creating happiness...

it's hard to believe and just as hard to practice, but imo i think it's the highest calling for a capricorn.

saturn rules us... saturn the great teacher of life lessons and of time. with such a ruling planet, i think, it's very easy to feel these lessons. and as is the way of life, the hard ones tend to stand out the most.

it's true we get knocked down, but the greatest trait to us all is that we rise back up.

one of my fave quotes by Ella Wheeler Wilcox...

"Tis easy enough to be pleasant,
When life flows along like a song,
But the man worth while,
Is the one who will smile,
When everything goes dead wrong."

The most successful people that I've ever met, and I've met some moguls, all share this trait... they are always always always in good spirits no matter what kind of shit has gone down.. and they are creating happiness wherever they go.

Do you think this is any coincidence? Which comes first? Success or happiness?

We are known to have knack for doing terrible things. Conversely, I believe we are one of the signs best suited to create light in darkness. Either way, we have a great ability to make an impact... greater than we often realize.

Choose your attitude and choose your fate, my dear capricorns... no matter what life deals to you.

Lovely.

Caplove I'm glad it helps 🙂

M, what exactly are you disagreeing with?

Posted by CreepyPants
The most successful people that I've ever met, and I've met some moguls, all share this trait... they are always always always in good spirits no matter what kind of shit has gone down.. and they are creating happiness wherever they go.

Do you think this is any coincidence? Which comes first? Success or happiness?

we have a great ability to make an impact... greater than we often realize.

Choose your attitude and choose your fate, my dear capricorns... no matter what life deals to you.

Happiness always comes first; it has to. If you're not happy with what you have, you won't be happy with what you want.

Each of us is possessed of a far greater potential than any of us will likely ever realize. As always, that potential can be bent to good or evil purposes. Predispositions, external factors, etc. all can weigh upon us and steer us, but the choice is always ours to make. Choose to be greater than you are and you will become greater than you ever thought you could be.

Posted by M
Was talking to a coworker about this, and I'm inclined to disagree. And those shining examples of people who keep positive even the most trying of circumstances...more often I find those people are just like that. Meaning they did not and have not honed it like a skill, and is no testament to their character. Not all, but rings true often.

Agreed. However, just because some people are naturally gifted with a positive outlook that is no reason those not similarly blessed cannot attempt to cultivate this same attitude in themselves.

Posted by M
Also really resent the mind over matter mantra, as crap happens whether you choose to look at it or not. Changing your perspective, sure it works/helps. The best that changes is where you go from there. And personally, I've grown tired of subsisting on silver linings. Can it be done, absolutely. But it's depressing to step back and realize it for what it is. And while I can smile it away in a flash, that causes dissonance about losing touch with what is and what isn't. I used to be the eternal optimist, and my discretion made strides towards keeping on and making happy. That lasts as long as the individual does, as is just as susceptible to erosion as anything.

click to expand

Butter happens every day and it is very much an equal opportunity offender. I have noticed that not everyone to whom shit happens is an equal opportunist, though. Some people wallow in misery, some shrug it off and move on. Why?

Every reaction is a choice, whether we consciously realize this or not. The eternal battle between the stone and water wages on. The stone stands firm; the water eats away. Whether by trickle or deluge, it leaves its mark. But??_but??_in wearing away the old, it exposes new. Whether the daily pummeling delivered by life increases our strength and hardens our resolve or weakens the body and spirit is entirely up to us. When working harder proves inadequate, it is frequently necessary to resort to working smarter.

I'm actually not talking about material success or any particular definition of happiness. funny but when i measure their success it has little to do with their bank roll and more to do with the people they touch in positive ways.

I'm not talking about looking on the bright side, or ignoring the facts of life. and definitely not being detached or ignorant to any of it. i've been dealt tragic bs repeatedly in my life. c'est la vie. i actually thought for a split second of titling the thread... "life isnt fair, kill yourself or get over it" would it have been more palatable if i had? hrmmm...

the title is "creating happiness" not merely resigning life to constantly dodging shit being flung at you. it's dancing while dodging, or laughing about falling flat on your ass... for the umpteenth time. (though really i might have bowed out of the game for min after the 3rd spill) all the while keeping your eye on the prize, giving what you know you deserve and having full confidence that you will achieve your goals.

