What is the cause of most unhappiness?

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Pag_Hingowa said:
You experience happiness to the degree you direct your life to serve a greater good. What then is the cause of most unhappiness?
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I’m sorry but you all have it wrong and are headed for greater un-happiness .

Bearable existence is knowing that peace and happiness is un-available. Theres no peace or happiness in a world such as the last 6 billion years, or what looks to be the future. Once accepted a person can avoid severe un-happiness or severe lack of peace.

Failure to follow above thinking will avail the mind to un-pleasant surprise’s. Surprise is what cause’s severe lack of peace and or severe lack of reasonable happiness.

I’m not a scripture pro by any means but isn’t there a note on be sober of mind or something? This is what the thinking is…forget being or hankering after peace-happiness and you will avoid surprise’s and severe upset…which will leave some by reading …questioning if their being punished by God or something …which as you now are learning is ridiculous…

You can’t have peace or happiness…thats the deal. …and how could you really as a
voulcher is right now eying a young starving toddler for breakfast somewhere in the world…a person is being tortured, raped …all somewhere in the world…
hows your peace-happiness meter doing…wanna make excuses? your just setting yourself up for toxic illogical guilt or maybe reality is not relative to me because God thinks I’m special…how long do you think that will last…I will tell you…it will last until your the one being circled for dinner.

So its a good thing I checked in today for you all to get into the sombre Christmas spirit in keeping with the scriptures echoing in the corners of my mind…somewhere anyway…

Be good and be un-happy , balance is not happy…u need to be intelligently balanced…discipline now…common sense is at the door with the FS insight for the day.

Common sense is what its all about, is spirituality all about common sense …or not?

Getting into the holiday spirit with semi hope that
severe dismay will be out of the picture…the only way that is possible is NOT to hanker or think you are enjoying peace or happiness…if you truly were…then nothing what so ever could disturb…therefore you know…I know…its time for some serious thinking towards common sense…semi peace forwarded without hoping for full happiness to all for the holidays 👍
 
Above is written in address of temperance…value in moderation.
 
Years ago my uncle and I shared a book that attempted to define happiness (there are a ton of such books). It didn’t really hit the nail on the head for either of us. Recently I was perusing the Bible and found a definition of happiness directly from Christ, namely the words “happy is the man who does not lose faith in me.” (Jerusalem Bible, Luke 7:23). The astonishing thing about this definition is that it can actually **make **one happy!
 
I tend to agree with Blaise Pascal:

“Most of the ttroubles in the world are cause by Man being unable to sit by himself quietly in a room.”

Not a direct quote. More of a paraphrase.:)😛
 
Philotheatoo said:
I, like Upbeatjonm, question achievement of ‘true’ happiness. This is a fleeting emotion for me, experienced only in ‘thin places’ when and where I am THE closest to God and/or am feeling Him in my heart. I believe that, for me, THAT is the essence of True happiness and, it only comes from union with God which, in this world, cannot be maintained but will be when, as Augustine says, “our hearts rest in [Him]”

Sorry if that doesn’t seem like it makes sense, it is the best I can do. 🤷
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Philo:

You did fine. Tell me, in your scenario, is there a sought-after perfection? If so, what?

God bless,
jd
 
fhansen said:
It’s never wrong to be happy. It’s just that, in our misguided pursuits of happiness we may well do wrong things. And I think saints actually are built in such a way as to be unhappy unless they’re taking up their cross more earnestly, perhaps, than others, giving their lives over to God more fully.

But the Church has much wisdom and balance on all this. Marriage and family is an important vocation, sanctioned by God IOW. To leave it and pursue a more aesthetic life would be sin for most of us. It’s not a perfect world where any of us can be absolutely secure that we’re doing all we can to please God-to do things right- but in any case we all have to keep trying to stay on the path-*all *of us are expected to work out our salvation and that involves striving to be holier. And we can do that from wherever we are,
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Thanks for the great post.👍
 
Pag_Hingowa said:
You experience happiness to the degree you direct your life to serve a greater good. What then is the cause of most unhappiness?
Click to expand...
The first sentence agrees with the principle that maturity is a function of growing away from personal ego. As for the second, the most functional answer I have found and experienced is that suffering, as distinct from pain, is a direct result of arguing with Reality.
 
