Most people are unhappy?

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Are most people unhappy at their core but put on a facade of happiness? I suppose statistics could bare that out much more but what is the general view of the average person?
 
average gmarie here, I am joyful at the core of who I am. I find that happiness is junk, true joy is what should be sought after because one can be joyful even if they are temporarily unhappy (a.k.a. sad) at the moment.
 
I think it depends on whether they are grateful or feel entitled. Grateful people are happy as long as they remain grateful. Those who have a sense of entitlement usually think they deserve more than they have, feel slighted, resentful, bitter, etc.

I know some people who have been through some real tragedy such as rape, death, poverty, and sickness but remain grateful through it all and keep a steady stream of happiness at their core. Then there are those that I know who have been fed with a silver spoon their entire life and think it is never enough, they could win the lottery and still be miserable.
 
gmarie21 said:
average gmarie here, I am joyful at the core of who I am. I find that happiness is junk, true joy is what should be sought after because one can be joyful even if they are temporarily unhappy (a.k.a. sad) at the moment.
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Aren’t joy and sadness contradictory?

I would say that most people are unhappy. Its not necessarily a facade when they smile or laugh, it’s just that people are complex and they might be happy in the moment but be unhappy on the whole.
 
jimmy said:
Aren’t joy and sadness contradictory?

I would say that most people are unhappy. Its not necessarily a facade when they smile or laugh, it’s just that people are complex and they might be happy in the moment but be unhappy on the whole.
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I hope you realize you gave an awesome answer. 🙂
 
“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.”

Henry David Thoreau, from Walden

Your question reminds me very much of this oft-misquoted line from Thoreau. Of course he was a naturalist and Transcendentalist, but had a lot of wisdom anyway.
 
“…hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way.” -Pink Floyd
 
johnnyjones said:
Are most people unhappy at their core but put on a facade of happiness? I suppose statistics could bare that out much more but what is the general view of the average person?
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We know that no one can ever be completely happy while on earth. True happiness is found only in heaven. We are always searching for that illusionary something that will fulfill us and make us completely happy. It’s not going to happen in this life. As St. Augustine says, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee.” However, one who loves God and seeks always to do His will, will be always joyful in the knowledge that God will reward us with unending happiness when this life ends. Therefore, one can be sad because of events that happen in this life, yet always be joyful at the core because of anticipating the unending happiness to come.
 
Waiting said:
We know that no one can ever be completely happy while on earth. True happiness is found only in heaven. We are always searching for that illusionary something that will fulfill us and make us completely happy. It’s not going to happen in this life. As St. Augustine says, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee.” However, one who loves God and seeks always to do His will, will be always joyful in the knowledge that God will reward us with unending happiness when this life ends. Therefore, one can be sad because of events that happen in this life, yet always be joyful at the core because of anticipating the unending happiness to come.
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Very nice. Your words were joyful to hear.
 
Waiting said:
We know that no one can ever be completely happy while on earth. True happiness is found only in heaven. We are always searching for that illusionary something that will fulfill us and make us completely happy. It’s not going to happen in this life. As St. Augustine says, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee.” However, one who loves God and seeks always to do His will, will be always joyful in the knowledge that God will reward us with unending happiness when this life ends. Therefore, one can be sad because of events that happen in this life, yet always be joyful at the core because of anticipating the unending happiness to come.
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That was beautifully written.

Everything we try here on earth will never fill that “God-shaped hole in our souls.” (not sure who said that, but I know it’s not mine.)
 
Most people I know who do not seek their true end (to know God and enjoy Him forever) are unhappy and constantly trying to fill their days so full that they do not notice their unhappiness.
 
I am most happy and joyful when my mind is right… and by being right it means being sane of course, and having the mind of christ… everything that follows is because of his goodness. i excercise , but when i over do it… i reflect and when i play too much video games, i dont do it… the bible is the truth and in it you cant find true hapiness outside of god
 
Most people are happy. They’re imperfectly happy, but happy. Just everyone I meet my state is cheerful. On the East Coast, it’s another matter, I think. Most people I meet in Washington, D.C. or in Virginia are pretty glum looking. Hardly anyone smiles.
 
I don’t even try for happiness anymore. I just want peace in my life. I know peace only comes from God. I try to trust God and follow his will and hope to someday be happy. Right now, it would be nice to just go through one day without crying.

I do know that many days when I am ready to give up, God will put someone in my life to make me realize that everything will be okay. Patience and trust in God.
 
cviolette said:
I don’t even try for happiness anymore. I just want peace in my life. I know peace only comes from God. I try to trust God and follow his will and hope to someday be happy. Right now, it would be nice to just go through one day without crying.

I do know that many days when I am ready to give up, God will put someone in my life to make me realize that everything will be okay. Patience and trust in God.
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I may not know you but I will be thinking about you and praying for you. I understand how you feel. I may not cry, but in many ways I’m hurting inside.
 
jimmy said:
Aren’t joy and sadness contradictory?.
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I thought Waiting gave a good response to this. I just wanted to add that “joy” (in the context of Christianity) is a state of the soul, rather than a feeling generated by the brain, like sadness which is a temporary response to loss. Also, humans are pretty complex in terms of emotion. You might feel what you’d call joy or happiness at your brother’s wedding and also underlying sadness that your mother didn’t live to be there.

As to the OP’s question - I think most people are too busy to give much thought to the state of their happiness.
 
Julia_Mae said:
I thought Waiting gave a good response to this. I just wanted to add that “joy” (in the context of Christianity) is a state of the soul, rather than a feeling generated by the brain, like sadness which is a temporary response to loss. Also, humans are pretty complex in terms of emotion. You might feel what you’d call joy or happiness at your brother’s wedding and also underlying sadness that your mother didn’t live to be there.

As to the OP’s question - I think most people are too busy to give much thought to the state of their happiness.
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Happiness is generally the word used to translate eudymonia, which is the goal of Christian life. It is part of thomistic philosophy. It isn’t just an emotion.
 
I think the word “joy” is tossed out there and can mean different things to different people. I associate the possession of joy with being in an advanced state of spiritual perfection. The person who said it was a state of the soul and not a feeling said it well. The people that I would describe as joyful are all people who have been working on spiritual perfection for a long time. Joy is a fruit of that. I include in that select group a few religious that I know who are age 60+, and one of my closest friends who died of cancer at 33 leaving a husband and two babies, but for the ten years I knew her, never stopped striving to always say yes to God. She died suffering but with joy. I think for most of us, joy will come in heaven.
 
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