# Happiness



## kitty2013 (Dec 6, 2013)

What do you do to make your life happy? What makes you happy? 
How high is your stress level ( 0= no stress, 10 = worse stress possible) and what do you do to keep the stress level down?
How much money do you need to make you feel happy? (annual income)
If you could move to another place in this world, where would it be?


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## jld (Dec 1, 2013)

Relaxing. Simplifying. Realizing I don't need everything I think I do.

My stress level is pretty low. Most of my kids are away for the summer, so it's quiet and peaceful in the house. 

More than I care to admit, I think. I don't like worrying about money.

I'm pretty happy right here in America. Europe is beautiful, though, too. I've never been to Africa or South America. Might be interesting to do some traveling there.


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## SimplyAmorous (Nov 25, 2009)

kitty2013 said:


> *What do you do to make your life happy? What makes you happy? *


 I think happiness is always tied to a sense of "purpose"... whatever that may be to each individual. 

Happiness for me is being married to my best friend, sharing our lives together ..the romance, the building, watching our kids grow, giving to them makes us happy.. seeing them thrive is our reward... it's the simple things really.. 












> *How high is your stress level ( 0= no stress, 10 = worse stress possible) *and what do you do to keep the stress level down?


 Circumstance wise...our stress level is near zero...(husband has more than me -on his job, etc)... but the way life is.. this could change at any moment (which keeps you humble).... by outside forces, a job lay off, sickness / disease, an accident (a teen our 17 yr old goes to school with drowned in a river yesterday - very tragic) 



> *How much money do you need to make you feel happy? (annual income)*


 Enough to pay all of our bills on time... if our car breaks down, blows a motor, we can buy another one with $$ & drive it off the lot...have some saved for a rainy day, or I like to say a torrential downpour...enough to take a couple family vacations every year .... to where we are not fighting or arguing we need more.. We've always been able to live within my H's blue collar salary...so this is good...



> *If you could move to another place in this world, where would it be?*


 I really never thought about this .... I am very content where I am (I know he would say the same)... when I think of moving , I think of all the people / familiar places / memories , good times HERE and how I would miss that.. those friends left behind.. so I like to stay put ..and just live out our days.. We're one of those  Small town  people - like in Mellencamps Old song..


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## over20 (Nov 15, 2013)

Great topic. We actually moved out of a big city to country life 2 years ago and it was the best thing we could have ever done...reduced our stress level drastically.....So we are happy living in a small town. As far as money, as long we can pay our bills and have a little extra for fun, we are happy. Hubs and I have always tried to laugh a lot....we are huge SNL type of humor people....life can get very dark sometimes but we try remember the sun will come out again..Lastly, as long as we love and cherish each other and our kids we are content.


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## lonelyhusband321 (Feb 18, 2014)

kitty2013 said:


> What do you do to make your life happy? What makes you happy?
> How high is your stress level ( 0= no stress, 10 = worse stress possible) and what do you do to keep the stress level down?
> How much money do you need to make you feel happy? (annual income)
> If you could move to another place in this world, where would it be?


GREAT questions, and I am sure you know the answers.

Sometimes the answers are questions....


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## DoF (Mar 27, 2014)

kitty2013 said:


> What do you do to make your life happy? What makes you happy?


Family, sports, outdoors and physical activity seems to be what makes me happy.



kitty2013 said:


> How high is your stress level ( 0= no stress, 10 = worse stress possible) and what do you do to keep the stress level down?


Depends, it fluctuates at times. 

Just taking a break, relaxing and just thinking about the big picture. Most of our stress in our lives comes from complete BS.



kitty2013 said:


> How much money do you need to make you feel happy? (annual income)


Money plays a very little role in my happiness. As long as I have enough to pay for the bills and get by, I'm good.

I come from country where we had VERY little, and we were as happy if not happier than we are here.



kitty2013 said:


> If you could move to another place in this world, where would it be?


I like America, I wouldn't move. But as **** keeps going down the toilet I can see myself moving to New Zealand or something.


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## lilith23 (Sep 6, 2012)

To make my life happy, I try to be honest with myself and go after what I want. For example, if I'm not happy with my relationship then I'll talk to my H directly, if I'm not happy with my job then I'll try to see ways to change it, and I try to find out what I enjoy doing in my own free time, and also spend money on things without being too uptight as long as it's within the limits.

