Is happiness good for you?

A recent UNICEF report says that Dutch children are the happiest in the developed world, and British children the unhappiest. In short, in Holland, children are brought up to be happy, in the UK, to be full of angst. But is this good or bad?

It's easy to say happiness is the right route, but if it weren't for angst, many of the greatest songs, books, plays etc would never have been written, or wouldn't have been as good. The enduring popularity of British rock bands is a testament to how the wheels of creativity and art are oiled by negative emotions. So is happiness really all it's cracked up to be?

These BBC reports contrast the Dutch way and the British way of raising children.

I think its important to have and use all emotions in certain ways...and not to bottle them up because when you finally "realece the pinch on the hose" the emotion runs wild

Ah.. someone told me about that report XD
It's not that I'm one of the happiest persons in the Netherlands.. in fact, I don't notice other "happy" ppl around here as well.. but I guess you can say that the Dutchies aren't the most unhappy ppl.. if you know what I mean...

Well,happiness and angst are both vital for human beings.Those who have both is those we called HUMAN.It's natural for people to be angry or to be happy.And of course,anger could hardly last forever,much the same with happiness.

First of all,we should understand what's happiness is.So then what is it?Is having no pressure from your parents to do well in your study can be called happiness?Is having pressure for having sex at certain age then should be called unhappiness?I guess many of us have already know,that happiness itself is a very subjective thing.It could easily differ from a person to the other.But really,those who could defined what happiness means for us is none other than ourselves.And since HUMAN is beings who easily forget,sometimes a things that bring happiness to him could easily become a thing that bring hatred and pain.So,we could easily changed our definition of happiness anytime,it's really up to us how we see things.

This poll hat the Unicef is having might as well not really reliable. We know that there's no way they could ask for every childrens in a country for this,much less having the most honest answer.They're just doing some deduction and conclusion after having some figure from a few correspondent(this might range to thousands of people...but it's still a small figure comparing to the actual inhabitants of a country... ).But really,if someone were to ask whether you're happy or not would you be able to give one out confidently?.....and of course,do you think you will answer to how you currently feel or an overall answer after reviewing your life up to the time?Most people couldn't do so....usually our judgement were made based on the present,how we felt at the time.

Like I said,both happiness and anger were vital to a HUMAN life.And both didn't sustained as they were first looks like to us for all eternity.But of course out of the two,we seek out happiness,not the other way around,though the happiness we seek out may seems pointless to others,or even hurt the others.So,in the process of seeking our happiness,we might as well encounters anger itself,and be clouded in it.But once the moment of anger dispersed with the flow of time,we would again stand back and once again seek for our happiness.And anger is not the only one that will encounter during these 'journeys' of ours.Dissapointment,sadness,joy,hatred and much more.All pf this are our obstacles for our 'journeys' of seeking happiness,and can hardly be avoided.

But how we dealt with those emotion is one of the important parts of our 'journeys' as it would determine whether we could achieve the goal or not.Some could be drowned long in their emotions and lose sight of their goal,and some would quickly leave the 'obstacles' and keep going forward.But what would happened even when we have reached the 'goal'?We would set another one of course.And then we depart for our 'journey' yet again,and stumbled upon those various emotions again,and this cycle would keep repeating over and over again until we've reached our 'ultimate' goal in life,'death'....itself.And don't forget,we could meet things we defined as happiness too during our 'journeys' for seeking happiness,though maybe the happiness we stumbled upon may not one that we have seek out before,or something we've worked for.It maybe pure coincidential that we walk into it...or it maybe brought by others.This applies to other emotions too.

Ultimately for me,the main things we're should concerned about is how to deal properly with our emotions.Of course,happiness is the best ,but the other emotions couldn't be avoided(even if want to) as long as we're one that is called HUMAN.But of course,it's not an easy thing to do.I'm just the same with others. But if we could just kept all of our memories and experiences,of how we felt when we're happy,how we felt when we're angry,sad or hurt,then maybe it would be easier to keep in track.But like I said,we HUMAN could easily forget,but we're not alone in this world right?Others could remind and help us if we've forget or lost,and we could do the same to others.Ah..... ....wait a sec....I think I've said something that I myself have failed to do.... ....gomen minna....

