What keeps us happy and healthy as we go through life? If you think it’s fame and money, you’re not alone – but, according to psychiatrist Robert Waldinger, you’re mistaken. As the director of a 75-year-old study on adult development, Waldinger has unprecedented access to data on true happiness and satisfaction. In this talk, he shares three important lessons learned from the study as well as some practical, old-as-the-hills wisdom on how to build a fulfilling, long life – Bio of Robert Waldinger Psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and Zen priest
What Makes a Good Life?
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177 responses to “What Makes a Good Life?”
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When will we understand that we do not know,that we do not know and all the mumbo jumbo in the world will not make a difference.
We love to debate a topic before analysing its base…..if the foundation is faulty,forget it.
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The simplest things in life makes you the happiest. Everything else gives worry, stress, high blood pressure, strokes, heart attacks, embolism, cancer, etc. Check out the wealthy, their first worry is, who is coming to rob them, next worry, which of the many other people they robbed is coming to kill them…lol….then all the other worries follow.
Not a nice place to be, that is not living, that is existing in a prison of your own making.
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@Vincent
Can you expand on your comment?
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@Well Well:
“The simplest things in life make you happy” …Such as? In all honesty, what makes YOU happy? I really wonder. -
@ David
“When will we understand
that we do not know, that we do not know
and all the mumbo jumbo in the world
will not make a difference.”
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Vincent is speaking for himself.
Unfortunately, from this particular perspective, it is natural to conclude that this complete lack of knowledge of the fundamentals is all-pervasive…. and it ALMOST is.In short, he is saying that “we all know not that we know not”…
However…
As you must be aware, there are four types of people:
Those who know ….and know that they know.
Those who know ….and know NOT that they know
Those who know NOT…. and know that they know not
…and those of whom Vincent speak.The first (small) set are wise and should be listened to…
The second (also small group) are asleep and needs to be awaken..
The third group is ‘aware’ and can be helped….
Vincent and his ilk should be avoided…. 🙂 -
Alvin….forced mediocrity does not make me happy, of course no one, particularly DBLP can force mediocrity, subservience or dependence on me, ergo am happy, unfortunately, those who are forced to tolerate the impotent DBLP are clearly not happy.
Don’t even bother to tell me what makes you happy, my discourses with you over the last 2 years are disturbing enough.
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Well Well,
Ya bad!
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Make that baaaaad!
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Bushie,
One must excuse Vincent. His one aim is to convince us that we stupid humans are all that there is.
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Yet here I am living the Good Life. Fraught with problems and injustices but with a PURPOSE because of a Being who many claim does not exist. My purpose is to help somebody. No better feeling than that. No better life than that.
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Donna December 29, 2015 at 12:06 PM #
“Yet here I am living the Good Life. Fraught with problems and injustices but with a PURPOSE because of a Being who many claim does not exist. My purpose is to help somebody. No better feeling than that. No better life than that.”
Wow, this is a beautiful contribution. I love it.
It elevates the spirit of human kind and gives insight into an understanding of humanity that has been lost in this era of materialism and selfishness.
Donna, I give you 100% and my vote for what I consider as on of the best contribution to BU for the year.
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@David December 29, 2015 at 3:54 AM #
This was ably answered by Bush Tea December 29, 2015 at 8:00 AM #
Chuckle……Thanks BT for filling in for me as I was otherwise occupied.
The unfortunate part of this is that……..”Those who know ….and know that they know”…..are the ones to be avoided at all cost.
They read some ancient treatise by someone they know nothing of and believe everything that is said by this person…..I have no doubt that in another 500 years BBE will be discussed by learned theologians based on the discovery of BTs rantings somewhere. -
Vincent Haynes December 29, 2015 at 1:07 PM #
naughty boy!behave!
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A simple extrapolation one can make is if it takes more than things to make an individual happy the same must apply at the country level.
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everything is relative …am I really happy or am I just less miserable than AC
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lawson u know absolutely nothing about ac…as for happiness my main concern for happiness is good health and all else is secondary meaning that when my health is exceptionally good those things in life that makes up for a complete wholesome e.g family makes life a whole lot happier and easier
Don/t care for lots of money or lots of friends just a peace of mind that can only be accomplished by living a healthy lifestyle for me that is the key to happiness -
Must some of you resort to ad hominems all blasted day? The idiocy of it all, anonymous people getting personal. Here is a suggestion, try to attack the message issues more in 2016.
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David why you barking so early in the morning ? does not make for a good life ! Chill!
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@ Vincent
The unfortunate part of this is that……..”Those who know ….and know that they know”…..are the ones to be avoided at all cost.
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A very insightful comment, particularly given the moot.The REALLY ‘happy’ people of this world are those who know not, and know not that they know not. Such people live for the pleasure of the flesh …and of the moment…. Kadooment! Karaoke, fetes, party, drinking, drugs and the pursuit of material possessions.
Should they listen to the freaks “who know, and know that they know”, it may completely devastate their ‘happy’ world.. with thoughts of a MUCH BIGGER purpose to life, far longer term consequences to actions, and a completely different definition of ‘happiness’….
