Meaning or happiness

RGacky3 said:

Oh I don't believe you'll change them, because your not a rational person.

I'm just saying if you're not gonna defend anything you say, you might as well just not post anything at all, you're posts have as much value as just random letters since you don't justify or defend anything.

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Being "rational" is kind of like being "sane"..... HIGHLY OVER-RATED.

RGacky3 said:

Yeah, but that doesn't necessarily equate to happiness, perhaps the present sucks and the future will be better, perhaps the present sucks and the past was better.

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If the past sucks, then it's best to examine why and not repeat the same mistakes in the present.

then, forget it. The past is past. It can't be changed. There is no point in dwelling on it.

Meanwhile, there is no way to know the future, so just live the present the best you know how.

Evenstar said:

Inconsistencies are found in the subjectivity of the matters being discussed. If you think happiness and a life of meaning can be intertwined, please explain why. I'm not opposed to that view point. In fact, I'd like to learn how people can accomplish both at the same time.

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Much probably depends on one's definition of happiness. To me, happiness isn't so much a feeling, as a state of contentment with life as it is. It encompasses past, present, and future, and isn't dependent on my emotional states of joy or sorrow. Imo, this is where meaningfulness comes into play. As an example, when I lost my father, about a year and a half ago, you might expect that I would be unhappy, but unhappy doesn't really describe it. I felt a huge loss, but I have great memories of my father which mediated the sorrow, and I realize the fact of mortality of each of us. The meaningfulness of my relationship with my father kept me from being unhappy.

There is no logical fallacy in the OP. It was a question meant to be examined more than a statement.

Dittohead not! said:

If the past sucks, then it's best to examine why and not repeat the same mistakes in the present.

then, forget it. The past is past. It can't be changed. There is no point in dwelling on it.

Meanwhile, there is no way to know the future, so just live the present the best you know how.

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Except one way to guarantee that the future will suck is if you don't plan for it.

Also if the past sucks and you don't want to repeat them, you have to examine it.

Point being, "living in the present" isn't really that good of a way to be happy, at least not with a lot of exceptions.

Evenstar said:

There is no logical fallacy in the OP. It was a question meant to be examined more than a statement.

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ic, I think I missunderstood the purpose.

RGacky3 said:

Except one way to guarantee that the future will suck is if you don't plan for it.

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True, and planning for it, and working those plans, has to happen in the present. Moreover, the plans we make don't always come to fruition. The best laid plans of mice and men and all that.