Do your beliefs make you happy?

[Trailblazer]

I didn't know that about you or widows in general.

I learned that in the GriefShare group at the church last year, but it does not apply to every widow since some widows sell their homes and buy another home.
Now that @Kathryn said what she did I am thinking about the possibility of moving, but I probably won't, just something to think about.

 

[Truthseeker]

That was my point. He was not thinking about how that would make unhappy people feel.

You said: I think we both know who the Baha'is are who believe that all we need is God and the Baha'i Faith to be happy. Apparently, that is what Abdu'l-Baha was thinking when he said "be happy.". I don't think so. I'm not talking about the supposed insensitivity this time.

 

[Trailblazer]

You said: I think we both know who the Baha'is are who believe that all we need is God and the Baha'i Faith to be happy. Apparently, that is what Abdu'l-Baha was thinking when he said "be happy.". I don't think so. I'm not talking about the supposed insensitivity this time.

Then what do you think that Abdu'l-Baha was thinking when he said "be happy"?

 

[Truthseeker]

Things I need to know but don't necessarily want to know, but it is better to know than not to know.

It is hard to make adjustments to your feelings if you are ignorant of what those feelings are.

 

[Truthseeker]

Then what do you think that Abdu'l-Baha was thinking when he said "be happy"?

I don't have an example readily at hand but I don't think He said that to Baha'is only. I do believe He said that to Howard Colby Ives, who was not a Baha'i at the time.

 

[Truthseeker]

I learned that in the GriefShare group at the church last year, but it does not apply to every widow since some widows sell their homes and buy another home.
Now that @Kathryn said what she did I am thinking about the possibility of moving, but I probably won't, just something to think about.

Yes, I have seen a number of people tonight that obviously have helped you in your journey, if understanding what you going through, if nothing else. It was a good idea for you to start this thread. It is bearing fruit. They understand better than I can. I've even seen a person @epilepsy-matters post helpfully in this thread 16 minutes after he first got here.

 

[Spice]

I learned that in the GriefShare group at the church last year, but it does not apply to every widow since some widows sell their homes and buy another home.
Now that @Kathryn said what she did I am thinking about the possibility of moving, but I probably won't, just something to think about.

I don't know about the widow part, but I do know moving can be motivational and refreshing.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Baha'is are highly encouraged to marry and have children, but it is not a requirement under Baha'i Law.
There is no obligation for a man to provide sexual happiness to a woman. Why should that be the man's obligation, just because he has certain equipment? Hopefully you can do the math so I will say no more.

I know all that without needing the advice of any divine messenger.
It is a requirement under Hindu law. Those who do not have children of their own can adopt.
Again, that is an obligation in Hinduism. If the husband will not provide that, then who else? It is a collaborative action, both parties find fulfillment, not just the man. Women have their own equipment which is equally necessary.
Like I mentioned in my post #76 on Hindu marriage vows: "I shall be the Sukhilam. you the Holder; Together we shall live and beget children, and other riches."

 

[Trailblazer]

It is hard to make adjustments to your feelings if you are ignorant of what those feelings are.

Of course. the first step is to be aware of my feelings since I cannot do anything about what I am unaware of, but I have been aware of a lot of feelings I have and still have not been able to change them.

Awareness is no guarantee of a resolution. For example, I have been aware of how I feel about God ad the Baha'i Faith for a very long time, but that has not changed my feelings.

 

[Trailblazer]

I don't have an example readily at hand but I don't think He said that to Baha'is only. I do believe He said that to Howard Colby Ives, who was not a Baha'i at the time.

Yes, he probably said it to everyone.
I still think that was insensitive. I do not have the quote handy but I remember how that made people cry and they were hurt.

 

[Trailblazer]

Yes, I have seen a number of people tonight that obviously have helped you in your journey, if understanding what you going through, if nothing else. It was a good idea for you to start this thread. It is bearing fruit. They understand better than I can. I've even seen a person @epilepsy-matters post helpfully in this thread 16 minutes after he first got here.

The idea to start this thread just came to me suddenly when I woke up yesterday. I really wondered if beliefs make people happy and I wanted to know, and I found that out as well as finding out a lot of other useful things.

 

[Trailblazer]

I don't know about the widow part, but I do know moving can be motivational and refreshing.

I am still thinking about it and if nothing else it gives me hope for the future. I plan to discuss it in my counseling session next week.