…so you may indeed be right that such persons should be avoided at all cost (….and even crucified occasionally,) least they disturb the status quo.
@ David
‘Happiness’ is a misnomer. It means different things to different people and has very little bearing on success in ANY area of life. Many of the vagrants you see on Broad Street are ‘happier’ than you are… in that they are doing EXACTLY what pleases them, and with low stress. One fellow bragged to Bushie that ‘he never worked a day in his life…’
Children are also happy …playing and having fun, ignorant of the reality of the world around them as they enjoy their parent’s protection.What is important in life is understanding its INTENDED purpose, grasping its staggering potentialities, and consistently moving to realise its true meaning. …..just as success in business comes from having a good long-term strategy, good potentialities, and requires a consistent and faithful pursuit of that strategy.
Who is really ‘happy’?
…the happy-go-lucky casual gardener who is free to lime on the block and attend every fete ..while having four child-mudders? …..or the businessman who employs him ..and two hundred other ‘happy-go-lucky’ losers, after a lifetime of hard work and sacrifice to achieve his dream? -
Not reading you Bushie. The vagrant is a social misfit/dropout therefore it is unrealistic to assign a rational position as you have described.
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@Well Well,
and Donna, and David and Bushie too. On second thought All the members of the BU familyI am living the good life. I awaken each morningAND AM HAPPY I AM STILL HERE. I LOOK AT PEOPLE ESPECIALLY HERE IN BARBADOS (DIDN’T KNOW I WAS HERE DID YOU?) and see happiness, although many people say they should not be happy. I watched the many many shoppers buying things for christmas (although some people say, or try to tell them) they have no money. I look at the many people resplendent in their fashions on Christmas morning in the Park listening to the music of the Royal Barbados Police Band and then the music of Promise and dancing to their renditions, I watched the joy on the faces of the many tourists who took in that occasion for the first time and listened as they spoke of their joy to be in Barbados at that time and be part of that joyous occasion. I watched the joy on the face of a Bajan white (lady)who was around fifty years of age, who expressed her amazement and joy at what she was seeing and hearing for the first time in her life. She had lived in BARBADOS ALL HER LIFE AND THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME SHE HAD EVER BEEN IN THE PARK ON CHRISTMAS MORNING. She was coming again.
These are the things we have to make for a good life. Joy and happiness, that we could enjoy,as opposed to many other parts of the world. These are the things we as a people have. Of course life has its problems. Our task is to make it better, not by violence, spite, envy anger and other negative things, but by doing good, being kind to others in word and deed, and being content with the good things we have, and above all, being positive. The negatives will pass.
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL! -
Artaxerxes,
Thank you. I just said what I meant, that’s all.
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Bushie,
Exactly!
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I will be very happy indeed when i see the seats in Parliament vacated by this lot who seem oblivious to the plight and suffering of the people of this country. I pray that they would be replaced by some who really do care for their fellowman and not just themselves, their family members and their close buddies. Do I hear and AMEN, Brothers and Sisters.
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@Bush Tea December 30, 2015 at 8:44 AM “The REALLY ‘happy’ people of this world are those who know not, and know not that they know not. Such people live for the pleasure of the flesh …and of the moment…. Kadooment! Karaoke, fetes, party, drinking, drugs and the pursuit of material possessions.”
I don’t engage in the pleasure of the flesh, Kadooment! Karaoke, fetes, party, drinking, drugs and the pursuit of material possessions and yet I am happy and have always been a happy person.
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LOL @ David
The vagrant is a social misfit/dropout
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Boss, that is your (our) perspective.
How can you be sure that the ‘misfits and dropouts’ are not the multitudes of brassbowls who strive and stress every damn day chasing after an empty dream called ‘happiness’ …in the form of carnal pleasures, materialism and ‘social development’?Shiite man, based on our current experiences, Bushie would be completely UNSURPRISED if our current ‘social misfits’ are now ‘laughing their asses off’ at our plight even as we blog… 🙂
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LOL @ Simple Simon
Bushie said “the REALLY happy people….”
There are many other categories of ‘happy’ folks too …apart from innocent children as mentioned…..…those who are so completely clueless that they do not even appreciate the concept of being bothered…. (AC comes to mind…)
…those whose mental capacities are such, that happiness is about “being king of England and Barbados” and informing everyone passing the green gates of such status. (think Alvin here …)
…those who REFUSE to allow themselves to contemplate the stresses around them and who take life as it comes…. (Hants..)
…and of course there are those who insist on CLAIMING to be ‘happy’ ….just to piss others off – as in “how the hell can she be happy when I have a bigger house and car ….and my ass is unhappy as hell… 🙂
ha ha ha LOL
The ULTIMATE happiness is to know BBE …and to come to an understanding of their plans and and designs for mankind….
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Hants,
How about ” Life is just for living” by Ernie Smith?
Simple Simon,
I think your happiness comes from just accepting that “it is what it is.” Am I right?