And who are any of us to say that those people who keep positive didnt come from humble beginnings and lesser characters who had to rethink their mentality? the people i'm referring to who are that successful and have the ability to make those around them smile, arent just people that i know... they are friends. friends who have confided in me the shit show that was their childhood and young adulthood. they learned the hard way the power of things like the law of attraction and the strength of attitude.

and in the constant social experiment that is my life... i'll vouch, cosign, attest and + my favorite number to those mantras. i know very personally people who have ruined the lives they created for themselves because the sat on the wrong side of this fence and i know people who have built empires in struggling industries whilst sitting on the right side.

these ideas are no brainers to me anymore.

true... some do it better than others. it's a journey. your first steps are opening up your mind.

and yes stoic... reactions are a choice 100% .

in general, when crap happens, i feel like you are going to do one of two things... get busy being a victim, or get busy doing something about it.

it is not easy wrapping your attitude around these ideas. life is constantly throwing blows. constantly pulling the rug out from underneath you

To me it is to light up the day of the people that are closest to me. The girl I have fallen for had a bad day yesterday and I did everything that I could to light up her mood and day, and as always I succeeded and that gives me alot of pleasure. So in that way I hope my success leads to more happiness if she can see how I really am and that I can always make her feel good and happy. I want her to look at me and know that if she was with me we could handle all obstacles life would throw at us 🙂

Positive and optimistic mind, especially when u surround urself with good people, I hope I will continue to have just that, and then everything will be alright 🙂

Do the little things that make you happy, do as many as you can during one day. Eventually your day will be filled with great little moments and that's where happy lives. I don't believe it's a constant feeling, it comes to us in small doses.

if anything should be taken from this thread, despite that it wasn't directly implied, i hope at the very least it is this...

releasing anger is healthy. but when asserting yourself to the world, negative thoughts and feelings that you may wear on your sleeve will never... ever... EVER... serve you well. they may serve you for a time. they just wont serve you well.

Sangfroid... that's very candid... i really appreciate that. i follow what your saying about holding in emotion when things get tough only to find your release in less significant situations where the reaction doesnt seem to match the occasion, lol. yea, i'm guilty. work in progress right?

"I don't know why I suddenly think of how often I tell people that you can't and don't actually have the right to change others, you can only change yourself and by that I mean your attitude, reaction and how much you will let this affect you, how much importance you will assign something."

...that bit has me thinking... i wanna object but i dont at the same time because of the principle behind what you say. i agree with it and also disagree with it. lol

i have to run right now, but i'm gonna mull over that one and get back to it in a bit!

No! it's perfect! lol bbs

Posted by Sangfroid

Posted by CreepyPants
Sangfroid... that's very candid... i really appreciate that. i follow what your saying about holding in emotion when things get tough only to find your release in less significant situations where the reaction doesnt seem to match the occasion, lol. yea, i'm guilty. work in progress right?

"I don't know why I suddenly think of how often I tell people that you can't and don't actually have the right to change others, you can only change yourself and by that I mean your attitude, reaction and how much you will let this affect you, how much importance you will assign something."

...that bit has me thinking... i wanna object but i dont at the same time because of the principle behind what you say. i agree with it and also disagree with it. lol

i have to run right now, but i'm gonna mull over that one and get back to it in a bit!

I was thinking of some very specific instances where adults are interfering with other adults harmless behavior just because they disagree with it. I wasn't thinking about letting kids, dictators, and criminals run amok btw.

I have the bad habit of assuming that others can view my experiences like a film and read my mind so they would naturally understand where all the nonesense I share is coming from.😄

click to expand

that's exactly how i read it. and now that i've thought about it while off doing a bit of work... i've picked apart where i disagree and it's actually not disagreement really. we def dont have the right to force our ideas on others who are doing themselves or no one else any harm. but i do think we are within our right to encourage a thought or idea if we think it may help.

i dont see that as changing anyone as much as it is planting seeds

good thoughts and shares. love it

"the difficulty is creating it within ourselves first. we have to be careful that our sense of realism/idealism doesn't work against us in the form of stark moroseness. i like the quote..attitude is key as ppl experience similar stress with varied reactions. the ones that don't give up and settle for 'acceptable' are the ones that prosper. for me, making light out of darkness comes more naturally amid chaos and turmoil. i think caps have an opposite relationship to adversity than many of the other signs. it's stagnancy and complacency when things are quiet that we have to guard against rather than a major events."

...all really good points!

it's almost as if we tend to conserve our energy for when it's really needed. otherwise, when things are running like a well oiled machine, we're more or less at our desks planning the next move or predicting the next obstacle and making our careful preparations. ...something like that lol

Happiness is all in perception.

happiness is not a fish

Im so use to my moods I cringe a bit at the thought of being happy.