Originally Posted by sperbonzo

I have found that too many people equate happiness with joy. I think that joy is a short-lived emotion that people are always shooting for. Joy is like a drug though, it is short lived, and when you come down, you miss it. but Joy is not real happiness to me, and I think that people miss out on happiness by their constant striving for that illusive "joy".

Personally I think that long-term happiness is more along the lines of contentment.... It's a more quiet, small, long-term feeling that comes from appreciating everything good in your life, even the small things, and putting it in perspective against how bad things could be. I find myself content, every day, with how my life is going, how much I love being with my wife, how much I like where I live, etc, etc, etc... Sure, there's stress all the time, but taking the time to appreciate the good stuff creates contentment, which overwhelms the stress, and brings me peace.

Sorry, didn't mean to wax lyrically about this.


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