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The purpose of this post is NOT to rain on anyone's parade...it is not my
intent...so please don't take it that way if you have been part of the "I
want to be happy thread".

For me, "I want to be happy" doesn't quite cover it, tho.

So many people do so many things because they want to be happy...and not
all of them are of equal worth, imo.

Strung out crackheads snort crack cause they want to be happy.
Paranoid dictators do the ethnic cleansing thing cause they want to be
happy.
Obsessed pedophiles troll the net cause they want to be happy.

But I DO want to be happy too!

So how do I work / play with this thing myself? By realizing that the only
thing that REALLY can make me happy is the experience of being FREE.

For me, being FREE is both the necessary and the sufficient condition for
happiness. Everything else, it seems to me, is gravy.

When I am experiencing life as a FREE being, life is GOOOOOOOOOOOOOD. When
I fall asleep, or forget, or get disconnected (or whatever words you care
to use) life is not quite so good...and sometimes is quite "bad".

If life gets "bad", and that's where I concentrate all my remedial
efforts...sometimes life gets WORSE.

On the other hand, if life gets "bad", and I concentrate my remedial
efforts on getting FREE once again, life immediately gets GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD.

Is this abe-ish? I dunno!

But I do know that trading in FREE in order to get HAPPY would be a bad
deal for me at this point in my life.

Comments? Ideas? Thoughts?

NetPaul

Hi NetPaul,

ALL of those people that you mentioned are just doing the best that they
know how in every moment to feel happy too. One way is not better than
another way, some ways just bring true long lasting happiness while others
tend to be short term band aid efforts, but we're all working for the same
goal to be Happy.

For you it's Freedom that makes you happy, so what does freedom mean to you?
Would not freedom to a paranoid dictator mean living in a country where
everyone is alike? Would not freedom to a pedophile be free access to kids
that they desire and the freedom to do it publicly and without shame? Whose
to say one way is better than another? How do YOU get YOUR freedom? is it
by leaving another? Is it by not getting involved or close to another? Is
it by having tons of cash so you have every option open to you?

Are we not, as a government, also a paranoid dictator by running in to
change those things that we don't like NOR understand when it serves our
purpose? Are we not all pedophiles when we are little and play doctor with
one another? Don't we all on some level wish that everyone we met,
everywhere we go, everything we see brought us great joy and served us
without complaint or contradiction? Is everything that is not generally
liked or done a "Bad" thing? I often think about how just a few short years
ago all of us here would have been outcasts in a major way, burned at
stakes, drowned, put in prison because we don't uphold the general beliefs
of our society, does that make Us "Bad" too?

I have no desire to make everyone look like me, or engage in sexual
activities with little kids, or any of those more extreme acts of
possibilities, but I also have no desire to condemn another in their desire
to feel good and happy along their path either. I have NO idea what is
going on in their hearts or mind, nor do I want to because it's none of my
business, but everything is relative. I watched a movie today about a guy
who was sent to Alcatraz for steeling $5 from a post office to buy food for
himself and his little sister. He ended up pissing someone off and was
thrown in to solitary confinement for 3 years, he saw the light of day 30
minutes each year and then was released and killed someone from the
frustration of that experienced. Different characters in the movie talked
about how positive the penal system is, blah blah blah. Near the end of the
movie, he's talking with his lawyer and the "Bad" guy told him to change his
plea to guilty because he couldn't go back there, that he didn't know what
it felt like to have stolen $5, etc. His lawyer said, Yes I do, I was about
12 and took $5 out of my brother's wallet. The criminal guy asked, What did
he do? The lawyer replied, He told me to never do it again. Same crime,
different circumstances, different outcomes, different vibes, different
intents, same thing.

There are always reasons Why people do the things that they do, and we
almost never find out what the true ones are, basically it's none of our
business and doesn't make any difference. Everyone is doing the best that
they know how in every moment to feel better if not just plain good. For
you it's freedom, for me, at the moment it's finding a gorgeous beach house
that accepts dogs that is available the week of August 14-22, tomorrow it
will be something else.

I'll get off my soap box now, but I realized tonight at our "Prayer Meeting"
:D, that we're all aiming for the same thing, just using different paths to
get there and that's actually a Really Good Thing.

LOVE YA- Juls

From: Juls <laughingpaws@...>

Hi NetPaul,

Hi Juls :o)

ALL of those people that you mentioned are just doing the best that they
know how in every moment to feel happy too.

I completely agree with you...and posted something to that effect a while
back to this list.

One way is not better than another way, some ways just bring true long

lasting happiness while others

tend to be short term band aid efforts, but we're all working for the

same

goal to be Happy.

Ok...just to pull this apart a bit right before beddy bye.

First, can you see that you are using the word BETTER to both infer and
imply that I am making MORAL judgments about these hypothetical folks? I
can assure you I am not.

And second, after emphatically stating that there is no such thing as a
gradient for BETTER, you immediately go on to classify these imaginary
folks and their behaviors by your own gradient for BETTER: namely, the
EFFECTIVENESS of some means to produce LONG TERM as opposed to SHORT TERM
happiness (as you so aptly put it).

