The 3 Laws of Human Happiness

Discussion in 'General Philosophy' started by Magical Realist, Aug 22, 2014.

  1. Magical Realist Valued Senior Member

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    Well? What are they?

    Bertrand Russell said to be kind and to have a broad range of interests. To that I might add the Wiccan law, "Do what thou wilt, but harm no one."

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  3. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    Many people have different ways of being happy. Happiness can and will change over time. I was very happy owning my first car and that lasted for over 2 years.
     
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  5. Sarkus Hippomonstrosesquippedalo phobe Valued Senior Member

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    Not sure I agree with the OP, as I think happiness comes from within, not without.
    My first and overriding rule would be to know and accept oneself.

    If you don't know who you truly are then you you live a lie, whether it be a small one or a whopping one. But eventually the pressure of living the lie takes its toll.
    Once you know who you are, happiness comes only once you have accepted it, even if at the same time you resolve to change because you don't necessarily like it.

    Being kind and having a wide range of interests are secondary, and only in as much as they speak to who you might be. In fact I would say that being kind comes from being happy through knowing and accepting oneself: it is a symptom of happiness rather than a cause.

    But some of the happiest people I know have just one interest which they know and accept defines them.
     
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  7. C C Consular Corps - "the backbone of diplomacy" Valued Senior Member

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    "The essentials to happiness are something to love, something to do, and something to hope for." --William Blake
     
  8. krash661 [MK6] transitioning scifi to reality Valued Senior Member

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    in the sense of humanity in general,
    remove
    expectations
    and sexual desire.
    but that's only two.

    there's also einsteins comment,
    " if you want to live a happy life,
    tie it to a goal,not to people or objects. "

    plus a couple more.
     
  9. Captain Kremmen All aboard, me Hearties! Valued Senior Member

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    Isn't that simplistic?
    Most things we do benefit some people and disadvantage others.
    If what you do gains an advantage for yourself, it probably does someone harm.
    The Wiccan rule may lead only to right actions, but it would disallow most.
    How would you use the Wiccan rule to solve a conflict between two individuals?
     
  10. scheherazade Northern Horse Whisperer Valued Senior Member

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    While a mediator can offer suggestions from an overview of both positions, the conflict can really only be resolved by the parties involved, in my experience. The benefits and the detractors must be balanced and shared by both or a trade-off agreed to, present or future.

    Still interested in how a Wiccan would arrive at the solution.

    I am merely a lone practitioner Druid.

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  11. Sarkus Hippomonstrosesquippedalo phobe Valued Senior Member

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    If you remove expectation, do you not remove drive and the happiness extracted from such?
    Taken to a logical conclusion, removing expectation would mean that we could not rely on anyone doing anything. And is that not an anarchic situation?
    So I'm not sure I agree with removing expectations per se.
    Maybe with having realistic and mutually agreed expectations, though.

    Not sure I concur with this either as an absolute, although I can understand it being his opinion of how he sees his happiness - i.e. being tied to goals etc.
     
  12. Dywyddyr Penguinaciously duckalicious. Valued Senior Member

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    They smack you round the head with a sprig of mistletoe until you see their point of view.
     
  13. Captain Kremmen All aboard, me Hearties! Valued Senior Member

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    That's Druids not Wiccans.
    Wiccans light a candle at you, or say a spell to smack you round the head.

    1. To be kind.
    I'll accept that as the first rule.
    Is anything more needed?
     
    Last edited: Aug 23, 2014
  14. Magical Realist Valued Senior Member

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    I totally agree. Self-acceptance is so important towards being happy in life. Seems we spend half our lives trying to be something we're not--something we've been told we should be or else have mistaken to be who we are. Then one day it just sort of dawns on us to just relax--you are who you are already, flawed and unspectacular though you may be. A certain humility yes, but also a tremendous attitude of self-forgiveness and of not being so hard on oneself, with the added perk of learning to unconditionally love others too.

    Sometimes our interest defines us so specifically that we are vested in it, obsessed with that subject so much because that is the kind of person we see ourselves being. Interests should come and go naturally, one day finding this worth exploring, and the next day finding that noteworthy. I've found that the more eggs I put in one basket the closer I get to a sort of manic isolated disjointedness. Then I need to reground myself and come back to the rich diversity and spontaneity of the Real.
     
    Last edited: Aug 23, 2014
  15. kx000 Valued Senior Member

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    Happiness is like the most broad consuming force there is. It's what concious life is for. I guess contemptment is key, but you have to be strong enough to shoot for the stars with it because the truth is satisfaction can speak for a lot of great things if you let it. How doing is very important. Self is a virtue. And knowing is very blissful.
     
    Last edited: Aug 23, 2014
  16. Magical Realist Valued Senior Member

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    If I were a Wiccan, I'd probably use a spell or a ritual to resolve conflict. The second part of that "Do what thou wilt" law is that everything you do will come back to you threefold. That's a strong incentive to be giving and compassionate. And also remember, the choice to give up a pleasure for someone else is STILL doing what thou wilt. You choose to please yourself or please others. But that is still all up to you.
     
  17. krash661 [MK6] transitioning scifi to reality Valued Senior Member

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    deleted post
     
  18. paddoboy Valued Senior Member

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    [1] Maintain plenty of good friends.......
    [2] Be positive in your outlook on life......
    [3] Keep striving to achieve a goal.......

    In saying all that, death of a close friend or relative will naturally be a hiccup, so quickly realising that death is just a part of life and is going to happen to everything that is living, will lead to its acceptance and back to the road of happiness again..
     
  19. Captain Kremmen All aboard, me Hearties! Valued Senior Member

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    If I were a Wiccan, I'd..................
     
  20. sculptor Valued Senior Member

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    Are wiccans essentially matriarchal?

    .............................
    Can we separate "happiness" from it's component parts?

    Can we separate "want" from "need"?

    Some folks seem to want to be happy. Is being happy a "need"? Do you need to "be happy"?

    If you want to be happy, does that unsatisfied "want" preclude happiness?
     
  21. Locust Registered Member

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    Sadly in todays world being kind is linked with stupidity and weakness. Social darwinsim and only the stronger survive. Broad range of interests also put you from over here to over there and back to here, then you ask yourself where do I belong. Its easy to get lost. Harm no one is good. Jesus said that. Socrates. Karma and all. But then again you must show teeths from time to time in order to survive. To me Russell have had utopian view.
     
  22. Magical Realist Valued Senior Member

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    Being kind means you are free from grudges and anger and hostility and guilt. You see all people as honorable persons. It's like streamlining your psyche of all trivial baggage. A broad range of interests does NOT lose you. It gives you the freedom and leeway to find meaning anywhere and in anything. And since knowledge is power, the more you are interested in the more you will know. The "do what you thou wilt" is common sense sadly lost in an age of living by other people's expectations. It's ok to not conform and just do what you want. Only the weak have to bare their fangs to get what they want.
     
  23. Waiter_2001 Registered Senior Member

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    Isn't the meaning of "happiness" simply that which happens: happen-iness?
     

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