Happiness comes Spontaneously or thru efforts

[blazeofglory]

At times I wonder I could be happier if was less educated, a little bit naive or innocent. I came from a very small village. The village was quiet with only a few houses here.

I worked on farms, and took cattle to graze. I had to run to village school everyday for hours. My father was a small farmer. We did not have many home gadgets.

We had small dreams and I could not see beyond the small mountains. I had dogs, oxen, cows and calves as my friends. I had the habit of going to the river that flew nearby.

I did not have big desires. Or could not dream of the things urbanites dreamed of.

I did not have TVs. Just a radio was a luxury.
I remember I was really happier then than now. Now thru lots of efforts I am in the city and own a vehicle and have the things I had never dreamed of.

I could be happier if I had half the things I had there in the village.

We make lots of efforts to be happy, but life is short lived and in our preparation only I lose my chances of being happy in fact.

I feel happiness comes spontaneously and effortlessly.

While we make lots of efforts to be happy and we do make lots of money, and but without being able to use them we will have to part with everything.

I believe in the fact that happiness comes on its own, and it has little to do with what we call worldly riches.

I do not know how the rest respond to this.

[Mr Endon]

I too believe it comes spontaneously. This is called the paradox of Hedonism:

Hedonism, paradox of The paradox (Joseph Butler, Sermon xi, para. 1. 9; Sidgwick, The Methods of Ethics, 7th edn., pp. 136, 403) that agents who consciously attempt to maximize their own pleasures are more likely to fail than those who have concerns for other things and other persons for their own sakes.

[The Comedian]

Happiness is like exercise: through sustained effort, habit, and discipline, it becomes natural.

[Tsuyoiko]

I agree more with The Comedian. My happiness comes through a conscious effort to appreciate what I have, to make time for the things I enjoy, and to realise what I can do without.

[Mr Endon]

Well, let me elaborate on my answer. I meant 'spontaneous' in the sense that happiness is something which comes indirectly, not directly.

In the end, the question is: do you say, "OK, now I want to be happy", and then you become happy; or do you say, "OK, now I want to achieve [goal X]", or "I want to make [problem X] disappear", and when you do you become happy?

For me it's the latter that works. For me happiness usually is a natural result of the overcoming of obstacles, the achievement of goals, or simply through the inexistence of problems.