And that is exactly where I agree with you, my friend, and exactly what I
was pointing to with my post. :o)

LOVE YA back,

NetPaul

What is our working definition of "happy"?


In HOW WE CHOOSE TO BE HAPPY, this is the definition of happiness.

"A profound, enduring feeling of contentment, capability and centeredness.
A rich sense of well-being that comes from knowing you can deal
productively and creatively with all that life offers--the god and the bad.
Knowing your internal self and responding to your real needs, rather than
the demands of others. A deep sense of engageme living in the moment and
enjoying life's bounty."

I'll take that, Universe!

~^^V^^~

that last one incomplete. Try this:

harvey used to tell me that the defination of 'being happy" is:

to one who is starving .... it is food.
to one who is sick....it is health
to one who is old....it is youth
to one who is poor....it is money
to one who is lonely...it is a friend
to one who is misunderstood... it is understanding
to one who is a parent...it is the well being of a child
to one who feels hate.....it is love
to one who is at war....it is peace
to one who is afraid.....it is safety
to one who feels controlled....it is freedom
to one who dispairs....it is a dream
to one who seeks.....it is knowledge
to one who is thirsty....it is water
to one who is in darkness.....it is light
to one who feels lack....it is abundance
to one who is confused....it is knowing
to one who is rejected...it is acceptance
to one who is suffocating....it is air
to one who is hijacked.....it is rescue
to one who is critized....it is respect
to one who is dead....it is life
to one who is a jdc....it is abraham
to lois it is a laptop

and the list never ends.........it can be anything and everything, great and
small, needed or not. moment by moment, our definition of 'being happy'
changes and moves around as we do........and is also the exact same thing im
reading here that describes what "freedom" means, isnt it? i mean,
couldnt one also define 'being free' as ignoring traffic laws, shooting
guns in public, committing murder, rape, incest, theft etc etc etc?

and doesn't 'being happy' or 'being free' both mean "FEELING GOOD
NOW"? But if ya hold your mouth just right. it does almost sorta
kinda sound like you could hurt, kill or destroy and call it 'being happy'
or 'being free'. i remember wondering this too and this idea still gets
presented time and time again to abe at workshops. abe always says
that it is NOT possible to feel good and hurt something or someone else
at the same time.....PERIOD. that is just not possible for a person to
do something "bad" and feel 'good' doing it ...... that it just aint a
match and just cannot be.....that is--- if you cut thru the words to the
feelings which are the real truth. and yes....... of course we all
know you wont feel a thing when you get a tooth drilled IF you are
unconscious or have a little shot of novicane .......... but OMG ....
when that drug wears off or the person wakes up--------oh NOOOOOOOOOOO .
well, you know what i mean..... but abe says it so much better on the tapes.

Hey Paul!
I think what you're trying to
say is that being ADDICTED to happiness
is a pitfall. Right?

However, I don't think that strung out
crackheads, paranoid dictators nor
obsessed pedophiles do the things they
do out of an attempt at happiness (at
least, not consciously!)-
but in a clutching at control.

..crackhead approaching control from
knowing loss ...
...dictators aproaching control in
controlling others...
...pedophiles gaining control over
another to project their LOSS of
control onto the child....

IMO, Letting go of control is
freedom...is happiness! Surrendering
to ATI, Love, and life. Being.
Of course, the moment I clutch at
that surrender by trying to force
it, it's suffocated...until I let
go again. So, I learn eventually
what happiness, freedom, and Love is.
Ok, Ok. So, I've come full circle!
Either we are happy/in Love, or we are
learning what it isn't! So, we are
all striving towards happiness/Love,
whether we know it, or not.

<grin> What was the question?!
(shaking head at self) I need to
go to bed soon.
If happiness and freedom are
included in the broader definition
(perspective) of Love, then there is no
conflict. To be truly happy is to
be free.
Love,
Sandy >:)

So many people do so many things

because they

want to be happy...and not
all of them are of equal worth, imo.

Strung out crackheads snort crack

cause they want

to be happy.
Paranoid dictators do the ethnic

cleansing thing

cause they want to be
happy.
Obsessed pedophiles troll the net

cause they want

to be happy.

But I DO want to be happy too!

So how do I work / play with this

thing myself?

By realizing that the only
thing that REALLY can make me happy

is the

experience of being FREE.

For me, being FREE is both the

necessary and the

sufficient condition for
happiness. Everything else, it seems

to me, is

gravy.

When I am experiencing life as a FREE

being, life

is GOOOOOOOOOOOOOD. When
I fall asleep, or forget, or get

disconnected (or

whatever words you care
to use) life is not quite so

good...and sometimes

is quite "bad".

If life gets "bad", and that's where

I

concentrate all my remedial
efforts...sometimes life gets WORSE.

On the other hand, if life gets

"bad", and I

concentrate my remedial
efforts on getting FREE once again,

life

immediately gets GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD.

Is this abe-ish? I dunno!

But I do know that trading in FREE in

order to

get HAPPY would be a bad
deal for me at this point in my life.

Comments? Ideas? Thoughts?

NetPaul

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