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A 70-year-old's secret to a full and happy life

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Re: A 70-year-old's secret to a full and happy life

#91

Post by yters »

sharkmerry wrote: post #63
yters wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The notion of God and and eternal reward or punishment are quite often tied together. It is hard to see one without the other. Hence, if God exists and there is eternal punishment, that is a little bit scary.

>Hence, if God exists and there is eternal punishment, that is a little bit scary Eternal punishment only exists if you arent a good person right? Heaven isnt eternal punishment?

According to Christianity (and a number of other religions), no one is good enough for heaven. We have to be perfect, and no one is perfect. So, if Christianity is true, one cannot be a 'good atheist' and hope to get an eternal reward, i.e. being a 'good atheist' is not a loophole that works in both worldviews.

Re: A 70-year-old's secret to a full and happy life

#92

Post by yters »

RaceWon wrote: post #74
yters wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The notion of God and and eternal reward or punishment are quite often tied together. It is hard to see one without the other. Hence, if God exists and there is eternal punishment, that is a little bit scary.

> The notion of God and and eternal reward or punishment are quite often tied together. It is hard to see one without the other. The most brilliant marketing plan ever devised. It just awes the salesman in me... Brilliant!

It is strange that a creator would understand the motivations of his creation.

Re: A 70-year-old's secret to a full and happy life

#93

Post by seppin »

abhinuvpitale wrote: post #15
colecut wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Funny how true this is really. Can't intentionally smiling release the same chemicals in your brain that are released when you are happy about something in a sort of backwards effect?

Fake it till you make it? I definitely think this helps in case of happiness, since a 'deliberate' smile makes folks around you friendlier and happier. That, in turn, enforces the same emotion on to you!

It's more a case of doing something everyday, eventually you become that thing. It's just a matter of time and consistency.

Faking happy could very well be one of those things.

Re: A 70-year-old's secret to a full and happy life

#94

Post by seppin »

WalterBright wrote: post #58
Diederich wrote: post #23

I was raised by my grandparents. They were born in the 1910s, and grew up in the midwest during the dust bowl and great depression. My grandfather lost most of his buddies in Guadalcanal and Burma during World War II, and, in his own words, fully expected to become worm food himself. He said little, but one phrase he did repeat more than any other was simple: "Any day you're breathing is a good day." To him, every da…

> He said little, but one phrase he did repeat more than any other was simple: "Any day you're breathing is a good day." To him, every day, every year, every one of the six decades past 1944 was a cherry on top gift. My father, B-17 navigator, said he accepted that he was going to die in combat. The odds at the time of surviving were terrible (about 80% casualties). He did survive (hence my existence), and told me th…

> Upon return to civilian life, he said he was astounded by the triviality of peoples' everyday life concerns. They were going to live another day, what did they have to be concerned about?

Perhaps the key to a well-adjusted view of life is trauma? To show you how good the rest of life can be.

Re: A 70-year-old's secret to a full and happy life

#95

Post by lynnetye »

UnpossibleJim wrote: post #90

Weirdly enough, I was having a chat with my mom about this sort of thing last night (she's 69, not 70, so I'm not sure she's old enough for her opinion to count, yet). Both of us were chatting about our tendency to be solitary and only see family and a couple of core friends. Past that, we'll hide away in books and study for days and not notice, perfectly happy but when we have to come out of our houses we are out of…

If socializing feels uncomfortable at first, but rewarding after, then it sounds like it's a good thing to "force" yourself to do. But if you're doing it just because you think you're supposed to and it actually isn't enjoyable, then maybe you can rethink what "being social" means. Or rather, rethink how you practice it. You don't have to leave your house in order to make friends, build relationships, or feel connected to other people! Invite people over. Or if you prefer 1-on-1 interactions, just invite one person over at a time.

My husband is super introverted and will always choose being alone over being in a big group of people. I'm the complete opposite. But we're both still social animals. We both get energized by camaraderie, interesting discussions/debates, and human connection – we just have different preferences for how we engage w/ and achieve those things.

Re: A 70-year-old's secret to a full and happy life

#96

Post by doodlewind »

My grandpa is an agriculture scientist. He graduated from university before the Culture Revolution disaster, and still served the country selflessly. In the 1980s he won Chinese national science first prize.

He raised me up and I am proud of him. All the difficulties and chaos that happened in this country doesn't affect his perseverance doing researches and making my family better off. He is still optimistic and healthy today. With your stories, I found that as human being, we are really seeking for and sharing similar happiness, which can go beyond ideology.

Thanks for all your sharing again.

Re: A 70-year-old's secret to a full and happy life

#97

Post by trevyn »

seppin wrote: post #94
WalterBright wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> He said little, but one phrase he did repeat more than any other was simple: "Any day you're breathing is a good day." To him, every day, every year, every one of the six decades past 1944 was a cherry on top gift. My father, B-17 navigator, said he accepted that he was going to die in combat. The odds at the time of surviving were terrible (about 80% casualties). He did survive (hence my existence), and told me th…

> Upon return to civilian life, he said he was astounded by the triviality of peoples' everyday life concerns. They were going to live another day, what did they have to be concerned about? Perhaps the key to a well-adjusted view of life is trauma? To show you how good the rest of life can be.

I really think this is true. I don't know how to extract a prescription from that, though.

Re: A 70-year-old's secret to a full and happy life

#98

Post by ropiwqefjnpoa »

FTA: "Making "have fun" the goal is the key that unlocks everything"

This is enticing blanket statement. However, there are many things you'll need to do that will not or should not be fun. And if you fully believe this sentiment, during those times you are not having fun, you may feel like you're "doing it wrong" when this is just how it is and that's ok.

Happiness is more related to contentment than fun.

Re: A 70-year-old's secret to a full and happy life

#99

Post by NateEag »

outworlder wrote: post #85
sharkmerry wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Hence, if God exists and there is eternal punishment, that is a little bit scary Eternal punishment only exists if you arent a good person right? Heaven isnt eternal punishment?

> Heaven isnt eternal punishment? It could be. Think of all the boring people that would supposedly be in there. Now think that you get to spend infinity time with them.

Newton and Pascal are boring, I suppose.

Certainly one wouldn't want to live in a place where J. S. Bach got to write music for eternity. Imagine the torture.

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