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mickymac1
May 22, 2003, 5:41 PM
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Right now?! Not as happy as I would be if I was on some mountain or if I had some icecream! :shock:
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pinnaclechick
May 22, 2003, 5:42 PM
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Am I happy right now?
I'm sitting here eating a huge chicken salad smothered in ranch dressing, listening to a little Dar Williams, got 500K worth of checks (uh.. not my money) cut a couple hours ago, I am off tomorrow, heading to VA for the weekend to see one of my best friends, then I'm flying out to CA next Tuesday for a few days, where when the 5:00 whistle goes off, I'll get into the convertible I'm renting and fly.. when the sun starts to set, I'll stop wherever I am and watch it sink into the ocean.. happy thoughts. Today's my Friday. Yeah, I'm happy now.
Am I happy overall?
Yes. I've made plenty of mistakes in my life (and am sure to make plenty more), but I learned from them, most importantly I've forgiven myself for them.. I make enough money to pay my bills and have some leftover to play a little.. I don't expect too much out of life other than what I can do or get for myself.. I try not to take people for granted, for when I need them most, they might let me down .. I depend mostly on myself. I have some really good friends, though, who would do anything for me and vice versa.. I don't intend to 'settle' - literally or figuratively, I am just not ready..too much to see and do. I like being free, to do what I want, go where I want..Nope.. Life ain't too bad.
:wink:
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climbinganne
May 22, 2003, 5:49 PM
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good question stu, i have been pondering this question for quite some time...
**back to pondering**
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wildtrail
May 22, 2003, 5:54 PM
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In reply to: steve - it wasn't a climber who stole the gear. a senseless breakin, and a very nice rack is probably on the way to the country landfill. aconcagua wasn't that happy - i had to bail with pulmonary edema. on the other hand, it did cement a hell of a friendship with a partner who i credit with keeping me alive. plus easter island was cool.
Well, there is a silver lining to every cloud, eh? You may not have summited the mountain, but I've not succeeded at that before as well. Still, it's the journey, not the summit. Besides, a great friendship is worth more than a summit day in my book.
I'm sorry to hear you were robbed, Andy. If you were here, or if I was there, I'd give you a couple of my biners and buy you a few beers.
Steve
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shortfatoldguy
May 22, 2003, 5:54 PM
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I was happy yesterday for a full hour, sitting in a seminar room talking with students about Karl Marx. I was happy the day before for 90 minutes climbing at the gym with my friend who is not hard to look at at all. I plan to be happy for a while Saturday, playing with my wife and son on the mountain.
But I need intensity to be really happy. I need to be struggling with something. There's something wrong with my brain. Maybe I should be on meds. But I rediscovered a couple of years ago that climbing is the perfect drug.
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on_sight_man
May 22, 2003, 5:55 PM
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In reply to: Someone once said that if we got everything we wanted, right when we wanted it (like snap your fingers and it appears), then we wouldn't be living. Part of life is overcoming obstacles and tragedies. And sometimes that makes us happy. As climbers we realize this. If we could snap our fingers and be at the top of K2, that would be nice for the view, but where is the sense of accomplishment? That is what makes us happy.
Or put another way "You humans define your reality through pain and suffering. It was like a dream that your primitive cerebrum kept trying to 'wake up' from"
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niceporch
May 22, 2003, 6:16 PM
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i've never been that happy. i don't think i can be. it's not that i have it that bad, i have always felt like something is missing. i don't feel right in my skin, or in this place. i think it comes from the way i was brought up. and punk ass bitches that picked on me in jr. high.
hopefully i can get a job that i can forget about just enough to enjoy life when i'm not doing it. one day i will marry my gf have that porch that i've dreamed about. i hope that takes the sting out of life.
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rhu
May 22, 2003, 6:58 PM
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I found out how to be happy when I realized what my priorities were. Most of the people here seem to embody much of what I think it takes to be happy. They seem to be able to laugh at themselves, they don't desire many "things," and they have people around them that let them be who they are and not who they are "supposed" to be. That is what I think anyway.
P.S. I like sitting in front of the computer. Especially when I am supposed to be working. :lol:
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mickymac1
May 22, 2003, 7:02 PM
Post #34 of 75
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Getting paid for sex would make me happy! :shock:
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atg200
May 22, 2003, 7:03 PM
Post #35 of 75
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too bad you aren't a chick then.
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mickymac1
May 22, 2003, 7:06 PM
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What are you saying, chicks won't pay? :roll:
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fieldmouse
May 22, 2003, 7:06 PM
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adam, thanks for that post, I was in very much the same position you were, and it took the elimination of "want" to get where I am today. its nice to know that I am not the only one out there who was able to rise above. anyway, the post was an inspiration, to say the least and I thank you for that.
