just something i've been wondering? is it even possibly to be truly happy, or is life just a never ending cycle of pursuing true happiness that may or may not exist? is everyone always going to be jealous of someone else, when the person they're jealous of isnt even truly happy themself? agh
It is possible. Dunno how long it lasts for, but I've had several month stretches when I'm super happy and content with life.
It's definitely possible. I would say that I am happy. Don't get me wrong. I still have moments when things definitely disrupt the serenity, but for the most part definitely happy. I think the trick, rather than the big stuff, is to surround yourself with small things that make you happy, and then actually notice them.
Maybe the act of pursuing happiness is what makes you happy, like it's about the journey not the destination. That's my thoughts anyway, if you disagree feel free to ignore me.
I think happiness is an unrealistic expectations I used to wish for happiness but being content is a better goal.
Depends. What is happiness? : P But, details and jokes aside, I think complete happiness is impossible, but I dont think you need to be 100% happy all the time to be fulfilled.
Pursuing happiness is futile. Happiness ensues from the struggles that life puts us through: from the satisfaction of doing something with skill and attention, through love, through learning and living with integrity...all the good, quality, stuff that we do which in the end may lead to the happenstance of happiness, there are no guarantees, but you can increase the chances of it. We humans are extraordinarily complicated. One of the things to watch out for is "hedonic adaptation", which is to say: those of us who actually achieve our dreams of wealth, or love, or whatever, very often fall into complacency, we adapt to the new situation, we often take it for granted. The stoics and the rabbis of old insisted that those who are wealthy are those who are satisfied with what they already have. The stoics in particular have an antidote to hedonic adaptation, which is to engage often in imagining that all that they have already could be lost in an instant, whether it be a job, or wealth, peace, or health. It is not a morbid exercise to imagine the worst, it is actually a way to appreciate what one has, and to set it in its proper place, which is secondary. Stoics frequently engage in being uncomfortable. To them, comfort is the enemy of happiness. They would often go outside with less than warm clothing, or walk instead of ride, or do a lot of other unpleasant things even though they could do them more easily...just so they can remember how to handle the inevitable difficulties in life. At the same time, by doing these difficult or uncomfortable things, they realize that they are stronger than they thought they were and that their happiness ultimately does not depend on anything outside of themselves...
Aside from tragedy, which can strike at any time, one thing that makes me unhappy is when I meet someone who I feel good around, and I want to make them happy, but it turns out I'm not the person they want to pursue happiness with. So rejection is something that makes me very unhappy. I've experienced rejection when it comes to pursuing relationships, even if I'm only desiring friendship. Fortunately, I'm not experiencing rejection when it comes to work. I'm in a steady job and have good hours and my team relies on me a great deal. I've even been offered promotions, which I've rejected, because I'm quite happy in my position work-wise. There are people out there who are struggling just to get a job and get tons of rejections nearly every day. I've been there, and I'm glad I'm not in that position now.
Echoing what most people have said, I don't think that you can be 100% happy in life because it's unrealistic. But you can have happiness most of the time that comes from surrounding yourself with and doing things that make you happy.