Do your beliefs make you happy?

[Truthseeker]

The GriefShare group in NE Texas SUCKS! I haven't tried the one here in SW Ohio though. It may be better. It might be time for you to move, who knows?

Where is SW Ohio? I live in Kettering, Ohio, a suburb of Dayton, Ohio.

This is a little bit of a revelation to @Trailblazer about GriefShare.

 

[TagliatelliMonster]

What I am asking is whether you think that your religious or non-religious beliefs about God or gods are the ‘reason’ you are happy.

No. They don't make me unhappy either.
They just "are".

What determines my happiness are the things that go on in my life.

 

[1213]

Why then are some people's live so much more difficult than others?

I really don't know has someone really more difficult than others. It may look like that from outside, but if you don't read the minds, I think it is impossible to say that someone has more difficult life.

Recently I have changed my mind about how free we are when I realized just how limited I am in making choices different from the choices I am making now. I believe that free will is deterministic because the choices we make are 'determined' by a combination of factors such as childhood upbringing, heredity, education, adult experiences, and present life circumstances.

I don't think free will means you can choose anything freely. I think it means only that you can freely want anything.

 

[1213]

I knew a person who focused on the comical side (telling jokes, a lot of laughing...). Until her son (also very humorous) committed suicide... She couldn't see anything positive anymore.

Sad story, I hope she can get over it.

However, I don't mean that seeing comical side in everything means just telling jokes and a lot of laughing. And, I think it is also good to have wider understanding of matters than just the comical side of everything.

 

[Trailblazer]

I really don't know has someone really more difficult than others. It may look like that from outside, but if you don't read the minds, I think it is impossible to say that someone has more difficult life.

It is not impossible to know what kind of life people have. You can know if they tell you that their life is not that difficult. Otherwise you are only observing from the outside.

It is readily apparent that some people have an easier life than other people. For example, if people say they are enjoying their retirement and they are really happy, who am I to question them?

I don't think free will means you can choose anything freely. I think it means only that you can freely want anything.

What good does it do to want something you cannot have? I want lots of things I will probably never have.

 

[IndigoChild5559]

What I am asking is whether you think that your religious or non-religious beliefs about God or gods are the ‘reason’ you are happy.

I am not sure if happy is the right word.

My religion, Judaism, is far more concerned with actions than beliefs. I would say that being an ethical person gives me a deep, abiding sense of wellness and meaning that transcends my fluctuations of emotions.

 

[Trailblazer]

I am not sure if happy is the right word.

I used that word on purpose because some religious people, particularly Baha'is, think we 'should be happy' all the time no matter what is going on in our lives just because we have God and our religion, so I wanted to see how many people here concur with that. I came to find out by the responses on this thread that not many people concur because a religious belief in and of it self does not make most people happy.

My religion, Judaism, is far more concerned with actions than beliefs. I would say that being an ethical person gives me a deep, abiding sense of wellness and meaning that transcends my fluctuations of emotions.

It is the same for me. Happiness comes and goes but a sense of what is right and acting on it is with me always.
It might not make me happy all the time but it gives me a sense of satisfaction.

 

[1213]

It is not impossible to know what kind of life people have. You can know if they tell you that their life is not that difficult. Otherwise you are only observing from the outside.

It is readily apparent that some people have an easier life than other people. For example, if people say they are enjoying their retirement and they are really happy, who am I to question them?

Some people see things differently and even if they would have issues, they would not see them as big problems. They may have issues that someone else would take as big problems.

What good does it do to want something you cannot have? I want lots of things I will probably never have.

Maybe it is not useful, but that is what I think free will means.

 

[Trailblazer]

Some people see things differently and even if they would have issues, they would not see them as big problems. They may have issues that someone else would take as big problems.

That is true, since we all view things differently. A person could even have my house and yard and not see it as a big problem, but I think most people would see it as an even bigger problem than I see it as.
The thing is that if the people who saw it as a problem had my bank account they would fix what is wrong so that is why it would not be a big problem for long.

Maybe it is not useful, but that is what I think free will means.

Yes, we are free to want things but we are not always free to do the things we want to do. I know that only tooooo well.

 

[bobhikes]

To validate means to prove that something is based on truth or fact, or is acceptable.
Only in the sense that we can prove our beliefs to ourselves can our beliefs be validated.

Validation I mean is personal not truthful. It could just be another person approving your stance, or actions. There are many ways people achieve validation truth and facts are only two of the many ways

 

[walt]

My friend,

I think love is important for happiness, but it does not have to be love for God or romantic love. It can be love for friends and family. In my case, it is love for my cats and other animals, since I only have online friends and I have no family or romantic interests.

I agree with you there are many things that can make a person happy. I can think of many things that would make me happy, but what if someone I love dies, am I happy? No! If I have all the things I could ever wish for right now, but I don't have the Father and his son Christ Jesus, nothing on earth could ever make me happy, there would always be a void I could never fill.

The happiness I am looking for is not here on earth now, it is the promise God makes for mankind. This is my lasting treasure!

That doesn't mean I am waiting for something to happen, to be extremely happy! I am already there.

 

[Kathryn]

Where is SW Ohio? I live in Kettering, Ohio, a suburb of Dayton, Ohio.

