in a person's life is able to take it away.

By the way, I am not talking about a particular person. This is a debate forum not "Dear Abby". Haha

savagewind said:

Real happiness stays with a person. Happiness that is created by the person by self hypnosis is fleeting. Change in a person's life is able to take it away.

By the way, I am not talking about a particular person. This is a debate forum not "Dear Abby". Haha

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Oh, don't worry! I knew you weren't talking about a particular person, but constantly writing he/she gets tiresome, so since you said 'herself' I just went along with the female theme. I'll go back to the 'one' 'person' 'his or her' thing now, if you'd prefer.

I just don't understand why it must be 'self hypnosis'. Can a person not decide that he or she is happy? And how long must this happiness stay for it to be considered 'real'? Can someone not be truly happy for a period of time before a death in the family or something else brings them down from that, or were they never truly happy, then?

I'm curious as to what you mean about this 'perspective of truth and life

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Truth means what is real and life is the force which sustains realness. Put truth and life together to stick together without breaking and what you have is legitamacy.

Because I am Christian I believe happiness without truth and life is not real.

underthesun said:

Oh, don't worry! I knew you weren't talking about a particular person, but constantly writing he/she gets tiresome, so since you said 'herself' I just went along with the female theme. I'll go back to the 'one' 'person' 'his or her' thing now, if you'd prefer.

I just don't understand why it must be 'self hypnosis'. Can a person not decide that he or she is happy? And how long must this happiness stay for it to be considered 'real'? Can someone not be truly happy for a period of time before a death in the family or something else brings them down from that, or were they never truly happy, then?

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We have a different definition of happiness. I am talking about the happiness that satisfies life. I am not talking about gladness vs sadness.

Glad is a feeling. Happiness is NOT a feeling. It's a way of life.

savagewind said:

When a person is happy with his or her situation why would he or she welcome change? If it should change there is no guarantee the person would still be happy.

Conservatism is about resisting change. Do you think all conservatives are unhappy? Becuase if they were happy they would NOT be conservatives. Huh?

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You have no choice change comes everyday. Yes you can decide not to change certain things in your life, like your religion but you may get sick tomorrow, you boiler may break, you may lose your job. You can't stop change.

Conservatives that refuse to accept change are unhappy, yes. We are talking about natural change that you can't control.

savagewind said:

We have a different definition of happiness. I am talking about the happiness that satisfies life. I am not talking about gladness vs sadness.

Glad is a feeling. Happiness is NOT a feeling. It's a way of life.

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Happiness is a mind set, not a feeling or a way of life. You choose to be happy no matter your circumstances.

Poor people can be very happy with there life and yet Rich people don't understand it.

Conservatives and Liberals can be very happy with their lives and not understand how the others could possibly be happy.

You have to choose to be happy every day with every circumstance. If I trip and fall I am not sad, I am happy I fell. Your happiness is not something another person can understand.

The topic of the thread is not change so much or happiness. It is about the difference between expecting change that is from a human perspective, to come from above, and the kind of change that is from Heaven's perspective, that is come from us humans.

See?

I suppose I can draw a picture. It isn't easy though.

People waiting for change, their kind of change, that will be decided from ABOVE is one kind of outlook.

That kind of outlook discourages the other outlook, the kind that has real power, which is change happens from within.

Most people will agree change that happens within a person is the kind that matters. OK. Now imagine change that happens within human society.

Do you see the difference? One is within but the other one is without (outside).

Can a person live for both? Is a person able to hand over change to his god but also work for change from within society? If it was a question on a test I would have to choose 'no'. It can't be done.

Of course I am talking about absolutes. I believe it is possible to foster change with God's blessing. But whenever you will hand over the future of Earth to God Himself then is it also possible to foster your own change? How please?

I see they are happy to believe God will make the changes for them that will prove their happiness. Is their happiness waiting to be happy?

savagewind said:

They are happy by self hypnosis. Their happiness isn't real. Because it is not real anything can disturb it. It is building houses on the sand.

You are a Bible reader? No?

What about those ones prophesied who say "Lord, Lord!!!" and he says "I never knew you". Do you say those ones are happy, even now? That is a cruel lord who would rip away a person's happiness. Don't you think?

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I don't believe God ever intended people to be happy but he does intend for people to be joyfull. Then the Apostle Paul can say count it all joy when you suffer afflictions for Jesus sake.

I don't believe it is cruelty to punish the wicked but simply justice. It would be cruel for Him to punish someone who doesn't deserve it like Job but that was the devil's doing not God and I believe the devil loves to be cruel.

4consideration said:

I agree with this. Typically I see happiness different than joyfulness. Being happy is usually in terms with a situation, or set of circumstances --like having obtained a desired result.


I disagree that conservatism is about resisting change. People who hold conservative views may resist change, but the term conservative more specifically applies to the protection of something one sees as valuable, IMO. What a person is conservative about may vary greatly from person to person -- or there may be many in a group that apply a conservative perspective to the same situation, in the same way.

IMO, people that are conservative may not be inhibited by that conservatism regarding change, if they apply it in a situation in which they can support change that also recognizes and includes protection for that which they see as valuable.

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I agree. Liberals will be conservative about Obama care but Conservatives will want to change it or get rid of it.

savagewind said:

We have a different definition of happiness. I am talking about the happiness that satisfies life. I am not talking about gladness vs sadness.

Glad is a feeling. Happiness is NOT a feeling. It's a way of life.

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I beieve I am sad when I finish a book but happy to start a new one. Some books just make me happy so I read them again and again but they still are different over time because my perspective on them is not new.

I believe being glad is just a rush of happiness and happiness is a feeling also.

I don't believe God ever intended people to be happy

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Interesting. Some Bibles say "blessed are". The NWT says "happy are". That is the kind of happy I am talking about. Matthew 5:3-12

I don't believe it is cruelty to punish the wicked but simply justice. It would be cruel for Him to punish someone who doesn't deserve it like Job but that was the devil's doing not God and I believe the devil loves to be cruel.

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I agree. But I said the punishment should not be that the Lord takes away a person's happiness as I believe true happiness is one of the 'good and perfect gifts from above". James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.