{"id":616,"date":"2012-03-26T23:21:39","date_gmt":"2012-03-27T04:21:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/?p=616"},"modified":"2016-11-02T23:22:39","modified_gmt":"2016-11-03T04:22:39","slug":"what-is-happiness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/index.php\/2012\/03\/26\/what-is-happiness\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Happiness?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A friend recently asked this question on her FB page. There were several short answers, due to space availability, I\u2019m sure. But, me being me, I can\u2019t just put a short and sweet answer to this question.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The dictionary defines happiness as the state of being happy, good fortune, pleasure, contentment, joy. Then it expands on this short and sweet definition as well: feeling, showing, expressing joy; pleased; willing; causing joy or gladness; fortunate; lucky; aptly expressed as in\u00a0\u2018a happy turn of phrase\u2019<\/em>; and this one made me chuckle-slightly intoxicated. The word was not in existence before the1520\u2019s, wonder what they called it then or was happiness even a consideration?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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If I were to give a short and snappy response as I usually do- it would be this:\u00a0A good feeling.<\/em>\u00a0 Yeah, that\u2019s it, or is it? Sounds good, simple, straight, to the point. Not satisfied with this response; I look at what happiness is not- again, the dictionary shows the antonym as:\u00a0Misery.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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I read on. In the synonym section happiness is equated with contentment, bliss, and felicity. The one little tell in this section was this comment:\u00a0these words imply an active or passive state of pleasure or pleasurable satisfaction.<\/em>\u00a0Aha. This is more like it! Up to this point the words were rather nebulous, vague and not really describing what it is.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Happiness, active or passive, is not necessary to existence; nor is it\u2019s polar opposite, misery.\u00a0 At this point it becomes clear that happiness is highly individualized and its meaning can vary greatly from person to person.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In his misery, Job states\u00a0my eyes will never see happiness again.<\/em>\u00a0For Esther, Mordecai and the Jews in Persia, their rescue from the hands of Haman resulted in\u00a0a time of happiness and joy, gladness and honor.<\/em>\u00a0In Jesus\u2019 parable of the talents, the two men who invested and increased the money their master had entrusted to them received the invitation to\u00a0share their master\u2019s happiness<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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These people were happy, but there were differences. Being happy was not the result of the\u00a0 same experience, nor was the object of their happiness, the length of time the happiness would last, or how many others would be affected by their happiness. But they all knew whom to thank for their happiness.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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So, to get beyond the short answer to the question, happiness to me is first a feeling, second a state of being, and third an attitude. It\u2019s the feeling I get when my babies run into my arms and say, \u201cI love you, Nana.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s the place that I\u2019m in when I stop and think about how blessed I am, from being in a marriage that is still fun, caring and honest, to being the mother of three incredible adult children. As for attitude, that is a choice. Some call it contentment. I\u2019m not sure that would be my definition. It\u2019s a choice that I\u2019ve sometimes had to consciously make in the middle of my misery; a choice that I saw and was unable to make at times, but when I was able there was a peace and contentment that came not of myself.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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My friend, there\u2019s my answer and somehow it seems just as nebulous as the dictionary description. Happiness is whatever gives you the \u201cwarm puppy\u201d feeling, the state of being blessed and the choice of your attitude at any moment in time. To borrow a phrase from Will Shakespeare\u2019s Romeo and Juliet-\u00a0\u201cthere art thou happy!\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0 which comes from Friar Laurence. He further gives sage advice on happiness:\u00a0“\u201c<\/em><\/a>\u00a0A pack of blessings lights upon thy back; Happiness courts thee in her best array;<\/em>\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0But, like a misbehaved and sullen wench,<\/em>\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0Thou pout’st upon thy fortune and thy love:<\/em>\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0Take heed, take heed, for such die miserable.<\/em>\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Something to ponder:<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit. Proverbs 15:13<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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I know there is nothing better for people than to be happy and do good while they live. Ecclesiastes 3:12<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other. Ecclesiastes 7:14a<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A friend recently asked this question on her FB page. There were several short answers, due to space availability, I\u2019m sure. But, me being me, I can\u2019t just put a short and sweet answer to this question.\u00a0 \u00a0 The dictionary defines happiness as the state of being happy, good fortune, pleasure, contentment, joy. Then it … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[327],"class_list":["post-616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","tag-happiness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=616"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":617,"href":"https:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616\/revisions\/617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordsfromthehomefront.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}