The 10 commandments for happiness and success • Hacker News Board

Re: The 10 commandments for happiness and success

#51

Post by webnrrd2k » Sun, Sep 08, 2013, 3:10 AM UTC

runn1ng wrote: post #36

I will share my two cents, how I overcome my depression. It sounds deadly simple, and it sort of is. 1) regular excercise. Make some small, daily routine (I prefer running) and stick to it. The endorphines work wonders. The body starts feeling good after a few days. 2) (and this will be maybe controversial due to The religious undertones) regular meditation. While excercise clears your body, meditation clears your mi…

I heartily agree -- I went through a really bad depression and found that regular meditation and exercise made a tremendous difference, far more than medication.

Just a few quick notes: Aerobic exercise helped me more than strength training, so, if you're depressed, I'd recommend running, swimming, and/or bicycling.

Diet has been very important, too. Everyone is different, but I find a mostly vegetarian diet, low on processed foods, to be the best for me overall.

I think meditation helped the most. It's been a tremendously useful skill that has helped me in many areas of my life. I found Vipassana and Zen-style meditation, as

Check out Mindfulness in Plain English (http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma4/mpe.html) (the author has a series of books, all are really good), and Mastering the Core Teaching of the Buddah (http://integrateddaniel.info/book/).

Re: The 10 commandments for happiness and success

#52

Post by bradleysmith » Sun, Sep 08, 2013, 3:12 AM UTC

lotharbot wrote: post #23

2/ Only surround yourself with brilliant and positive people. I partly agree with this rule. People who are negative drama-creators who regularly make bad decisions can really drag you down. They can cause you to spend an excessive amount of time worrying about pointless problems that only exist because of someone else's immaturity. But I'm also a teacher. I work with at-risk children who are immature and sometimes m…

I don't like this, as a rule. The author warns of its shortcomings pretty well:

>Of course, if you care about them, then you owe it to yourself to transmit your positive attitude to them.

I've found that who you surround yourself with is quite often outside of your control. Sooner or later, you're bound to care about someone with negative qualities that you don't want to see in yourself. I do not believe that is justification for cutting them out of your life!

Value brilliance and positivity in people, and avoid participating in negativity is a better rule, for me.

made me think of George Washington's rules of civility[1] (# 56): Associate yourself with Men of good Quality if you Esteem your own Reputation; for 'tis better to be alone than in bad Company

[1]-http://www.history.org/almanack/life/manners/rules2.cfm

Re: The 10 commandments for happiness and success

#53

Post by crassus » Sun, Sep 08, 2013, 3:15 AM UTC

hnriot wrote: post #50

ams6110 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really don't get the anti-religion sentiment here. If you find in religious teachings a way to live happily, productively, in a socially positive way, why is that a problem or anything to apologize for?

Because those same set of teachings often differ very slightly from someone else's and usually ends in a war, or at the very least, a great deal of wasted bloodshed. See history for examples. Why you're supposed to apologize is because your religion - no matter which particular mythology you subscribe to, has likely caused an immeasurable amount of sorrow for many others.

Where are the peaceable, prosperous, and happy atheist nations hiding?

Re: The 10 commandments for happiness and success

#54

Post by hnriot » Sun, Sep 08, 2013, 3:16 AM UTC

brugidou wrote: post #3

jafaku wrote: post #2

> Have strong values and stick to them, no matter what. What if someone shows me evidence, a better reasoning, or anything I didn't know, that goes against one of my values? I disagree with this point.

Your values have nothing to do with evidence, reasoning and/or facts. You can change your opinion, increase your knowledge, admit you were wrong about facts but this won't change your values.

Of course it does. One's values can be affirmed by evidence, or shown to be based on untruths. For example, I might have competition as one of my values, believing that its always good to be competitive and do one's best and strive to win. Then one day wake up and take stock of the accumulated evidence and realize that maybe this wasn't a good value to have held after all. It's nonsense to say values have nothi to do with evidence.

