so, honest question, how the fuck can you ever feel happy if you're that aware of the realities of your situation?
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I guess the part I don't understand is, why would this awareness make me unhappy? What is, is. I can't walk through a brick wall; does this inability necessitate my misery? So why would any of the other things I can't control similarly require my unhappiness?
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what does make you happy? (aside from dunking on anti-car hippies)
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I think it's interesting and profitable to attempt to separate the pleasurable from the happy; they're often intertwined. So there are a variety of pleasant activities, but that's not what you're asking, I think. >
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Replying to @palecur @anti_nihilist and
> Ultimately what makes me happy is the _habit of being happy_, which is a frustrating nonanswer, I must admit. Learning to be happy is a nonintuitive, sometimes difficult process. I cheated by being naturally talented at it, and accidents of birth and upbringing contributed. >
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Replying to @palecur @anti_nihilist and
> But it's a learnable skill; I've seen people both put the work in and, when confronted with the opportunity to, explicitly refuse to put the work in. Hell, I've been miserable; I've spent days mired in wretchedness. >
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Replying to @palecur @anti_nihilist and
> Being happy isn't 'never being sad'. But I *do* feel curious at this persistent thread in the discussion about control and its relationship to happiness. I value autonomy very highly; self-discipline is the main yearning of my life, because I show so little of it. >
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Replying to @palecur @anti_nihilist and
> Given, then, that my history shows me how bad I am at establishing basic control over *my own actions*, from the cliche' "Work out moar" to the esoteric "keep a dream journal", why would I have any ambitions for *external* control? >
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Replying to @palecur @anti_nihilist and
> There's an environment in which we exist; we apply our intelligence and experience to choose actions within that environment; our environment changes. What is happiness, then, but learning both to make satisfactory choices and then being satisfied with those choices? x
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So are you saying that being satisfied with the choices you've made makes you happy? I understand if you don't want to explain what you care about in a public forum, but that still seems extremely vague.
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to my understanding of it there's a lot packed in there, like we're talking about satisfaction derived from the choices being in keeping with what one values, from effective action taken in overcoming obstacles to implement those choices, big constellation of stuff
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