If I did move I would want a setup similar to what I have now with an entirely separate living area in case I need a caregiver in the future. That would be a tall order to find that and the privacy and wooded lot I have now with no neighbors around me. I do have some neighbors up the long gravel road coming into my house and I really like them but they never come down to my house.

 

[Trailblazer]

I know all that without needing the advice of any divine messenger.

Those ideas did not come from any divine messenger, they were my own ideas.
Messengers of God don't generally waste their breath talking about anything as mundane as sex.

It is a requirement under Hindu law. Those who do not have children of their own can adopt.
Again, that is an obligation in Hinduism. If the husband will not provide that, then who else? It is a collaborative action, both parties find fulfillment, not just the man. Women have their own equipment which is equally necessary.
Like I mentioned in my post #76 on Hindu marriage vows: "I shall be the Sukhilam. you the Holder; Together we shall live and beget children, and other riches."

I agree with you about raising children although I don't think it should be a requirement, since not everyone is cut out for parenthood, especially if they did not have a healthy childhood, as as the case for me and my late husband.

There is much more to life than sexual fulfillment. That was important to me when I first got married but I was younger then.
When people get older and the equipment doesn't work anymore I think it is time to call it quits. That is nature's way of trying to tell them something, and it is not telling them to go to the doctor and get some ed drugs.

 

[PearlSeeker]

HAPPINESS - a poem by Tone Pavček
(a literal translation, the rhymes were lost)

Happiness always fraternises with sorrow.
Old books instruct us so.
Yet man never ceases to believe,
And happiness, like a star, he follows.

Thus, happiness lives its own special tale
Among things and among people,
Who listen to it like an old tale,
Not real, yet sweetly sounding.

But happiness is not in the head, nor in distance,
Neither in the pocket nor a pot of gold.
Happiness is when work is well done,
And if there's someone you love.

Then within you two happinesses burn.
Two suns in the heart. Two illuminants.
From them, a light around you is spread,
As you journey towards a star, to yourself, to the goal.

 

[Mock Turtle]

You make a good point with contentment vs. happiness. Happiness can only come in small measure of glimpses and glances, in my mind, because of the realities of this world. However, being fully engaged and doing for others, living to improve the realities of this world definitely hold a steady level of happiness better defined as contentment. It is the tangible hope of more glimpses and glances to come.

If events had been different for me at times I would likely agree, but some things seem to have intervened so as to make my life more complicated than I would like it to have been.

 

[1213]

If that is true, why wouldn't that mean that those who are less fortunate are less fortunate because of God? Does God play favorites?

I don't think God plays favorites.

There are many factors that can lead to depression but depression is not a choice.

I think the way one sees everything is a choice. And if one focuses on negative side of everything, he will likely become depressed. One can as well focus on comical side of everything and then life is much happier.

I do not choose to see life the way I see it, I just see it that way, and sometimes I get depressed over it.

Sorry to hear that.

 

[bobhikes]

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.

Validating your beliefs makes you happy, not the beliefs themselves.

 

[Truthseeker]

Of course. the first step is to be aware of my feelings since I cannot do anything about what I am unaware of, but I have been aware of a lot of feelings I have and still have not been able to change them.

Awareness is no guarantee of a resolution. For example, I have been aware of how I feel about God ad the Baha'i Faith for a very long time, but that has not changed my feelings.

Yes, I understand and concur.

 

[Truthseeker]

Yes, he probably said it to everyone.
I still think that was insensitive. I do not have the quote handy but I remember how that made people cry and they were hurt.

I don't recall any instance where people were hurt by that remark, at least reported in the literature. I think Abdu'l-Baha said that to people who revered him and looked up to him whether they were Baha'i or not., which for me is different than saying that to anybody. I can't prove that He only said that on those occasions. They can take that badly if they don't see Abdu'l-Baha as someone to revere. Our conversation has been useful to me. I wouldn't say that myself to people, since they don't revere me.

Naturally I want to believe that He wouldn't say something that would hurt people's feelings given what Baha'u'llah and Shoghi E ffendi said about Him. It would be repudiating my faith in the Baha'i Faith to me in a sense.

 

[Kathryn]

I learned that in the GriefShare group at the church last year, but it does not apply to every widow since some widows sell their homes and buy another home.
Now that @Kathryn said what she did I am thinking about the possibility of moving, but I probably won't, just something to think about.

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?