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Originally posted by Mantus
En contraire,
Air is easy to get. When you wake up in the morning do you feel happy at your first conscious inhalation? No. But go snorkeling and stay bellow water for a minute. When you come up air never tasted so sweet. Now trying having an astma attack. What euphoria you feel when the lungs are clear at last and you are able to take a deep breath.
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Having come close to drowning twice I know that feeling quite well but its really unrelated. I was very relieved to be back on dry land both times, and quite happy to be alive, but all it did was make me appreciate the air (and life) more, it did not change it.
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The two example of happiness mentioned above would have never happened if air did not become scarce. The person had to suffer in order to be happy. This happiness won’t last though. Air becomes a common substance once again and the novelty quickly wears off.
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Suffering only makes you appreciate it more, and remind you of why you should be happy, but it does not bring happiness in itself.
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You can give happiness. Haven’t you ever been happy for some one? Haven’t you ever been around a perky person and picked up their mood?
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No, I can't give you MY happiness. Maybe I can make someone happy, and in fact I do so almost every day in my work, but again its not a commodity. If I am happy, I can't transfer it directly to you. Maybe I can make you happy, but I could do the same even if I were unhappy by saying the same things.
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Now you say that you being happy doesn’t make my happiness worthless. That is wrong as well. Happiness may be just a byproduct but so is oxigen. Every human on this planet wants it and will do anything to make it happen. If you are happy I will envy you, I will want whatever it is that makes you happy and vice versa. If I am happy with my new car and find out that you have a better car my happiness will be diminished, because the value of the object which made me happy is lowered in my mind. If I am dating a girl and meet a more beautiful girl my happiness in the first relationship will diminish, this is why people break up, because they find some one better that will give them more happiness.
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Now this is shallow and petty. If you judge your happiness based on what others have you will always be miserable. Even if you reach great heights of wealth and power you will still be miserable. You will be filled with envy first at those richer and who have 'more' then you, and then at those who should be miserable by your definition but are somehow happier then you. Jealousy is a distructive emotion in the long run.
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Let me ask you this: what was that last thing that made you happy that came without a price?
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First thing? Who knows, I was most likely soiling my diapers still, smiling at my mother from a bassenet. Currently I'd say my wife is the best example and before someone says something about women being expensive, I'd say you haven't found a good relationship yet. But even if she were out of the picture the saddness over losing her would be temperary, and I could still be happy again.
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Any object you have you have only gave you happiness because you didn’t have it before. Most of those object you had to work hard for.
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Another thing that brings me a bit of joy is fishing. I love to fish. Fishing equpment does cost money I know, but its pretty minor. Monetary value alone doesn't bring happiness, otherwise I'd just love April 15th.
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You lover had to be won. The relationship has to be sustained and allot of commitment has to be put into it. Further more you are always in fear of loosing the one you love.
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True but also false. Winning my wife wasn't work, it was fun, and sustaining my relationship isn't a chore. Fear of loss is always there, but once you come to accept your mortality, it too can be beared.
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A warm summer day is only made beautiful because one has to work in the office for 40 hours a week.
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No, it will always be beautiful. Some may not recognize it, but such is their loss.
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A walk bearfoot on the beech is wonderful because the weather wont permit it for the other half of the year.
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The same as above. Also you should go to Hawaii.
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A quiet morning is only blissful because you have to be driving though rush hour in an hour.
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Nope again sorry.
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The first hot summer day brightens your mood because you just had to live though a bitter cold winter.
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It again might make you appreciated it more, but its still a nice day all by itself.
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The first big snowfall make you giddy because you just had to live though a hot summer.
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Nah, snow is fun.
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Everything comes at a price, the price is not always obvious but it’s always there. If happiness were as easy to get as air then you would not even know you had it. Like air and everything else the only way we can see the value of it is by feeling the lack of it.
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This reminds me of the villian at the end of some movie saying 'You need me! What is good without evil?'. This is of course a false argument. While having contrast will help you define something, lack of contrast doesn't diminish. Lets pretend everyone was happy. We would not be having this debate since there would be no need to. Happiness would just be what we are, but it doesn't diminish the happiness. I couldn't look at someone and think how lucky I was to be happy while that poor slob of miserable, but that wouldn't make me any less happy. I wouldn't become unhappy because there was no one less happy then me.