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madriver
May 22, 2003, 7:11 PM
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Nice Job Adam.....
...my kids have re-newed my happiness. They are the coolest thing that has ever happened in my life. I have more fun now (with them) than anything I have ever done previously. I don't what I will do when they think I'm really retarded, (so far I'm just slightly daft). I'll let you know when that day comes, so far they keep me going. Too fun and too cool.
Bob :D
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ezjay40
May 22, 2003, 7:30 PM
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D*ng Stu I had a hole page for u and lost it !
So to sum it up .
Be content with ones self . at peace with ones self, true to ones self
Dang does that mean , if it feals good doit ! I didn't say that ! opps
So u ask how do I achieve this ... Glad u ask !
One way is to take time to ones self .
Throw mediation , soul searching, pray and different religions practices and even Yoga.. ok !
Relax close ur eyes and empty all thoughts from ur head and just breath.
sounds ez ha ! try it for 15 mins. it will kill ya . till u get the hang of it
O accept the things u can not chance and correct the things u can !
Peace baby !
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hangerlessbolt
May 22, 2003, 7:31 PM
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Happiness: Enjoying well-being or contentment.
As are most things in life, I find that the idea of happiness is quite relative and that perhaps those dealt with the harshest blows in life are the easiest to be content.
Both of my parent’s passed away when I was young. My dad of a heartattack when I was 9 and my mom of cancer when I was 15. They divorced when I was three and I got passed around quite a bit from family and friends.
I switched schools 13 times growing up because we were always moving. We were on welfare and food-stamps. I stayed with my mom while she went through chemo and helped take care of her and my little sister from the time I was 11 until the age of 15. During my life I had been physically and sexually abused.
Recently I relayed my life’s story to a psychologist. He said, “That’s awful. I’m terribly sorry to hear that. It appears that you are quite well adjusted given the circumstances of your past.”
My reply was, “My theory is that when your life starts out that rough …everything else seems like a piece of cake.”
I’ve been homeless and I’ve owned a $260k townhouse.
I’ve walked in shoes until my toes showed through and I’ve owned 5 pairs of the exact same show because I could.
I’ve driven an old car that a friend had given me and had one of the wheels fall off…and I’ve owned a couple of brand new cars.
But I don’t recall what I owned or what I was doing to have much bearing on my over feeling of well-being.
There were times when I felt rather content in my lowest of the lows and had never felt more depressed or miserable than when I should have felt on top of the world.
If I look for true happiness outside of myself…I will surely never find it.
If I find true happiness within myself…I will surely never lose it
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atg200
May 22, 2003, 7:32 PM
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now i am very happy. i am moving 10 minutes away from eldo and my company is going to let me telecommute when i am in denver. life is very, very good.
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wishiwaswest
May 22, 2003, 7:35 PM
Post #42 of 75
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In reply to: Getting paid for sex would make me happy! :shock:
"...he's just a gigilo, and everywhere he goes....."
Am I happy? Right at this moment I am pissed as hell, but in general I am very happy. I have two great kids, my family is close, my friends are the best, I have a job I'm passionate about, sometimes too passionate, (sorry about last night, and thanks to those who came to the aide), I even have a great relationship with my ex. AND I get to move back west! I'm financially very comfortable, but no longer feel the desperate need for things, so it allows me to travel and climb when I wish and gives us a roof over our heads and food on the table.
Was it always this way? No. I suffered from depression for many years, starting when I was a kid. I never fit in at school. We moved a lot when I was young, so I never established any close friendships, didn't even know how. I was always a loner, feeling sad for myself, pissed off at the world. I got into climbing when I was 22 and it made a *huge* difference in my life. At first it was an escape, I could zone out when I was climbing and nothing else mattered. As soon as I got home, *wham* depressed again. But then I started to use climbing as a metaphor for what was missing in my life and each route I conquered, somehow translated to something else I could master. I don't know, maybe I'm just nuts, but my life turned around and when I hit my 30's, *wow*. Maybe I just grew up, finally. I guess I came into my own, got comfortable with myself, grew into my skin. I still had and will have some major failures - especially my marriage, but failure doesn't throw me anymore.
OKay, enough la-di-da stuff. I've babbled waaaaaaaaaaaay too much in the last 24 hours.
Thanks again.
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mickymac1
May 22, 2003, 7:39 PM
Post #43 of 75
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[quote="wishiwaswest"]In reply to: Getting paid for sex would make me happy! :shock:
"...he's just a gigilo, and everywhere he goes....."quote]
http://www.harrods.com/...shallow/icecream.jpg
I'd still rather icecream!!! :D
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mwbtle
May 22, 2003, 7:42 PM
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I want to change my answer.
