Being happy vs being healthy

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Humberto

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Some people comfort eat when they are unhappy. The carbohydrate rich foods that they eat cause the synthesis of serotonin in their brains giving them a feeling of contentedness. The person feels happy but is not healthy.

A drug addict feels good when they are under the influence of their drug. The person feels happy but this is not healthy.

In my own life, I feel very lonely since having moved out on my own. How I miss my mother and my dogs. I am definitely not in my comfort zone any longer. At some level I feel very unhappy. Yet I realise I have become a much healthier person (psychologically at least) since having moved out.

I believe that absolute happiness is antagonistic to a healthy lifestyle. Humans need to be slightly out of their comfort zone for progress to take place.

Well-being and happiness never appeared to me as an absolute aim. I am even inclined to compare such moral aims to the ambitions of a pig.
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Albert Einstein​
 
Christmas is upon us and it's the time when we seem to eat far more than we need to. Sign of unhappiness? I hope not.
 
You need some friends with which to share your experiences. What about a cat or a dog of your own. If not practical, even tropical fish (said to be very relaxing) or a bird. Join a few clubs that have regular meetings - a chess club, or photographic society for example
 
I disagree with your thesis. I am happy and healthy. I have an inner peace and joy which the world can't take way, and it has been so since I surrendered my life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

(I'm not stating this to turn this into a religious debate nor to disrupt your thread, but only stating it to share ny own subjective experience. You may PM me if you want more info regarding this.)
 
I believe happiness is tied to being healthy, the same side of the coin.

that 'high' that a drug or eating cookies is not happiness, it is a momentary pleasure that will pass.
to be really happy one needs to work from the inside, to modify your mentality to derive pleasure from everything in life.
the weather, your surroundings, yourself, the people around you, the brick wall in front of you.
Everything has the possibility to make you happy
 
nukefission said:
I believe happiness is tied to being healthy, the same side of the coin.

that 'high' that a drug or eating cookies is not happiness, it is a momentary pleasure that will pass.
to be really happy one needs to work from the inside, to modify your mentality to derive pleasure from everything in life.
the weather, your surroundings, yourself, the people around you, the brick wall in front of you.
Everything has the possibility to make you happy
Click to expand...

If the brick wall in front of you is making you happy, you're probably stoned.
 
Life teaches our brains positive and negative indicators for our survival. When a positive indicator is realized by the brain we are made happy.

Unfortunately we also learn or are exposed to "shortcuts" along the way such as tastes and experiences that mimic the best indicators for a positive existence. As they deteriorate our wellbeing in the long run they ultimately don't do us any good.

So yes if you are addicted or drawn to the "shortcuts" you will have to put a little more effort in to realize true happiness. Others may have an aversion for the "shortcuts" and are already living a healthy life which indicates a positive existence for them. It's all part of one's development and is why everyone is so different.
 
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Humberto said:
Some people comfort eat when they are unhappy. The carbohydrate rich foods that they eat cause the synthesis of serotonin in their brains giving them a feeling of contentedness. The person feels happy but is not healthy.

A drug addict feels good when they are under the influence of their drug. The person feels happy but this is not healthy.

In my own life, I feel very lonely since having moved out on my own. How I miss my mother and my dogs. I am definitely not in my comfort zone any longer. At some level I feel very unhappy. Yet I realise I have become a much healthier person (psychologically at least) since having moved out.

I believe that absolute happiness is antagonistic to a healthy lifestyle. Humans need to be slightly out of their comfort zone for progress to take place.


Albert Einstein​
Click to expand...

Get to the gym. A workout works well as a mood enhancer.
 
nukefission said:
that 'high' that a drug or eating cookies is not happiness, it is a momentary pleasure that will pass.
to be really happy one needs to work from the inside, to modify your mentality to derive pleasure from everything in life.
the weather, your surroundings, yourself, the people around you, the brick wall in front of you.
Everything has the possibility to make you happy
Click to expand...
And it's all momentary. Your initial premise is wrong. You've simply made an arbitrary separation.

Bobbin said:
Life teaches our brains positive and negative indicators for our survival. When a positive indicator is realized by the brain we are made happy.

Unfortunately we also learn or are exposed to "shortcuts" along the way such as tastes and experiences that mimic the best indicators for a positive existence. As they deteriorate our wellbeing in the long run they ultimately don't do us any good.

So yes if you are addicted or drawn to the "shortcuts" you will have to put a little more effort in to realize true happiness. Others may have an aversion for the "shortcuts" and are already living a healthy life which indicates a positive existence for them. It's all part of one's development and is why everyone is so different.
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What is a healthy life? Don't bother trying to answer that as there is no universal definition. There is also no such generalisable true happiness.

We also do not learn or get exposed to shortcuts. It happens that we evolved to survive in the wild. We're meant to take these so-called shortcuts. Instead we learn that sometimes it pays not to go for the immediate gain, our natural inclination, or to only do so when it is appropriate for us.

Humberto said:
Some people comfort eat when they are unhappy. The carbohydrate rich foods that they eat cause the synthesis of serotonin in their brains giving them a feeling of contentedness. The person feels happy but is not healthy.

A drug addict feels good when they are under the influence of their drug. The person feels happy but this is not healthy.
Click to expand...
I believe that absolute happiness is antagonistic to a healthy lifestyle. Humans need to be slightly out of their comfort zone for progress to take place.
Click to expand...
You'll have to define healthy and happy.

Anything we do causes chemical changes in the brain.
 
noxibox said:
What is a healthy life? Don't bother trying to answer that as there is no universal definition. There is also no such generalisable true happiness.

We also do not learn or get exposed to shortcuts. It happens that we evolved to survive in the wild. We're meant to take these so-called shortcuts. Instead we learn that sometimes it pays not to go for the immediate gain, our natural inclination, or to only do so when it is appropriate for us.
Click to expand...

What is a healthy life? Good question :) but let me at least try answering it.

A healthy life is one that guarantees the best survival for you and your species. It is why we are drawn to happiness as an indicator for survival. What I'm also trying to say is that there are fast actuators that influence our brain in the same way, such as drugs and alcohol, that don't really do anything positive or productive for our survival and can in fact be destructive depending on how we use it.

The philosophical question might be, do we live like tomorrow may never come and achieve the best happiness right now? Or do we strive to prosper in the long term? Or do we try and achieve a balance?

Taking excess doses of drugs and being happy right now, well I think all can agree this isn't healthy living in any sense of the word, but it does release all the dopamine and feelings associated with happiness and our brains "erroneously" in a sense of the word become addicted to it. I think that eating foods that make you happy but aren't healthy is just much further up the scale from there. They have a similar effect on the brain, though not nearly as intense, and we become addicted.

Living for the best survival is not always fun though and some might even say that it causes depression which is severely detrimental. I think that it is possible that depression arises because we have been exposed to some form of addiction and then forced to withdraw from it, but had we lived a certain lifestyle from the beginning we could be much further than we are now, thus realizing a form of happiness brought on by prosperity rather than addiction.

Progress, as the OP says, requires one to be out of their comfort zone. I agree because thanks to survival we have a natural disposition towards complacency because survival is an evolving concept always "looking" for the happiness aspect. When we think we are doing well we might sit back and milk the situation until even after it may be in dire need of change. People do this all the time, but there is of course an element of individual character at play as well.

Unfortunately we are far from perfect and even deep down when we can honestly say what we should and shouldn't do we will never reach that level. And in the end it comes down to how you want to live your life, healthy (in the above definition) or not.
 
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