why is it so hard for some people to be happy in America?

[boonstack]

eat clean & stay healthy, exercise, pay your bills, get an education, dont break the law, work hard, enjoy life.. how can people get this wrong? Its really really hard to mess this kind of lifestyle up.

right now i have absolute freedom to literally do anything i want to do.
-go to a concert
-go to a movie, rent a movie, search the internet
-buy any food i want to cook at home, go to any restaurant i want
-go to university
-drive any car i want
-go to a bar, ask a chick out, get rejected , or get laid. Either way, its all good

point is, freedom. If you cant make it here, you cant make it period. I dont know one person that isnt "doing pretty good" even considering the situation in the economy, unless they are totally worthless.

[QuakerOats]

life could be better even for you "boonstacK", you could be "@brandon" and own your own tropical island after selling your billion dollar business and retiring from the special forces like he claims to.

[The_Leafy_Bug]

eat clean & stay healthy, exercise, pay your bills, get an education, dont break the law, work hard, enjoy life.. how can people get this wrong? Its really really hard to mess this kind of lifestyle up.

right now i have absolute freedom to literally do anything i want to do.
-go to a concert
-go to a movie, rent a movie, search the internet
-buy any food i want to cook at home, go to any restaurant i want
-go to university
-drive any car i want
-go to a bar, ask a chick out, get rejected , or get laid. Either way, its all good

point is, freedom. If you cant make it here, you cant make it period. I dont know one person that isnt "doing pretty good" even considering the situation in the economy, unless they are totally worthless.

It's called Maslows Need Hierarchy. People will always want more regardless if they have enough.

[boonstack]

It's called Maslows Need Hierarchy. People will always want more regardless if they have enough.

there are certainly plenty faults in America. Kids cant point to their own country on a map, but good news is they can name at least 2 simpsons characters. A minority of americans are well educated, well read, and well traveled, and most only speak one language- its not the brightest country, and certainly not the healthiest, but whatever happens to citizens here is truly up to themselves. take advantage or dont.

[polychronopolous]

right now i have absolute freedom to literally do anything i want to do.

-drive any car i want

 

[The_Leafy_Bug]

there are certainly plenty faults in America. Kids cant point to their own country on a map, but good news is they can name at least 2 simpsons characters. A minority of americans are well educated, well read, and well traveled, and most only speak one language- its not the brightest country, and certainly not the healthiest, but whatever happens to citizens here is truly up to themselves. take advantage or dont.

You're preachin to the choir

[webcake]

lol, you saying you don't believe that boonstack has a Bugatti Veyron in his garage.....?

[webcake]

I'm not American and i am happy. 

[QuakerOats]

I've lived all over the World. I have no problem being happy in America. But NYC is a very special place.

that's where you asked out Angelina Jolie, got your 35,000 dollar Christmas bonus and spotted the 195 pounder benching 500 for 7, right?

[polychronopolous]

lol, you saying you don't believe that boonstack has a Bugatti Veyron in his garage.....?

Ah Boonstack here wouldn't bend over to pick up the 1 and a half million dollars it took to buy that vehicle.

[JimmyTheFish]

It's called Maslows Need Hierarchy. People will always want more regardless if they have enough.

yes and the collective u.s. is back to bottom of the pyramid -- 

greed is a bitch

[Dos Equis]

eat clean & stay healthy, exercise, pay your bills, get an education, dont break the law, work hard, enjoy life.. how can people get this wrong? Its really really hard to mess this kind of lifestyle up.

right now i have absolute freedom to literally do anything i want to do.
-go to a concert
-go to a movie, rent a movie, search the internet
-buy any food i want to cook at home, go to any restaurant i want
-go to university
-drive any car i want
-go to a bar, ask a chick out, get rejected , or get laid. Either way, its all good

point is, freedom. If you cant make it here, you cant make it period. I dont know one person that isnt "doing pretty good" even considering the situation in the economy, unless they are totally worthless.

There are exceptions, but these are great comments.  Even in the middle of an economic crisis it's possible to do exactly what you say.  People can be happy if they want. 

[Hereford]

I'm not American and i am happy. 