Life for me is what I make it to be out of what I have. It's too short to not take action or leave things be in hope they'd get better by themselves.

Also, I don't take what I have for granted, I remind myself to be glad of what I have and how lucky I am.


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## GA HEART (Oct 18, 2011)

My family, horses, chickens, bunnies (the little hobbies) keep me happy. Looking towards the future also keeps me happy (i.e. keeping my dreams in mind even though they seem far away at the moment.)

My stress level vaires, but I am an ANTI-DRAMA type person. Generally, my stress level is low. I have GREAT kiddos who don't give me too much grief. I raised a couple kids that are now back with their bio mom who kept my stress level VERY high. I love them with all I got, and consider them my own......but they were VERY high maintenance and loved getting into trouble. My two bio kids are dang near as perfect as a 16 year old boy and an 11 year old boy can be. My job is redundant and frustrating, but it doesn't cause extreme amounts of stress in my life. And the BF can be a pekker head (lol) but for the most part things are great there too.

As far as money goes, I could say that I need millions. In fact, those far away dreams I mentioned cannot happen without a significant amount of start up. But I cannot complain (too loudly) with what I have now. My job pays me well for what I do, child support helps, and next month I start getting my portion of my ex's retirement. (Not even gonna apologize for that one!!!) 

I don't want to move anywhere else, I like the US.


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## ScarletBegonias (Jun 26, 2012)

kitty2013 said:


> What do you do to make your life happy? What makes you happy?
> How high is your stress level ( 0= no stress, 10 = worse stress possible) and what do you do to keep the stress level down?
> How much money do you need to make you feel happy? (annual income)
> If you could move to another place in this world, where would it be?


A lot of things make me happy. The big ones are spending time with my husband and my son. 
My stress level fluctuates. At work,my stress level is usually around a 7 and can go full throttle to a 10 occasionally. Hence my time spent on tam  Chatting about life is a pressure release for me.
At home my stress level is usually a 0. I like to meditate if I feel stressed at home. Or I'll paint my nails..sounds silly but it's relaxing to me to make them pretty. 

In order to feel happy money wise I need to feel secure. I can't be happy living pay check to pay check. I have to know I make enough to support our lifestyle by myself if DH ever couldn't work or if he passed away. I need to know that he could do the same if something happened to me. I wouldn't be comfortable with a household income of less than 100K in this area. 

I really don't know where I'd move. I haven't experienced enough of the world or even my own country to make an informed decision.


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## GA HEART (Oct 18, 2011)

Scarlett, I'm glad I don't live in your area!  I"m no where near 100K, but glad I don't need to be. It's always been interesting to me the standard of living differences in different places, even in the same country. 

We all know the saying that "money doesn't buy happiness." But I wouldn't complain at an oppoortunity to prove that theory wrong.


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## ScarletBegonias (Jun 26, 2012)

GA HEART said:


> Scarlett, I'm glad I don't live in your area!  I"m no where near 100K, but glad I don't need to be. It's always been interesting to me the standard of living differences in different places, even in the same country.
> 
> We all know the saying that "money doesn't buy happiness." But I wouldn't complain at an oppoortunity to prove that theory wrong.


It doesn't buy happiness,that's true. But it buys comfort and comfort equals happiness and less stress. 

our income could be lower but then we wouldn't be able to squirrel away enough to handle the unexpected and we wouldn't be contributing as much to our retirement accounts. I mean,as it stands if one of us needs a new car we could easily afford it without being strapped.That's so important to me. 

If my son breaks his glasses I like knowing I can go out without waiting for my next paycheck and buy a new pair if those can't be repaired. The ease of mind that comes with making a little extra and living a little smaller is incredible. When the bank tells people how much house they can afford people tend to max it out just to get bigger. We went somewhere in the middle of what we could afford,got a really pretty house and it'll be paid off in around 12-15 years. 

Peace of mind=happy


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## Married but Happy (Aug 13, 2013)

kitty2013 said:


> What do you do to make your life happy? What makes you happy?
> How high is your stress level ( 0= no stress, 10 = worse stress possible) and what do you do to keep the stress level down?
> How much money do you need to make you feel happy? (annual income)
> If you could move to another place in this world, where would it be?