"worse than death is the life of a fool"
Sirach 22, 11

Trust in God, and knowing that you will dwell in the house of the Lord forever,
can go a long way to cheering you up. 🙂

Empress Theresa’s Summa Theologica:

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want
He maketh me to lie in green pasture; he leadeth me to still waters
Though I walk through the valley of death I will fear no evil for Thou art with me
Goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever”
 
This morning, I found this short, but very complex essay by Father Jean Baptiste Saint-Jure, entitled, Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence. In it is the following:

CONFORMITY TO GOD’S WILL MAKES US
HAPPY IN THIS LIFE AS WELL
The conforming of our will to God’s is not limited to the attainment of our eternal salvation. It also has the effect of making us happy on this earth. It will give us the most perfect peace it is possible to experience in life and is the means of making this world a foretaste of heaven.

O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! God said to Israel, Thy peace had been as a river. 43 Eliphaz, one of Job’s three friends, likewise says to him: Come to terms with him to be at peace… for then you shall delight in the Almighty and you shall lift up your face towards God. 44 It is this that the angels sang at the birth of our Savior: Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men of good will. 45 Who are these men of good will but those whose wills are in harmony with the supremely good will of God? A will that is otherwise disposed must necessarily be a bad will, incapable of obtaining the peace promised to men of good will.

In order for us to enjoy peace and calm we need to have nothing opposing our will and everything done in the way we want it. But who can expect to have such happiness except the man whose will is entirely conformed to the will of God?

Remember the former age for I am God and there is no God besides… Who show from the beginning the things that shall be at last, and from ancient times the things that as yet are not done, saying: My counsel shall stand, and all My will shall be done. 46 Every will that tries to oppose the will of God is bound to be overcome and broken, and instead of peace and happiness its effort can only end in humiliation and bitterness. God is wise in heart and mighty in strength.

Who has withstood him and remained unscathed? 47 He, and he alone, whose will is perfectly united to God’s possesses the peace of God which surpasses all understanding. 48 He alone can say with God Himself all my will shall be done, because wishing all that God wishes and only what God wishes, his wishes are always fulfilled and nothing can happen that he does not wish.

No harm befalls the just, 49 or disturbs the serenity of his mind, for if he has exactly what he wishes, he cannot be unhappy in spite of himself. It is obvious that unhappiness comes not from what others feel but from what we feel ourselves. Whatever our situation is, we must be happy if we are just as we wish to be. Certainly we will still feel pain and sorrow, but they affect us only in the lower part of our being without being able to influence the mind. Obedient and resigned to the will of His Father, our Savior did not cease to be filled with the utmost joy and happiness in the midst of the most grievous sufferings it is possible to imagine.

It cannot be denied however that human nature finds the idea of suffering, humiliation, even poverty, almost incompatible with the idea of happiness, so that it is really a miracle of grace when we can be happy in such circumstances.

But this miracle always mercifully accompanies the sacrifices of one who seeks to do the will of God in all things, for it is to God’s honor and glory that those who give themselves generously to His service should be content with their lot. It may perhaps be asked how it is possible to reconcile this with the words of Christ: If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.50

If in this place our divine Master requires His disciples to deny themselves and carry His cross after Him, elsewhere He promises solemnly to give them not only life everlasting but a hundredfold all things they deny themselves to please Him in this life. 51 He further promises to ease the burden of His cross so as to lighten it; for He not only says that His yoke is sweet but adds that His burden is light. 52 If then we do not experience the sweetness of Christ’s yoke nor the lightness of the burden of the cross, it must be because we have not yet made the denial of our will and completely given up our human outlook so as to consider things in the light of faith.

This divine light would enable us to give thanks to God in all things 53 as we are taught by St. Paul He requires of us. It would be for us the beginning of that great joy that the Apostle urges us to have always. 54

43 Is. 48:18
44 Job 22:21-26
45 Luke 2:14
46 Is. 46:9-10
47 Job 9:4
48 Phil. 4:7
49 Prov. 12:21
50 Luke 9:23
51 Matt. 19:29
52 id. 11:30
53 1Thes. 5:18
54 id. 5:16

God bless,
jd
 
Pag_Hingowa said:
You experience happiness to the degree you direct your life to serve a greater good. What then is the cause of most unhappiness?
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Personally, I find myself happiest when I’m helping someone.