You are blissfully Australian?

[tonymctones]

It's called Maslows Need Hierarchy. People will always want more regardless if they have enough.

maslows hierarchy of needs says ppl seek things out in an order not that ppl always want more.

[tonymctones]

eat clean & stay healthy, exercise, pay your bills, get an education, dont break the law, work hard, enjoy life.. how can people get this wrong? Its really really hard to mess this kind of lifestyle up.

right now i have absolute freedom to literally do anything i want to do.
-go to a concert
-go to a movie, rent a movie, search the internet
-buy any food i want to cook at home, go to any restaurant i want
-go to university
-drive any car i want
-go to a bar, ask a chick out, get rejected , or get laid. Either way, its all good

point is, freedom. If you cant make it here, you cant make it period. I dont know one person that isnt "doing pretty good" even considering the situation in the economy, unless they are totally worthless.

very good way of looking at life boon.

[240 is Back]

great thread boon

[24KT]

Because they've seen what life is like in Canada? 

[webcake]

You are blissfully Australian?

Australian and happy.

[MuscleMcMannus]

eat clean & stay healthy, exercise, pay your bills, get an education, dont break the law, work hard, enjoy life.. how can people get this wrong? Its really really hard to mess this kind of lifestyle up.

right now i have absolute freedom to literally do anything i want to do.
-go to a concert
-go to a movie, rent a movie, search the internet
-buy any food i want to cook at home, go to any restaurant i want
-go to university
-drive any car i want
-go to a bar, ask a chick out, get rejected , or get laid. Either way, its all good

point is, freedom. If you cant make it here, you cant make it period. I dont know one person that isnt "doing pretty good" even considering the situation in the economy, unless they are totally worthless.

Haha typical dumbass American that thinks prosperity is the same thing as freedom.     There is a shit ton of things that are illegal in America that are legal in most countries.  I can't ride a motorcyle in most states without wearing a helmet.  I can't talk on my cell phone anymore in the car in CA.  I can't buy raw milk fresh from a farmer.  I have to buy a national park pass to enjoy something I already pay a shitload of money for in taxes.  And these are small things.  Just extrapolate this shit to businesses, owning land etc.  We are one of the most heavily taxed nations in the world.  Shit those of you who think you are free in America are delusional.  Most of us are a slave to our jobs and a slave to what we see and hear on Tv, the news, and what our government tells us.  Most people couldn't even survive for two weeks without their jobs.  We are all in debt with car payments, mortgages, etc. 

[stormshadow]

Haha typical dumbass American that thinks prosperity is the same thing as freedom.     There is a shit ton of things that are illegal in America that are legal in most countries.  I can't ride a motorcyle in most states without wearing a helmet.  I can't talk on my cell phone anymore in the car in CA.  I can't buy raw milk fresh from a farmer.  I have to buy a national park pass to enjoy something I already pay a shitload of money for in taxes.  And these are small things.  Just extrapolate this shit to businesses, owning land etc.  We are one of the most heavily taxed nations in the world.  Shit those of you who think you are free in America are delusional.  Most of us are a slave to our jobs and a slave to what we see and hear on Tv, the news, and what our government tells us.  Most people couldn't even survive for two weeks without their jobs.  We are all in debt with car payments, mortgages, etc. 

How about

Modify your own house or build on your own land without a permit
Save money without having it's value eroded by monetary inflation from the Government and FRS
Raise your children as you see fit
Injest substances that are neither dangerous or addictive
Radio broadcast free from Federal Government censorship
Assemble in the city or sell a product without a permit
Fish or hunt without a liscense
Run a daycare out of your home
Sell food out of your home

We are prosperous now because we print the worlds money, and happy because we buy a lot of garbage products to keep us entertained.  The whole sense of Family and community is GONE from America.

Try to buy land and start a farm, or drill for oil, or do anything to make money outside of being a Federal Income Tax witheld W2 Wage slave and you will see how little freedom we have left.

You CANNOT have personal liberty without having economic independence.  As MM said, nearly every American is in debt and is a slave to their job and the system.

