Does everyone deserve to be happy?

TinyBubbles

TinyBubbles

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What do you think, does everyone deserve to be happy & fulfilled, or only those who do good things/the right things?
 
In my opinion persons freedom and right for happiness end where another person's freedom starts, that means that no one should have the absolute right to happiness if it may harm somebody else.

And to be happy and fulfilled, in my opinion, is not something we just get because we deserve it, it mostly depends on are we able to fulfill that need by ourselves for ourselves.
 
We seldom understand happiness to start with.....ultimately we can only find it within. It can take a long time to come to grips with this.
 
May said:
What do you think, does everyone deserve to be happy & fulfilled, or only those who do good things/the right things?
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No.

I don't think happiness is the nature of this life. I don't even think it is something attainable by those who do good things/right things. I think moments of happiness are attainable by all, and in that, I suppose deserved, but I don't think anyone can expect to have a sustained experience of happiness in this life. I'd love to be proven wrong, though.
 
I do believe everyone deserves to feel happy and fulfilled. Besides, many people who don't do 'good things' might do them if they felt happier/happy and fulfilled.
 
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I think the founding fathers hit the nail on the head

we havethe right to the pursuit of happiness
 
Barnabas said:
I think the founding fathers hit the nail on the head

we havethe right to the pursuit of happiness
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Well put.

To personally expand, I think everyone deserves the chance to make their own happiness. You know, a lot of it has to do with how happy you'll let yourself be in the first place.
 
I think happiness cannot be pursued, ultimately, because people don't know what it means. Happiness is a fleeting emotion depending on circumstances, and you can choose to be happy or not; you don't really deserve it. It's like asking if we deserve to be sad, or angry. Taken to extreme levels, pursuing happiness is unhealthy because the pursuit of things takes place of the pursuit of happiness. And then we think we need more stuff to stay "happy."

I prefer "contentment" or "joy" instead.
 
tovlo said:
No.

I don't think happiness is the nature of this life. I don't even think it is something attainable by those who do good things/right things. I think moments of happiness are attainable by all, and in that, I suppose deserved, but I don't think anyone can expect to have a sustained experience of happiness in this life. I'd love to be proven wrong, though.
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this
 
I don't know, but anyone who gets in the way of my own personal happiness is going to regret it ^_^

You reap what you sow, as they say.
 
It's not a right to be happy, but it's a right to be able to seek happiness.
 
Mmmm, the whole question already contains too many constructions that presume views about life that I try not to work with. In my opinion, the idea of unworthiness is taught to some children by their parents, who then teach it to their children, to other people, and so on, like religion. The original sin: always born in debt (to whom??) etc. Also, happiness is defined as a carrot on a stick notion; something to earn and deserve - to acquire. To own. I just do not view it this way, I go through experiences and enjoy them, without holding them. For example, I often do not take photos of places I visit.
 
Hell yea, that's what I'm sayin. I'm happy, and damn anyone that gets in my way of it!

If you don't wanna be happy that's your own business. Leave me out of it =P
 
arbygil said:
I think happiness cannot be pursued, ultimately, because people don't know what it means. Happiness is a fleeting emotion depending on circumstances, and you can choose to be happy or not; you don't really deserve it. It's like asking if we deserve to be sad, or angry. Taken to extreme levels, pursuing happiness is unhealthy because the pursuit of things takes place of the pursuit of happiness. And then we think we need more stuff to stay "happy."

I prefer "contentment" or "joy" instead.
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This^^. I'd rather the word "content" as well. I don't like the connotations which come with "being happy". It sounds as if it means that we'll somehow be in a perpetual state of happiness, feel good moment, or estacy. And that may not be the case for many. But quite a few people would probably say they are content, or fairly satisfied with their lives or what they have, even if they aren't "happy" by everyone else's standards.
 
I don't think anyone deserves anything.

In my experience, happiness is like the Spring Wind - it comes and it goes. To pursue it would be pure folly.

To the degree that meeting one's own needs and helping to meet the needs of others may lead to a healthy, life-affirming state of being, such actions (and the skillsets they require) may also lead to one's being open and receptive to the experience of happiness.

I do not think happiness has anything to do with the wholly arbitrary mental concepts of good/bad, right/wrong, or any other this/that expression of valuation, moral or otherwise.

I have a sense that happiness is a subtle state of being - it can only be appreciated when I have largely emptied myself of all other thoughts, feelings, and desires.


cheers,
Ian
 
arbygil said:
I think happiness cannot be pursued, ultimately, because people don't know what it means. Happiness is a fleeting emotion depending on circumstances, and you can choose to be happy or not; you don't really deserve it. It's like asking if we deserve to be sad, or angry. Taken to extreme levels, pursuing happiness is unhealthy because the pursuit of things takes place of the pursuit of happiness. And then we think we need more stuff to stay "happy."

I prefer "contentment" or "joy" instead.
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^^
This.

How many people think that climbing the ladder of their career and earning stellar incomes will make them happy - only to end up with broken friendships, relationships, marriages and nerveous breakdowns.

I don't think we deserve happiness, so whatever happiness, or oportunities for happiness we get, we ought to be grateful for.
 
to me it's much like the education system. it has done its job if "you will succeed if you try" is still true. its purpose is to give the opportunity to be competent, not to make sure you're competent.
likewise, everyone deserves opportunity. happiness is up to the individual.

my real answer is that "deserving" is an artificial concept. but just to entertain the question ;)
 
"Good things/Right things" - Who decides what are good thing and right things? These things are perspective. So these things don't really determine who can be happy and fulfulled.

The individual has the free will to be happy if he wants to or not. Some people are happy with whatever they have. Some people want more than they have and are not happy with their current situation so they go off in pursuit of what they want. Some are happy in pursuit of those things. Other not happy until they have what they want.

I believe everyone who has control of their emotions can be happy if they chose to be happy no matter what was going on in their lives, unless you are in some sort of torture situation...
 
So, are we talking about sustained "happiness" or moments in which we are "happy"?
 
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