BlogHer - happy - Comments

No regret...

mara — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 09:58:49 -0500

I used to live my life with regret and when I turned 40 I just decided I had wasted to much time on that and now look forward to my future. Regret can way you down. Look at all you have accomplished (being a Mother, daughter or just someone’s friend are the most rewarding relationships you can have) and be proud of who you are. Thanks for sharing this inspiring story it makes me want to achieve more.

Mara http://24stepstogo.blogspot.com/

Resources

rescuedwomen — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 08:16:13 -0500

Scripture-

2 Corinthians 9:7

Everyone should do what he has made up his mind to do, not with regret or being
forced, because God loves anyone who gives gladly.

Recommended Book-

Read: One Month to Live: Thirty Days to a No-Regrets Life, Authors: Kerry & Chris Shook

Live Life With No Regrets!

i like your point, but...

bexband — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 06:25:20 -0500

doesn't happiness also come in the moments you least expect it? :)

WOW!

Claudia Broome — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:13:48 -0500

I couldn't have said it better myself!!!!

www.ClaudiaBroome.com

www.LadiesDontQuitYet.com

www.ToHaveAndToHoldHostage.com

Three things that make me

gleamy — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:10:51 -0500

Three things that make me happy are good writing, intimacy and somebody else minding the baby while I lounge around on the sofa sipping tea and watching Grey's Anatomy.

As for motherhood...

I think happiness is too simple a term to sum up for me the complex experience of motherhood. Yes, I felt immense joy with my son. I also felt immense rage and dissapointment and despair.

Sometimes the experience of motherhood uplifted me and made me want to dance and sing. Sometimes it left me wanting to kill myself and punching walls. Happy is an easy word. Parenthood isn't. It's too bittersweet for that.

I am delighted my son exists. I would be devastated if I lost him. But happiness is too tame a word for something that wrings your heart out for better and worse. :)

Happy because of what we are inside!

Claudia Broome — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:10:32 -0500

I so agree with you! Nobody is responsible for anyone else's happiness! Not husbands or children and the list goes on and on...Maybe the only exception is our dogs!!

www.ClaudiaBroome.com

www.LadiesDontQuitYet.com

www.ToHaveAndToHoldHostage.com

Happy as a Mother

rebellious thinker — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:02:07 -0500

I think that there is a difference between my children making me happy and being happy as a mother. Maybe it is best for us that our children don't make us happy because that would make us too dependent on them. I would say that I am happy to be a mother. The moment my older daughter was born I could feel a patience and restfulness enter into me that had never been there before. Not to say that I am the Mother Teresa of calm, but I certainly changed--for the better--once the responsibility to love, cherish, educate, feed, and care for my daughters became the foundation of my life. This is not to say that I live for them, but that role is now a part of my essence. Part of what makes me happy.

Laura, thinking about the ups and downs of as a woman, mother, married womanm, divorced woman, and daughter at www.rebelliousthoughtsofawoman.com.

Wanting More

LizzieH — Sat, 17 May 2008 21:34:09 -0500

I think we'd be happy with what we have as long as no one else has more! But I sure wouldn't mind finding out either...

Love your blog, by the way!

--Liz

www.inventingmylife.blogspot.com

Liz, Thanks for the

Lori@BetweenUsGirls — Sat, 17 May 2008 19:32:37 -0500

Liz,

Thanks for the comment. I saw that same special but totally forgot about Denmark's lowered expectations when I wrote this post. When I saw the program I was struck by how much realistic expectations (the ability to be happy with what one has) combined with having basic necessities met without worry can lead to contentedness. I wish that the US government would take a hint and do their part. If we didn't have to worry so much about affording health care, elder care, college etc., would we be able to be happy with what we have?...or would we always want more? I don't know, but I'd sure like to find out!

Lori J.

Between Us Girls -Sharing the Knowledge We Need to grow. Find me at www.betweenusgirls.info!

Being happy

LizzieH — Sat, 17 May 2008 16:52:27 -0500

There was a 60 Minutes piece a few months back about how the people of Denmark are the happiest people on the planet. It seemed illogical since they have terrible weather and pay sky-high taxes, but the two reasons for their happiness (that I remember) are: 1) they have low expectations and 2) what they get for their taxes - paid parental leave time, free university education, etc.

--Liz

www.inventingmylife.blogspot.com

Religion is the opiate of the people

Vered — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 19:55:41 -0500

Karl Marx said it in 1843, didn't he?

I grew up religious. I stopped practicing religion around the age of 14, when I started asking questions that my teachers and spiritual leaders weren't able to answer.

In my own experience, religion doesn't necessarily make you happier. But religious rituals do have a calming effect. Religion also gives peace of mind because there is always a "it's God's will"- type-answer for everything.

But you can only be happier if you don't ask the tough questions, or if you are willing to accept "God's will" as a general answer to those questions. It's not exactly fake happy. But it's happy on the condition that you are satisfied with the answers you get.

Vered DeLeeuw
www.momgrind.com

I go..

MommaMary — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 15:54:45 -0500

... for the communion wine! That cracked me up. I wonder if people are truly happier, though, or if they're fake happier. Deluded into being happier.

Maybe I should be better about taking my God pill.