[War-Horse]

How about

Modify your own house or build on your own land without a permit
Save money without having it's value eroded by monetary inflation from the Government and FRS
Raise your children as you see fit
Injest substances that are neither dangerous or addictive
Radio broadcast free from Federal Government censorship
Assemble in the city or sell a product without a permit
Fish or hunt without a liscense
Run a daycare out of your home
Sell food out of your home

We are prosperous now because we print the worlds money, and happy because we buy a lot of garbage products to keep us entertained.  The whole sense of Family and community is GONE from America.

Try to buy land and start a farm, or drill for oil, or do anything to make money outside of being a Federal Income Tax witheld W2 Wage slave and you will see how little freedom we have left.

You CANNOT have personal liberty without having economic independence.  As MM said, nearly every American is in debt and is a slave to their job and the system.

true dat.

[OzmO]

Lincoln said:

"Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."

[Dos Equis]

Lincoln said:

"Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."

True.  Good find. 

[loco]

The Keys to Happiness, and Why We Don't Use Them

"It requires some effort to achieve a happy outlook on life, and most people don't make it."
—Author and researcher Gregg Easterbrook

Psychologists have recently handed the keys to happiness to the public, but many people cling to gloomy ways out of habit, experts say.

Polls show Americans are no happier today than they were 50 years ago despite significant increases in prosperity, decreases in crime, cleaner air, larger living quarters and a better overall quality of life.

So what gives?

Happiness is 50 percent genetic, says University of Minnesota researcher David Lykken. What you do with the other half of the challenge depends largely on determination, psychologists agree. As Abraham Lincoln once said, "Most people are as happy as they make up their minds to be."

What works, and what doesn't

Happiness does not come via prescription drugs, although 10 percent of women 18 and older and 4 percent of men take antidepressants, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Anti-depressants benefit those with mental illness but are no happiness guarantee, researchers say.

Nor will money or prosperity buy happiness for many of us. Money that lifts people out of poverty increases happiness, but after that, the better paychecks stop paying off sense-of-well-being dividends, research shows.

One route to more happiness is called "flow," an engrossing state that comes during creative or playful activity, psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has found. Athletes, musicians, writers, gamers, and religious adherents know the feeling. It comes less from what you're doing than from how you do it.

Sonja Lyubomirsky of the University of California at Riverside has discovered that the road toward a more satisfying and meaningful life involves a recipe repeated in schools, churches and synagogues. Make lists of things for which you're grateful in your life, practice random acts of kindness, forgive your enemies, notice life's small pleasures, take care of your health, practice positive thinking, and invest time and energy into friendships and family.

The happiest people have strong friendships, says Ed Diener, a psychologist University of Illinois. Interestingly his research finds that most people are slightly to moderately happy, not unhappy.

On your own

Some Americans are reluctant to make these changes and remain unmotivated even though our freedom to pursue happiness is written into the preamble of the Declaration of Independence.

Don't count on the government, for now, Easterbrook says.

Our economy lacks the robustness to sustain policy changes that would bring about more happiness, like reorienting cities to minimize commute times.

The onus is on us.

"There are selfish reasons to behave in altruistic ways," says Gregg Easterbrook, author of "The Progress Paradox: How Life Gets Better While People Feel Worse" (Random House, 2004).

"Research shows that people who are grateful, optimistic and forgiving have better experiences with their lives, more happiness, fewer strokes, and higher incomes," according to Easterbrook. "If it makes world a better place at same time, this is a real bonus."

Diener has collected specific details on this. People who positively evaluate their well-being on average have stronger immune systems, are better citizens at work, earn more income, have better marriages, are more sociable, and cope better with difficulties.

Unhappy by default

Lethargy holds many people back from doing the things that lead to happiness.

Easterbrook, also a Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institute, goes back to Freud, who theorized that unhappiness is a default condition because it takes less effort to be unhappy than to be happy.

"If you are looking for something to complain about, you are absolutely certain to find it," Easterbrook told LiveScience. "It requires some effort to achieve a happy outlook on life, and most people don't make it. Most people take the path of least resistance. Far too many people today don't make the steps to make their life more fulfilling one."

http://www.livescience.com/health/060227_happiness_keys.html