"The True Meaning of Happiness"

[Israelite007]

hap·pi·ness 1.the quality or state of being happy. 2.good fortune; pleasure; contentment; joy.

BBC - Science & Nature - Human Body and Mind - Body - Brain Map

From Website above

Happiness is a combination of physical pleasure, not feeling negative and having a sense of purpose. Not feeling miserable is not enough to make you feel completely happy. You also need to feel a sense of purpose and meaning. This feeling requires activity in the front part of your frontal lobe (shown in yellow). The feeling of pleasure associated with happiness is a brain chemical called dopamine. A simple thrill or the sight of a long lost love can trigger a rush of dopamine

This is only an excerpt what a statement ay?! This is very intriguing. Let's go further. With the meaning and definition of happiness clearly defined here's the development that has been made thanks to the Holy Spirit and the study we're doing here.

The Pursuit of Happiness
The Main goal in life per philosophy is sometimes said to be happy which usually involves being loved. I think most people in life want to be happy. But with the increase in interest I have had in happiness of late I think I have hit something! Just wait! Now as far as humanity goes I think we travel through life asking why and asking how we can be happy. I Haven't seen the movie "Pursuit of Happiness" but I have heard the author's story and it is rather moving. He said "Rags to riches." You see the difficulty that humanity has is the misconception that happiness comes and goes like the fleeting of the wind this is only half true. True Happiness is not by any means fleeting. here's the distinction>>>>

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A simple thrill or the sight of a long lost love can trigger a rush of dopamine

Now what do most people equate happiness to....let's think "Rags to Riches" remember that? Well that is what Chris Gardner said in his interview. I'm pretty sure he was equating his pursuit of happiness to External Circumstance. Now what are most people taught to do? That Buying Stuff is Happiness that money is happiness, that financial freedom is happiness, that fame is happiness that money gives peace of mind which brings happiness, that achievements is happiness these again are only half true and all external. They are based on External Circumstance In other words anything outside your true self which is your heart,mind,soul. Even Chris Gardner recognizes these are the most important to happiness. But still the focus on the External. So here's the solution I hope.

The True Meaning of Happiness
Can you guess it? I am sure you can so with the basis that most people seek the momentary thrill like winning the lottery that's momentary but I heard one time that a guy won 2 million lottery and quit his job and then 1 yr later he commited suicide. Why? Because he equated external circumstance to true happiness. Which is completely untrue. The true meaning of happiness is not based on external circumstance but yes internal! That's right what you have always been told still sticks.

It's what's on the inside that counts.

And this means Internal Circumstance brings true happiness. Now of course you know the answer to our afflicted state is not being in touch with ourselves it is being in touch with GOD. Make no mistake true happiness cannot be true with out the one True GOD's help. This is not humanly possible. So yeah sure I can see why people focus so much on the external factor of happiness even while may be short lived it is still good to feel good to some. But just think about it why rely on external for what's internal? Why rely on things outside yourself for your happiness and not things inside yourself? It doesn't make sense to achieve happiness by relying merely on external circumstances. There is no better place to find happiness than internally but to be true looking inside ourselves is not merely enough. We need someone to sustain us. In other words without love we cannot be truly happy isn't that how the story goes? We were made to love and we were made to be happy and without the two how can it be true?

There is 3 P's in True Happiness not 2
What is true happiness? This question I have been pondering for a little while and with the Almighty's help I think I have the answer! Just about two weeks ago I think i had this thought "There has to be 3 P's in Happy." I thought it must be "Happpy!" Little did I know how close I was to the answer to the 3 P's in Happy. What is the third? "SuPreme HaPPiness." That is true happiness it has to be!


su·preme1 Audio Help/səˈprim, sʊ-/Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[suh-preem, soo-]Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–adjective 1.highest in rank or authority; paramount; sovereign; chief. 2.of the highest quality, degree, character, importance, etc.: supreme courage. 3.greatest, utmost, or extreme: supreme disgust. 4.last or final; ultimate.


Now when you add the definition of happiness and supreme it would look something like this.

"The Highest Quality, degree,importance of contenment, joy; highest in quality or state of being happy."
"The Last or final state, ultimate level of being happy; fortunately blessed."

This is profound. The Internal Happiness is not based on whether you have 1million dollars or $1 you are not basing your happiness on external things or circumstance you are basing your happiness on GOD fulfilling your life in your heart,mind,and soul. As you can see the guy who commited suicide didn't find true happiness but I can assure you it's what we seek as humanity and you can have that with GOD in relationship through Yeshua.

Check the Source
This is my spiritual philosophy of true happiness. I have experienced this firsthand. I am by no means rich in the world's eyes but I hope to have riches in Heaven with my Father. Isn't that better? Why do some people search there whole lives just to be momentarily externally happy? Shouldn't people as humans seek GOD for true happiness in eternity? People have to make their own choices I realize this I can't even give them a choice but I can show people they do have a choice. The internal happiness is in your heart,mind,spirit, and soul. The spirit and the soul are different. Your soul is the real you, your thoughts,emotions, personality and will. No two people have the same soul that's why we are all unique. But we all have the same mortal spirit which is the actual substance of matter within us the "breath" of God if you will. These factors make true happiness

Peace of Mind (Knowing)
Love of Heart (following)
Joy of Soul (keeping)
Purpose of Spirit (belonging)

The source of our happiness should come from somewhere but more spiritually speaking should come from someone. The reason why a relationship with GOD is different than a man or women is because of the Holy Spirit. Having a relationship with the Everlasting GOD is external and internal. A union between a man and women is not internal because when the two become one they are united in flesh and soul but still separate in spirit. GOD is so brilliant that the only internal experience of true happiness in the present age is with the Holy Spirit. He is literally within us! No man or woman's spirit can be combined. It's only through GOD's Holy Spirit that we have the missing internal piece of happiness filled which everyone wants to fulfill with stuff and earthly love but it is simply a heavenly presence. Most humans will admit that we were created with a certain inefficency.