On the other hand, I find myself unhappiest when I’m thinking about someone who needs help, and I’m unable to help. It’s a very hollow feeling.

Xuan
 
SIN(Godlessness)

At the office, gossip, jealousy,no cooperation, late, wasting time,unfaithfulness…
At home, dissagreement, anger, homework, laziness, bickering, tv …
In neighbohood, uncaring, theft, drinking, drugs, breakins, adultery…
On highway, road rage, (others self evident)
In school, indifferent, hostility, no cooporation, poor prep, sex, fights…
In church, cliches, aloofness, indifference, impiety, …
In stores, attitude, patience, testi, stealing,…
On streets, too much to tell.

This is not to say there is not lots of good but just that sin is the main cause
of unhappiness.
 
fred_conty said:
SIN(Godlessness)

At the office, gossip, jealousy,no cooperation, late, wasting time,unfaithfulness…
At home, dissagreement, anger, homework, laziness, bickering, tv …
In neighbohood, uncaring, theft, drinking, drugs, breakins, adultery…
On highway, road rage, (others self evident)
In school, indifferent, hostility, no cooporation, poor prep, sex, fights…
In church, cliches, aloofness, indifference, impiety, …
In stores, attitude, patience, testi, stealing,…
On streets, too much to tell.

This is not to say there is not lots of good but just that sin is the main cause
of unhappiness.
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In short, all examples of arguing with Reality.
 
The cause of most unhappiness is the same cause for most happiness.

Desire.

If desire were removed from our existence, so would unhappiness and happiness.🙂

👍
 
I would say that the main cause of unhappiness is that we choose to disobey the natural law (which is a participation in the eternal law). God made us in a particular way, we are ordered to him, ordered to experience the beatific vision which is our final cause. Here are some common examples of acts that are against natural law, as well as the unhappy consequences that they bring:
  1. **We over work ourselves and do not have balance in our lives. **
    Consequences: Our health deteriorates; our stress levels rise; our personal relationships falter. For many of us, this is why it is important to keep the Lord’s day as a day of rest!
  2. When we commit acts of sexual impurity like rape, fornification, adultery, etc.
    Consequences: Spread of STDS like HIV (there would be virtually no STD problem if people only had sex within marriage); produces a paradigm in which women are just sexual objects of gratification; decreases the value and importance of love between couples; increases divorce rates which results in the break down of the family, etc.
  3. **Smoking **
    Consequences: Adverse health effects, lung cancer, billions of tax dollars spent on trying to cure lung cancer patients, bad breath (lol), yellow teeth; We also cause these same consequences to happen to other people who ingest our 2nd hand smoke.
  4. Unjust wars, slavery, homosexuality, etc…
    I can keep going on and on. The reason why we are not happy is that we disobey the natural law which is grounded in our human nature and ultimately God’s nature. Each and every one of these examples can be discerned to be against natural law.
 
I thought this quote from Augustine might be appropriate here and was quite interesting in any case:

"Complete abstinence is easier than perfect moderation."
 
fhansen said:
I thought this quote from Augustine might be appropriate here and was quite interesting in any case:

"Complete abstinence is easier than perfect moderation."
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Yes, it is true, because one is then relieved from the delicacies of keeping their balance. So it is easier to abstain from food than to make proper choices. Well, up to a point. 🙂
 
Sin is the cause of unhappiness.

Either your own sin, especially a continuing habitual sin, and often simply sins of omission
sin committed against you of which you are the innocent victim
social sin which conspires to prevent you from taking steps to improve your lot
failure to embrace the Beatitudes, which is a sin to the extent it represents a rejection of virtue, but becoming immersed in the Beatitudes is the sure road to happiness, we have Christ’s promise on that.
 
Pag_Hingowa said:
You experience happiness to the degree you direct your life to serve a greater good. What then is the cause of most unhappiness?
Click to expand...
Not wanting to learn how to love like Jesus…
Not wanting to love like Jesus…
Not wanting to spread how to love like Jesus…

All of us do those things in life, the trouble comes in not wanting to do them. For if you do not want to do them, and you are doing them, you cannot be happy because you are doing something you do not want to do.
 
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