I'm quite lost at words now....better stop here and updated this in the future.....

Sorry for babbling nonsense here Hiroyuki-san!
Good Day then

Everyone seeks happiness.. It is the one thing that makes life worth living to most people.. People would even kill to obtain happiness.. Happiness comes in all shapes and forms.. Whether it be money, video games, friends, drugs, alchohol, sex, or power; for an individual, happiness is worth it all.. I believe that too much happiness won't cause any harm to the individual being happy, but the price for it might be a lot; either paid by the individual or people around him..

happiness? never in my life has my mother taught me to be happy. oh, it's drama, drama, drama all the time in my family. my fater never change, my mum never does either. once I'm set free at 16 with driver's license and cash, I'll look for happiness. hopefully It'll happen fast. but BEWARE sometimes happiness can fool you

I believe it is human nature to be unhappy, or better to say dissatisfied with life? It keeps the motor of humanity going. We always want what we dont have and once we achieve what we wanted, we are temporarily happy, but not for long.

I think for most ppl it is in fact very healthy to clinge to dreams that cannot be achieved. Just imagine how horrible it must be, if you by some miracle achieved your ultimate dream and you find out it doesnt really make you happy and that there is nothing more, nothing better to achieve. That must cause the greatest depressions of all. A lot of celebrities show us, that to reach the limits of what a human being can achieve has in fact a very negative influence. Blessed with money, popularity and god knows what else, these ppl end up on drugs, alcohol or they embark on some other path to self destruction. We all dream of becoming disgustingly rich or pupular, but would that really make us happy?

I believe that if there is happiness out there, it is probably hidden in everyday moments and we are blind to it. Sometimes when I feel blue I think a lot about sence in life and I conclude how lucky I am. I am young, I am healthy, I am intelligent, there is so much I can do out of my life. No need to feel blue, compared to other ppl I am pretty fortunate. And sometimes when I wake up in the morning and the sun is shining into my room, saying: wake up warita, a new day started.... thats where I think I am happy.

That's funny Warita the sun says things to me in the morning too or more like sings: wake up you sleepy head wake up get out of bed in a nice little jovial tune...but I'm not a morning person so I follow it up with plenty of expletives.

So that leads me to angst. Yeah in the mornings I'm piss full of angst. I really just don't want to be bothered. I don't wanna go to class. I don't wanna open at work. I don't want to do anything but piss and moan. Well other than sample a nice cup of delicious green tea I mean come on that's some tastey stuff. Now yes I am fully aware that it a bad outlook just a negative way to start the day. I really just can't put my finger on it but is rare for me to be happy in the mornings I can only think of a few reasons and obvious ones that i would be, but like I stated they are few.

So working my way back to the topic. Happiness is something i strive for. Well I can't honestly say that i go out of my way and make a concerted effort to achieve it on a daily basis but I certainly want it. I want to be content, I want love, I want my toast to be jellied in the mornings, i want eggs scrambled or over easy at the breakfast table with the newspaper already flipped to the sports page, I would prefer my anime downloaded and organized in a easy to find folder when I am ready to watch them, maybe a nice bubble bath and a comfortable robe laid out possibly a cigar during or afterwards *though i don't smoke right now but who knows* with a nice bath you might want something like that late at night, Throw in some of your basic manly needs that a women could provide, maybe wearing a little sexy number I don't know something to set a nice atmosphere wouldn't hurt, yeah you know just simple things like that.

hahahahahahha, sempai kun, your description of happiness sounds like you want to be married with a victorian style woman, hihihihihi

But yeah, i know what you mean. Appreciate the little things in life. (PS: I am not a morning person either) For me life quality means: good food, plenty of sleep and soft toilet paper.

You are way right Warita about the soft toilet paper I mean I can't roll with anything but charmin or angel soft. They are like magic pieces of soft fluffy paper. Now that you mention it I wouldn't have really thought so but maybe you are right about the whole marriage thing. I'm not sure what you mean by *Victorian* style but it sounds nice & kinda sexy too. Maybe marriage would make me happy I think i will get on that starting tomorrow. Put it on my list of things to do along with getting some more toilet tissue at the grocery store . This epiphany could be the beginning of some serious happy good good.