"We're all human"

They say and they're right but being truly human is what it's all about.I know this doesn't fit the scientific description but this is the philisophical aspect of happiness. Thanks and may you be eternally blessed!

[Dustin]

Originally Posted by Israelite007

The source of our happiness should come from somewhere but more spiritually speaking should come from someone.

Here's something on the scientific aspect of happiness.

The outward and changeable has been termed the “Conscious Mind,” or the “Objective Mind” (dealing with outward objects). The interior power is called the “Subconscious Mind,” or the “Subjective Mind,” and besides its work on the mental plane it controls the regular functions which make physical life possible.

It is necessary to have a clear understanding of their respective functions on the mental plane, as well as of certain other basic principles. Perceiving and operating through the five physical senses, the conscious mind deals with the impressions and objects of the outward life.

It has the faculty of discrimination, carrying with it the responsibility of choice. It has the power of reasoning whether inductive, deductive, analytical, or syllogistic, and this power may be developed to a high degree. It is the seat of the will with all the energies that flow from there.

It is often true that conditions of fear, worry, poverty, disease, inharmony, and evils of all kinds dominate us by reason of false suggestions accepted by the unguarded subconscious mind. All this the trained conscious mind can entirely prevent by its vigilant protective action. It may properly be called “the watchman at the gate” of the great subconscious domain. One writer has expressed the chief distinction between the two phases of mind thus: “Conscious mind is reasoning will. Subconscious mind is instinctive desire, the result of past reasoning will.”

The subconscious mind draws just and accurate inferences from premises furnished from outside sources. Where the premise is true, the subconscious mind reaches a faultless conclusion, but, where the premise or suggestion is an error, the whole structure falls. The subconscious mind does not engage in the process of proving. It relies upon the conscious mind, “the watchman at the gate,” to guard it from mistaken impressions.

Receiving any suggestions as true, the subconscious mind at once proceeds to act thereon in the whole domain of its tremendous field of work. The conscious mind can suggest either truth or error. If the latter, it is at the cost of wide-reaching peril to the whole being. The conscious mind ought to be on duty during every waking hour. When the “watchman” is “off guard,” or when its calm judgment is suspended, under a variety of circumstances, then the subconscious mind is unguarded and left open to suggestion from all sources.

During the wild excitement of panic, or during the height of anger, or at any other time of unrestrained passion, the conditions are most dangerous. The subconscious mind is then open to the suggestion of fear, hatred, selfishness, greed, self-depreciation, and other negative forces derived from surrounding persons or circumstances. The result is usually unwholesome in the extreme, with effects that may endure to distress it for a long time. Hence, the great importance of guarding the subconscious mind from false impressions.

The subconscious mind perceives by intuition. Hence, its processes are rapid. It does not wait for the slow methods of conscious reasoning. In fact, it cannot employ them.

The subconscious mind never sleeps, never rests, any more than does your heart or your blood. The subconscious mind is the Seat of our principles and our aspirations. It is the fount of our artistic and altruistic ideals. These instincts can only be overthrown by an elaborate and gradual process of undermining the innate principles.

The subconscious mind cannot argue controversially. Hence, if it has accepted wrong suggestions the sure method of overcoming them is by the use of a strong counter suggestion, frequently repeated, which the mind must accept, thus eventually forming new and healthy habits of thought and life, for the subconscious mind is the seat of Habit.

That which we do over and over becomes mechanical; it is no longer an act of judgment, but has worn its deep grooves in the subconscious mind. This is favorable for us if the habit be wholesome and right. If it be harmful and wrong, the remedy is to recognize the omnipotence of the subconscious mind and suggest present actual freedom. The subconscious, being creative and one with our divine source, will at once create the freedom suggested.

To sum up: The normal functions of the subconscious on the physical side have to do with the regular and vital processes, with the preservation of life and the restoration of health; with the care of offspring, which includes an instinctive desire to preserve all life and improve conditions generally.

On the mental side, it is the storehouse of memory; it harbors the wonderful thought messengers who work unhampered by time or space; it is the fountain of the practical initiative and constructive forces of life. It is the seat of habit.

On the spiritual side, it is the source of ideals, of aspiration, of the imagination, and is the channel through which we recognize our Divine Source, and in proportion as we recognize this divinity do we come into an understanding of the source of power.

—Charles F. Haanel

The cerebrospinal system is the organ of the conscious mind and the sympathetic is the organ of the subconscious. The cerebrospinal is the channel through which we receive conscious perception from the physical senses and exercise control over the movements of the body. This system of nerves has its centre in the brain.

The Sympathetic System has its centre in a ganglionic mass at the back of the stomach known as the Solar Plexus, and is the channel of that mental action which unconsciously supports the vital functions of the body.

The connection between the two systems is made by the vagus nerve which passes out of the cerebral region as a portion of the voluntary system to the thorax, sending out branches to the heart and lungs, and finally passing through the diaphragm, it loses its outer coating and becomes identified with the nerves of the Sympathetic System, so forming a connecting link between the two and making man physically a single entity.

—Thomas Troward