Can you control happiness?

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-20-2003
Can you control happiness?
23
Sun, 03-26-2006 - 8:52am

I woke up in a pretty good mood yesterday.

Avatar for cl_shywon
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-20-2003
Mon, 03-27-2006 - 5:21pm

Thanks.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-17-2004
Mon, 03-27-2006 - 6:08pm

Yeah, I'm kind of sad that things ended but ultimately we are in two different places looking for two different things, and I pushed the few things that bothered me to the back of my mind but I know it's for the best.

I'm actually going on a date with a new boy in about 10 minutes, and I'm looking forward to it! Usually I dread these things, but I'm trying to change my attitude about that as well.

Here's to both of us being in good moods for a while :)

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iVillage Member
Registered: 11-21-2005
Tue, 03-28-2006 - 8:02am

It's something that takes practice.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-21-2005
Tue, 03-28-2006 - 8:05am
Awww....I'm sorry that didn't work out for you.
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-27-2004
Tue, 03-28-2006 - 9:05am
It's really hard for me to keep the happy mood going for any long lengths of time. I don't think I've ever been a really happy, positive person but I am getting better with age and time. I noticed I had 2 weeks straight of happiness not too long ago which is a really big leap for me. Then of course something else happened with my condo and the crazy leaks and corrupt HOA again (this has been going on since last November for 5 months straight). This put me in a sad/bad mood again because just when I think it's going to end it doesn't. I think though that happy people could probably get through this in a calm manner and tell themselves to take it one step at a time and that even though it seems like there's no end in sight all things come to an end eventually. Happy people will ask themselves what they could do to help the situation instead of saying poor me this always happens to me. I guess it's a matter of not only faking it but reprogramming your negative thoughts and replacing them with positive thoughts. It's about catching yourself when you are thinking negatively, stopping the thought in it's tracks, and then trying to look at the postive things that could come out of a seemingly negative situation and what you could learn from it. I'm trying to do this but since it took me 30 years of a lot of negative thinking to try to reprogram it's been a tough one but I think with time and effort anyone can change the way they look at things.
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-17-2004
Tue, 03-28-2006 - 9:09am

Thanks, I'm doing much better this time then I was last time though :) And I had a great first date last night with a new guy and well, it was one of the best dates I've been on! We just had a couple of drinks and talked, and 3.5 hours later we decided that we should get out of the bar as the bartender was giving us dirty looks, haha.

Everything is an experience, right?

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Registered: 11-01-2005
Tue, 03-28-2006 - 12:26pm

Sometimes "just being" can be a form of happiness. I don't think happiness necessarily means you feel elated all the time or that you need to be grinning ear-to-ear. Sometimes just being, and being content, is enough.

BUT, I know what you mean by the blahs. I'm feeling like that right now, too. It feels like just a level below that content feeling I just described -- like I can't quite get my motor running.

AJ, enjoying life with C.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-01-2005
Tue, 03-28-2006 - 12:30pm

>>Happy people will ask themselves what they could do to help the situation instead of saying poor me this always happens to me. I guess it's a matter of not only faking it but reprogramming your negative thoughts and replacing them with positive thoughts.<<

YES! I totally agree. I also think "happy" people try to find the best angle on a bad situation -- or the opportunities that arise from that situation.

Biochic, on a more personal note -- although you describe yourself as not a happy, positive person, I have noticed you posting a lot of positive thoughts and great perspectives lately. It seems to me that you are making a conscious effort to find the positive (tell me if I'm wrong) and I think that's a key to building happiness.

AJ, enjoying life with C.

Avatar for cl_shywon
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-20-2003
Tue, 03-28-2006 - 5:27pm

Sometimes I wonder if it is depression, but I don't really have a reason to be depressed.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-01-2005
Tue, 03-28-2006 - 5:41pm

>>Now I need to get rid of the stress my job causes and I'll be great!<<

Amen to that! I think that's a big one for a lot of us.

AJ, enjoying life with C.