If you were all the time happy or all the time sad or angry or something you wouldn't really be human. happiness or angst or whatever you felt all the time wouldn't be a feeling. if it was there all the time it would be you. I think the definition of 'humanity' is having feelings that often change. (correct me if you think I'm totally wrong )

and i agree about great art and music being from depression plus happy people won't want to listen to sad music or vice-versa. what if in the future there was the happy and the sad like different races that hated each other.

I think that all amotions are good. If you feel something, then you are still alive. And that's good.

jacotyco hmm a happy or sad race. I guess in theory that is not out of the question. You already have a rise of emos nowadays and they like their seclusion and angst. They don't neccessarily fit in to your popular or hmm another term generally easy going types or i guess just those who seek *happiness* would work as well.

The possibility of them forming together against each other would seem far fetched but who knows how the world will be 50 or 100 yrs. from now and could it get to the extreme that you are always emo or always happy? A hard concept to believe could happen but...

Happiness.....is a gift. The moments I have spent being happy are moments of sheer contentment. I see the world and all of her inhabitants, in a different light. I am filled with hope and the desire to see everyone reconciled...I am aware at the same time, however, that evil does exist in the world and that some wish to control others....Now, too much happiness can lead to some very unorthodox behavior ...kissing the one you love in the oddest of places, shouting a really loud, obnoxious, hello to a friend, honking your horn at your nieces while they are walking out of class, in High School of all places ......this is what happiness does, to me anyway. Big hugs and smoochies all around, as I am feeling really happy this morning.

Believe it or not, I'm taking a minority opinion on this. XD

I like happiness. I really do. I love happiness and I want to be happy some day. But a problem that I see is that happiness leads to complacency, and that can lead to some very bad things.

Some good things about angst is that it is a realize that life isn't perfect, which is halfway a good thing. Its the willpower to work toward a better place from that realization that true strength lies.

So, from that point of view, I think that angst can actually be the better place to be.

Happiness is awsome!. Why because i get it from my girlfriend. And since my girlfriend is a companion and companions are good for you. i guess happiness is good for you 100%

QUOTE (Clowd @ Mar 11 2007, 10:46 PM) Happiness is awsome!. Why because i get it from my girlfriend. And since my girlfriend is a companion and companions are good for you. i guess happiness is good for you 100%
Sometimes I hate being analytical, but lets take a look at this.
You get happiness from your girlfriend. So you're saying happiness comes from without instead of within. Therefore, if your girlfriend was yanked away, so all of your happiness would go away. That's an awfully fragile happiness. I'm not sure I would be content with that sort of happiness.

@Darkvein, I agree with your assessment of happiness. I believe it comes from within...one cannot look to another for happiness, it never works. Now, they can compliment the happiness you may already have, they can even make you happier, but a person alone, can never make one happy. They just can't be the source of it, they are limited and there are no guarantees that they will always be there....I speak from experience.....giving and taking happiness.
@Clowd....may your happiness be true and everlasting.

Also I think happiness is 100% good for people!

I hate when people are showing sad faces or are looking angry...

I'm myself almost all the time (most of the time ) happy!!

In my class people say im too happy always...

This is what I don't know: Is it good to be too happy and how can you say that some people are too happy??

Of course happiness is good for you, but I don't think it's possible to be happy all the time. To answer Mokkun's question, can some people be too happy? Well, I suppose they can seem to be too happy. I had a friend once, who seemed to be happy all the time, but as I got to know her better, I learned that was just a front she puts up to please others, in hopes that they will like her.

Like Hiroyuki said, some of the best art was created when the artists were down in the dumps. Feeling sad sometimes is important too. You can grow a lot from being sad, about yourself and the world around you. And, if you have some sad experiences, you can really appreciate it when you're happy.
All in all, I think a balance between all emotions is best. Which is really obvious, but I thought I'd say it anyway