Happiness comes mostly from a few relationships, primarily my wife and a few close friends. Spending time with my wife, whether it's a vacation or day trip or dinner out, or just watching TV or exercsing together, creates happiness. And our great sex life contributes tremendously!

My stress level is maybe a 2 - pretty low. It's gotten better now that my job is more stable than it has been for most of the past 12 years. We manage stress through exercise, meditation, sex, and generally being supportive and there for each other.

Money doesn't make me happy, but it enables me to remove all the problems that could create stress and make me unhappy, as well as participate in activities I enjoy (such as travel). I want enough to ensure decent living conditions, health care, and modest leisure activities including some travel. Having a year of liquid emergency funds for living expenses is my baseline for security, plus enough saved for retirement to maintain at least my current standard of living.

We're pretty content where we're living now, but if we could, we'd spend half the year in the northeast/New England closer to major arts and cultural venues, and closer to mountains and hiking. We like the beach and lack of cold weather where we are now, but don't much like the "culture" here. Other places I would live (at least part of the year): Vancouver, BC; Toronto, ON; Kyoto, Japan; Hong Kong.


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## kitty2013 (Dec 6, 2013)

I almost agree with all posts here.

I feel happy when my husband gives me his attention. I like it a lot. I feel happy when the people I love are in good health.
I have two good friends. I feel happy to have them in my life. I can no longer hang out with them because I have moved away from our town, but we text daily. It breaks my heart when both of them are having health issues in their 20s. Their happiness makes me happy too. I have over 500 photos with these two friends . 
Cats and dogs make me happy. They are so cute. 

I need enough money to pay for basic costs of living. I feel safe here in America. I do not know why I love America in the 70s and early 80s. I was not even born yet, but I love it so much when I see an old movie or old photos about America during that period of time. I do not mind moving to another country as long as it is a safe place. 

My stress level is about 0-1 at home. It is about 4-6 at work depending on the day. I know it will get better. I want to keep my stress level around 1-2.


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## Thundarr (Jul 4, 2012)

kitty2013

- Normally I'm just happy.
- My stress level creeps up to a 4-5 because I'm competitive and create stress when it's not there.
- I need to have some money in case of disaster saved or I'll be really stressed.
- I'd visit a lot of places but living near family and friends is where I want to stay.


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## kitty2013 (Dec 6, 2013)

Thundarr said:


> kitty2013
> 
> - Normally I'm just happy.
> - My stress level creeps up to a 4-5 because I'm competitive and create stress when it's not there.
> ...


I do not know if it is true or not but I have heard that women tend to worry more than men:scratchhead:

P/S: Your family and friends are lucky. Being around a happy person makes a huge difference.


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## Thundarr (Jul 4, 2012)

kitty2013 said:


> I do not know if it is true or not but I have heard that women tend to worry more than men:scratchhead:
> 
> P/S: Your family and friend are lucky. Being around a happy person makes a huge difference.


I think on average women worry more than men but I'm sure there are exceptions. I know my wife considers me the emotional rock. On the rare occasion when my stress or uncertainty shows, she goes all to h3ll.

Oh and thank you very much. I hope me being generally happy and emotionally stable is a good thing for those around me but I'd feel guilty if something happened to me. A lot of family members (wife, children, siblings, etc) seem to make me the rock of the family.


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## richardsharpe (Jul 8, 2014)

Good afternoon all
I think that there are different types of stress. There is the negative stress of worrying about things that you can't really fix, or being overloaded with too much to do. That can cause unhappiness.

There is also the positive stress that is associated with being valued and that results in pride in a job well done. The stress of flying an aircraft through a storm and the relief of seeing the runway lights appear out of the mist. The stress of being called in to work in the middle of the night to fix a problem no one else can fix. The stress of being invited to talk in front of a thousand people. 

I think a lot of happiness comes from valuing the people around you and having them value you. It comes from mutual respect form your coworkers and mutual love with your partner. 

If you have enough for the necessities, money doesn't have nearly as much of an effect on happiness as many people think.


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## kitty2013 (Dec 6, 2013)

Happiness comes from the ability:
to love others 
to appreciate what we have
to forgive ourselves 
to accept that we are not perfect
to cope with problems effectively 
and to let go of things

All of the above can be LEARNED.


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