Re: The 10 commandments for happiness and success

#55

Post by derefr » Sun, Sep 08, 2013, 3:20 AM UTC

runn1ng wrote: post #36

I will share my two cents, how I overcome my depression. It sounds deadly simple, and it sort of is. 1) regular excercise. Make some small, daily routine (I prefer running) and stick to it. The endorphines work wonders. The body starts feeling good after a few days. 2) (and this will be maybe controversial due to The religious undertones) regular meditation. While excercise clears your body, meditation clears your mi…

I wouldn't say there's anything fundamentally religious about meditation, other than as an accident of history. As far as I can tell, it's just an exercise for the executive-function part of your brain.

Re: The 10 commandments for happiness and success

#56

Post by Shank » Sun, Sep 08, 2013, 3:25 AM UTC

I agree with every one of those things. Especially #2, but in a reverse effect: I've noticed that if I'm in a negative mood, the people I care about the most suffer from it. In the same way that you shouldn't surround yourself with people who are negative, you should attempt to be the same way yourself as much as possible. It'll make you a better person to be around.

Re: The 10 commandments for happiness and success

#57

Post by jjb123 » Sun, Sep 08, 2013, 3:27 AM UTC

runn1ng wrote: post #42

ams6110 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really don't get the anti-religion sentiment here. If you find in religious teachings a way to live happily, productively, in a socially positive way, why is that a problem or anything to apologize for?

As a person who is still kind of atheistic, I can understand that sentiment. Basically, scientific thinking forces constant verification of everything and encourages questioning, while religious thinking (even with buddhism) has far more dogmas and forces acceptance and, to a certain degree, discourages questioning. What drove me to zen-buddhism is the fact that the religious part is kept rather small and it is far m…

Out of curiosity, why did you choose the words "still kind of atheist"?

Re: The 10 commandments for happiness and success

#58

Post by exit » Sun, Sep 08, 2013, 3:29 AM UTC

runn1ng wrote: post #36

I will share my two cents, how I overcome my depression. It sounds deadly simple, and it sort of is. 1) regular excercise. Make some small, daily routine (I prefer running) and stick to it. The endorphines work wonders. The body starts feeling good after a few days. 2) (and this will be maybe controversial due to The religious undertones) regular meditation. While excercise clears your body, meditation clears your mi…

do you sit zazen at a zendo with others, 20 minutes a day?

Re: The 10 commandments for happiness and success

#59

Post by grannyg00se » Sun, Sep 08, 2013, 3:34 AM UTC

runn1ng wrote: post #36

I will share my two cents, how I overcome my depression. It sounds deadly simple, and it sort of is. 1) regular excercise. Make some small, daily routine (I prefer running) and stick to it. The endorphines work wonders. The body starts feeling good after a few days. 2) (and this will be maybe controversial due to The religious undertones) regular meditation. While excercise clears your body, meditation clears your mi…

2) Shouldn't be controversial at all. Meditation isn't about religion. It's about self hackery. We love that :)

Re: The 10 commandments for happiness and success

#60

Post by Jormundir » Sun, Sep 08, 2013, 3:43 AM UTC

lotharbot wrote: post #23

2/ Only surround yourself with brilliant and positive people. I partly agree with this rule. People who are negative drama-creators who regularly make bad decisions can really drag you down. They can cause you to spend an excessive amount of time worrying about pointless problems that only exist because of someone else's immaturity. But I'm also a teacher. I work with at-risk children who are immature and sometimes m…

The rule would be better if it was:

Realize the effect you have on the people around you. If you're are negative, you will make the people around you feel negatively, if you are positive, you will make them positive.

It's more powerful than advice telling you to cut people out of your lives. You will have a better effect on the world.

To me, blaming the people around you for your own negative feelings is part of the 'blame others for your own problems' negative cycle of excuses. Make the people around you positive by being positive, by being a good friend: listening, inspiring, generally caring.