This is a little bit of a revelation to @Trailblazer about GriefShare.

OMG I live so close to you. I live in Xenia!

 

[Kathryn]

I really don't know has someone really more difficult than others. It may look like that from outside, but if you don't read the minds, I think it is impossible to say that someone has more difficult life.

Right. You know I think about this particular woman all the time. On the outside, she has it all - beautiful, well behaved kids, a handsome husband, she's cute as a button, and she lives in a very nice neighborhood. The reality though is that she has had one sort of cancer after another, and treatment for them, and that's why I wouldn't trade places with her for anything. Also, during the pandemic, she brought her sons home though she was going through another round of chemo. Get this - her husband had to work from home too. Well, they didn't have money problems per se, but she couldn't home school THREE BOYS who also needed THREE LAPTOPS AND THREE SPACES TO WORK. They were completely different ages and needs - she expected to be laying on the sofa recovering from the chemo she was going through, not homeschooling three boys of different ages and needs. Good grief!

 

[walt]

I feel the same way about the challenges facing me but I do not see it as a personal failing to NOT be able to maintain happiness since I am under no obligation to be happy. I will be happy when there is something to be happy about, not before.

Right now I'd be really happy just to have someone who can help me groom these cats. I have plenty of money but that does not help. Nobody wants to help me and I have made so many calls. So I am going to try to do what I can by myself although it is a dangerous proposition for a couple of them, for me and for them.

Give me any job to do, if I'm able I will help you. Small or big it doesn't matter. If I can help you in any way, I would love the opportunity.

 

[Truthseeker]

OMG I live so close to you. I live in Xenia!

I used to live in Xenia when I first moved into this area. From the fall of 1972 until about 1980. I lived there when the big tornado of April 3, 1974 occured that took a swath of destruction though Xenia. The tornado missed our residence. I was living with my parents then.

 

[Kathryn]

I used to live in Xenia when I first moved into this area. From the fall of 1972 until about 1980. I lived there when the big tornado of April 3, 1974 occured that took a swath of destruction though Xenia. The tornado missed our residence. I was living with my parents then.

Gloodness! I actually moved from a part of Texas that has a lot of tornadoes and hail and all that - a higher risk than anywhere in Ohio that I know of, but still...that must have been traumatic to live through. I lived in Groveport and my brother lived in Darke County near Greenville for over 30 years! It's good to be back but it;s been the hardest move of my life, and I've moved a lot as a military brat and then wife.

 

[Trailblazer]

Give me any job to do, if I'm able I will help you. Small or big it doesn't matter. If I can help you in any way, I would love the opportunity.

Thanks, but you cannot help me since you are not here.
The same applies to God.
God is not going to come and help me with the cats and my house and neither is anyone else.

 

[walt]

Thanks, but you cannot help me since you are not here.
The same applies to God.
God is not going to come and help me with the cats and my house and neither is anyone else.

I could buy anything and have it sent to your home. I could buy something for your cats?

 

[Dawnofhope]

What I am asking is whether you think that your religious or non-religious beliefs about God or gods are the ‘reason’ you are happy. I highly doubt that is the reason people are happy, although they might tell themselves that. If that is the reason they were happy they would not need enjoyable foods, alcohol, sex, traveling, etc., in order to be happy, but I think most people do need those things to be happy.

I think love is important for happiness, but it does not have to be love for God or romantic love. It can be love for friends and family. In my case, it is love for my cats and other animals, since I only have online friends and I have no family or romantic interests. Would I be happier if I had a boyfriend or a husband? I don’t know, but that is a moot point, since men do not date women like me who won’t have sex out of wedlock.

I think certain religious people believe we ‘should be happy’ just because we have our religious beliefs. This pertains mostly to Baha’is, but I think it also pertains to Christians. I don’t know what the other religions teach about happiness. I am sick to death of the expectation of Baha’is that I ‘should be happy’ just because I am a Baha’i. These people are clueless about my life situation and they do not care about it. They are like robots, fully indoctrinated by their religious teachings that tell them that we ‘should be happy' because we have God, no matter what life throws our way.

As for Christians, are you happy because you believe you are saved and forgiven by the blood of Jesus, and because you believe that Jesus/God loves you? That might be one reason you are happy but I doubt you would still be happy if you had a very difficult life situation or if you had clinical depression or debilitating anxiety.

Its a great question and not a straight forward one to answer.

In the first instance it is for each of us to read the reality of our own lives and decides what works and what doesn't. What works for one person may be completely unworkable for another.

Some people have a naturally happier nature, others not so much. Genetics and the way we are raised both have an enormous affect on our personality according to scientific research.

From personal experience some decisions I have made in life have had a significant affect on my well being and happiness. I've often found religion can be a helpful guide to navigating challenges in life and staying on the straight and narrow. So in that sense the Baha'i Faith and Christianity have been helpful for me personally, but it is not a one size fits all.

 

[Trailblazer]

I could buy anything and have it sent to your home. I could buy something for your cats?

Thanks, but I don't need anyone to buy me anything since I have more money than I know what to do with.
Unfortunately, money cannot fix the problems that I have. Someone being here might help, but nobody would want to be here.