Bushie,
Quite right! That is the perspective from which it is normally viewed. Not my perspective though. Human beings are engaged in trivial pursuit mistaking it for the real life. I never sought to enter the rat race which passes for life. So I too am a bit of a social misfit and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
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Bushie,
I think Simple Simon may very well be in the same category as Hants. I don’t think she is pretending.
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@ Donna
I think Simple Simon may very well be in the same category as Hants.
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..perhaps when she is on her pills…. LOLSerious though Donna…
Where you come from..? 🙂 -
Alvin….buying things don’t make anyone happy, but I thought you knew that, happiness means different things to different people, as one blogger articulated….in any case, happy new year to you too……
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@bush shite at least ac does not take clues from you ole boar. Mine is a simple life not subjected to hand outs or waiting for anyone to do anything for me
Mine is a simple life simple enough to enjoy the noiseof thunder , the sounds of crashing waves, an early morning sunrise and a walk on the beach
Ole boar what does your happiness comprise ?.going by your comments mean spiritedness and an boldfaced hypocrisy
Guh long do hav a shity new year.ole boar -
@Bush Tea
Any perspective can be relegated to a matter of perspective. However a a community we recognize norms and values in the way we seek to live within a group. Remember we do not exist in Utopia.
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David,
Not understanding your last post.
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WW buying things doesn’t make anyone happy?sure it does the person selling it…whether merchandise or the shit the politicos put out .I was happy as a child now I find myself too cautious to be real happy because I seemed to always look for a deeper meaning than accept good things that happen to me at face value.
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@Bush Tea December 30, 2015 at 8:44 AM #
What is important in life is understanding its INTENDED purpose, grasping its staggering potentialities, and consistently moving to realise its true meaning. …..just as success in business comes from having a good long-term strategy, good potentialities, and requires a consistent and faithful pursuit of that strategy.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………Chuckle…….the above statement from you says it all………you and only you understands its purpose…….well bozie,keep on keeping on on that theme,one of these days you may discover the error of your ways….but then again why,as we all are Happy in our beliefs and non beliefs.
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I may have to take a lot of what I said back, I am happy ..I just read they charged that comedian rapist
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Lawson….Cosby might also be happy he no longer hss the weight on his chest of knowing what he did….happiness is relative. The merchants who sell dumb people all their garbage are indeed happy to see someone else parting with their money..lol
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@ David
we recognize norms and values in the way we seek to live within a group.
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We do… like sheep without a shepherd.But that does not mean that the GROUP VALUES are any more correct than any outlier positions. Slavery and plantation culture was once a norm for us. Now we all seek to borrow as much as possible so that we can buy imported bling like Japanese cars, British whiskey, Jamaican music and Trickidadian canned food….
You REALLY feel that this ‘norm’ and these ‘values’ are any better that those of ‘Ras Ital’ the Nyabinghi youte who has turned his back on the lotta shiite …and who spends his days skanking to Bob Marley and smoking up the ‘erbs…? 🙂@ Vincent
“…you and only you understands its purpose…”
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Why don’t you stop embarrassing Mrs Hinkson nuh?
From where do you draw that conclusion…? -
@Bush Tea
Theoretically yes but norms, value sets however you want to describe it are anchored and influenced in a period. Then there is the natural tension of the individual sets within the group to influence the group norms. If we accept we are gregarious and that communal living is a norm then we have to accept also that life is a journey to reach a flickering light always moving in the distance.
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@Bush Tea December 30, 2015 at 6:46 PM #
Why don’t you stop embarrassing Mrs Hinkson nuh?
From where do you draw that conclusion…?
…………………………………………………………………………….Chuckle….typical…..whenever I have you cornered you toss in a red herring…..have fun squirming in your own cess.
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Cornered..???!!!
Boss, Bushie just trying to figure out what the hell yuh talking ’bout…!!David
For those who ‘know not’, there IS the natural tension of the individual sets within the group to influence the group as they wander from norm to norm.
But what about the freaks who actually KNOW the truth, ..and know that they know…? Would you not expect that they may be living a completely different life …and may even be seen as vagrants /bums / rebels by the wanderers?In such circumstances, there is no ‘flickering light always moving in the distance’, but a clear and well documented path that guides the ‘rebels’…
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Bush Tea December 30, 2015 at 7:49 PM #
Cornered..???!!!
Boss, Bushie just trying to figure out what the hell yuh talking ’bout…!!
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Again I rest my case ……you keep proving my point time and time again and I do believe the Eng.Lit. teachers would be appalled at you. -
Wuhloss bush shite doing wuh he does best taking nuff crapola ,BRO have a Brass Bowl New YEAR ole dawg
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@ Donna
It baffles and harrows me with much more wonder than fear, that someone could give you a “thumbs down” for such an enlightening and thought provoking contribution.
I suspect it is the AC idiots that gave the “thumbs down” vote.
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Artex. Why you up in my face naming and blaming what have i done or said to rob u of your happiness.
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Artaxerxes,
Either dem or Satan.
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