What is the secret to happiness?

I used to be a generally unhappy person, and I've been trying to change that.
One of the biggest changes I've done is try to stop avoiding things using drugs and alcohol, and also giving myself the time to think about things instead of constantly trying to keep my mind occupied.
Another big challenge is needing to take large risks. I'm very risk averse. I think is the biggest thing holding me back at the moment.

How do you make yourself happy?

Happiness for me comes in many forms. Some comes from the company of friends, some comes from volunteering to help others, and of course some comes from accomplishing my goals.

I've always had lots of roommates, I like living with people and having a chance to socialize without going outside. It's also fun to have parties and cook a bunch of food for friends, or just spending time together playing video games.

I do volunteer work for a few open source projects including software for a local burning man / creative arts festival. It's so rewarding being able to take feedback from people and turn it into a real product. For years they've been doing all sorts of tedious things with spreadsheets and it's nice to know that by spending a few hours of my time to make software for them, I'll be able to save days if not weeks of their time.

As for my goals, well, I like gardening and being able to harvest more and more food ever year is really rewarding to me.

And... of course being in a loving relationship with two wonderful men helps the happiness factor too.

Thank you.

Thank you.

You could always wake up too tired to realize how bad life is and fill your day with meaningless things or friends to distract you from the despair like I do.

;_;

Quote from: nicefish on January 31, 2017, 07:25:38 am

Thank you.

You could always wake up too tired to realize how bad life is and fill your day with meaningless things or friends to distract you from the despair like I do.

;_;

Are you content with that? Do you have plans to change anything?

I do use sleep deprivation to make it through the work week. It would be nice to have a job where I don't have to do that.

I stopped having a laptop and it improved my life a lot. I just have a desktop at the moment. I mostly use it for work.

When I had a laptop I'd get bored of the internet and want to quit, but I'd be laying in bed so I would have a hard time stopping. Or I'd get up but because I could take the laptop anywhere else with me I'd just bring it along and stare at static homepages waiting for something to happen.

When I get bored of the internet on my desktop, I just quit using it. I find it easier to do productive stuff, read books, and actually cook meals which I didn't do much before.

Not to mention I think most people's social anxiety and depression are caused by social media. Maybe it's correlation =/= causation stuff, but literally every single person I know who has depression or anxiety are absolutely addicted to Facebook or Tumblr.

So I guess fixing Internet addiction has been a huge ~*secret to success*~ for me.

Quote from: Kitlero on January 31, 2017, 12:21:56 pm

Quote from: nicefish on January 31, 2017, 07:25:38 am

Thank you.

You could always wake up too tired to realize how bad life is and fill your day with meaningless things or friends to distract you from the despair like I do.

;_;

Are you content with that? Do you have plans to change anything?

I do use sleep deprivation to make it through the work week. It would be nice to have a job where I don't have to do that.

I suppose as much as I'd be content with anything else in life. I'm not a big connections person for the most part so I like the people I end up connecting with more than usual, that might have something to do with it.
I think it's just the world to me. I just see everything as a way to manipulate masses in some way and it just makes me a bit sad about the state of the world, to keep it short.

I stopped having a laptop and it improved my life a lot. I just have a desktop at the moment. I mostly use it for work.

When I had a laptop I'd get bored of the internet and want to quit, but I'd be laying in bed so I would have a hard time stopping. Or I'd get up but because I could take the laptop anywhere else with me I'd just bring it along and stare at static homepages waiting for something to happen.

When I get bored of the internet on my desktop, I just quit using it. I find it easier to do productive stuff, read books, and actually cook meals which I didn't do much before.

Not to mention I think most people's social anxiety and depression are caused by social media. Maybe it's correlation =/= causation stuff, but literally every single person I know who has depression or anxiety are absolutely addicted to Facebook or Tumblr.

So I guess fixing Internet addiction has been a huge ~*secret to success*~ for me.

Thank you.
I'd love to try cutting down on internet usage.
If I didn't have internet, I believe I'd be forced to leave my comfort zone so I don't go insane from boredom, which should improve my life.
Turning off my computer feels very uncomfortable, though. I could never keep it off for too long.
I'm glad it worked out for you.

I have social anxiety/depression, and am addicted to reddit. Another data point for you.

Quote from: nicefish on January 31, 2017, 01:23:56 pm

Quote from: Kitlero on January 31, 2017, 12:21:56 pm

Quote from: nicefish on January 31, 2017, 07:25:38 am

Thank you.

You could always wake up too tired to realize how bad life is and fill your day with meaningless things or friends to distract you from the despair like I do.

;_;

Are you content with that? Do you have plans to change anything?

I do use sleep deprivation to make it through the work week. It would be nice to have a job where I don't have to do that.

I suppose as much as I'd be content with anything else in life. I'm not a big connections person for the most part so I like the people I end up connecting with more than usual, that might have something to do with it.
I think it's just the world to me. I just see everything as a way to manipulate masses in some way and it just makes me a bit sad about the state of the world, to keep it short.

I think I'd be happy with a few quality connections. I'd love to have some close friends IRL that I can spend time with. I used to spend a lot of time with someone, but they had to move.

I'm not happy with the state of the world either, but I'd like to be able to think about it a different way that makes it not seem as bad.

I think I'd be happy with a few quality connections. I'd love to have some close friends IRL that I can spend time with. I used to spend a lot of time with someone, but they had to move.

I'm not happy with the state of the world either, but I'd like to be able to think about it a different way that makes it not seem as bad.

There are some people from wetfish that live near you! Just a reminder :)

If we work together, we have the power to change the world. I think it's worth remembering that the majority of people want to be good. Even if you turn on the news and hear all of this crazy stuff that "people in power" are doing-- wars, corruption, hate-- you have to remember that they are a very small percent of the population. There are billions of people that want to simply live their lives and pursue happiness.

Happiness is really simple. It's all started from your own mind, your own self. Just keep thinking about positive thing (no matter how shitty your life is). Also go out more, travel to nature places. Breathe some fresh air, get some alone time for yourself to simply stare at how beautiful the world is. Trust me, travelling been changing my life a lot. And i dare say im the happiest motherfcker alive.