I just saw a really sad case in the hospital...not a patient I see, but just in the hallway.
Working at a hospital puts life in perspective sometimes.
I'm happy to be bored at work...I'm happy I have a job...I'm happy my life is decently normal. I think I owe it to the people who can't have all this to be happy I have it.
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jaylaka
May 22, 2003, 7:50 PM
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In reply to: We have just one shot here on this Earth, and if we do not make the most of it, and enjoy as much as possible, we are cutting ourselves short.
in class the other day (9th grade english), the discussion revolved around death as it related to the literature. i made a comment to the effect of, "i could die today without any regrets." one of the students had a really hard time grasping that, so i tried to elaborate.
have a made some poor decisions in my life? hell yes. did i learn from each and every one of them? without a doubt.
i've led a good life and have consciously surround myself with loving, genuine people. life is about choices, i can alternately take responsiblity or blame for those.
but i'm happy right now. have i always been? no. do i still have moments when i'm doubting myself and the world? on occasion. but i'm happy with myself and my life.
jen
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wishiwaswest
May 22, 2003, 8:07 PM
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[quote="mickymac1"]
Maybe you can get someone to pay you to eat ice cream! Now that would be a cream - I mean dream job!
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howitzer
May 22, 2003, 8:08 PM
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mmmmmmm..... and still I ponder with anne. For many years I have asked myself this question, and I find that I have come full circle round in many aspects to be able to say - yeah. Yeah I'm happy. (where's my marching band and parade?!?! I thought that came with the right answer!!!) ;)
Seriously though, I have seen a side of life I care to never see again, because I know what it is like to not be happy. From surviving rape, molestation, physical and emotional abuse, losing family members much too quickly to aweful diseases, and two suicide attempts at the ripe age of 15... I think I can say I know what the opposite of happy is. And it's not me - at least not anymore. ;) I also know happiness - to fell loved, to feel wanted, to travel and be outdoors and see the world. Sure I have my moments - we all do. But my happiness lies not in what I have physically - but mentally. It lies in what I see inside myself as well as the people I've met and let into my crazy little world. Right now as I type this my finacee is on his way home from Iraq and will be here soon, my family is healthy, my friends are all well, and I work on a project that will benefit teachers of science all over the world. I feel good about all of that and about where my life will take me.
That's happiness to me - I think it is different for everyone. ;)
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mickymac1
May 22, 2003, 8:10 PM
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[quote="wishiwaswest"]In reply to: Maybe you can get someone to pay you to eat ice cream! Now that would be a cream - I mean dream job!
Now if I could find that job in Colorado rather here in damn Boston THEN it would be a cream...(Freudien slip! :shock: ) I mean dream job!! :D
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calamity_chk
May 22, 2003, 9:58 PM
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i am incredibly happy. i just finished a big project at work, had some hot cocoa and a snickers bar. my boyfriend has a nice rack, a cool pr0n name and leads A3. what more could a girl ask for?
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hugepedro
May 22, 2003, 10:48 PM
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In reply to: We have just one shot here on this Earth, and if we do not make the most of it, and enjoy as much as possible, we are cutting ourselves short.
I've always been a happy person. It takes a LOT of BAD badness to get me down. Most of the time when things are going bad, I'm laughing, and usually at myself because it was probably self-inflicted.
Quite a few years ago I realized that when I am old and on my death bed, reflecting on my life, I will definitely NOT say to myself, "self, if only you would have spent more time at the office." Ever since then I've known that life is about way more than a job or things. Once you come to that realization it is much easier to be happy. If there is an afterlife, I'm going to have to be dragged kicking and screaming, because I think that life, even with all its difficulties, right here, right now, is pretty much heaven.
Today?
Last week I closed a deal, that was 2 1/2 years in the making (with the company that owns the largest chain of convenience stores in America). It means that ideas I began formulating nearly 10 years ago are being validated, and there is finally a market emerging for them. I'm feeling a great deal of satisfaction from that.
This weekend I'm going down to the Guadalupe River for an annual gathering of friends. 40-50 good friends all camp in our friend's yard on the shores of the river out in the middle of the Texas hill country. We drink beer, play music, BBQ, float down the river, and just bask in the pleasure of good friendship all weekend. This is the 20th year of this event. Friends come from all over the country and some from across oceans to attend. I've very excited about this.
I'm planning a climbing road trip to Colorado this July with some good friends. The anticipation has me wired.
Some things could be better, but I have everything I need. I have no reason not to be happy.
Peter
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