Secrets to the Promised Life ...

[Nobbie49]

There are no secrets.....the more money you have, the more choices you have, which gives you more reasons to be happy in the "promised life".

Simple.

Yes, you'll be happy for a short time but after that. Did you try to ask yourself I am really happy?

I reckon there's a bit of truth in both statements.

Money doesn't make you happy, but what it does is gives you options.

I'd rather be with money then without.

.

Yes, that's true.

Sometimes I even asked myself Am I happy? The answer is yes i am happy but that's happiness isn't complete. Then I asked my parents why I feel like this they replied to me you need to find someone that makes you complete. Yes, you're a strong woman you can get what you want but it doesn't mean you don't need someone beside you.

All I can say is give me a chance to prove that money doesn't make you happy.

[Showbags]

So you're saying that if you have no money,.. or just a moderate amount that you can't be happy!

I've had both and I can tell you that the "more money" brought more misery than happiness for me. Yes it gave more choices but that doesn't necessarily equate to more happiness.

"Happiness is when you choose what you've got",... and old Zen saying, which as I get older and seeing much relevance and wisdom in.

Yes I would like and intend to have more money than I currently have which will expand choices and some added privileges BUT it won't make me any happier than I am already!

Said the expat ending up in some Godawful government hospital rather than a nice comfy private one. Being able to get the hell out of Dodge when the Rainy Season's full on, etc etc.

How do you know he hasn't got a good private health care insurance? You are just assuming this, people like you are so annoying. Ok, so you have 'big' money, but just keep that to yourself, don't you know how crass you sound. When you get out of Dodge, please do me a favour, don't come back, cheers.

You can feel the jealousy surging through this post.

I have been in Thailand for 7 years and never worn a jacket...always shirt sleeves.

That must look odd..

[David48]

Gentlemen ... can we raise the bar above a general slagging match.

Can you slug it out in other threads please?

I'm not being precious but this thread deserves better.

Thanks ...

[thaibeachlovers]

Best thing to do for a happy life- retire.

[khunPer]

“What did you change once you came to Thailand that makes your life more enjoyable, more fun and importantly ... more relaxed?”

TechDance…!

“OH - The main reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live ... ”

True – saw Santa on the beach today...

[dotpoom]

I was thinking what exactly is "Happiness" as distinct from Pleasure......pleasure is a good feeling for a short time, I suppose.

For me personally....Happiness comes in the form of a mind that is peace with itself, thus making me contented with my lot.

Maybe a person who has had this contentment all their lives may not value it as much as somebody who only found it late in life.

[johnmarhall]

There are no secrets.....the more money you have, the more choices you have, which gives you more reasons to be happy in the "promised life".

Simple.

i agree with you expect saying the promised life part did you make the promise i am sure many members thought they would have a promise life here when in fact they did not because of circumstances beyond their control i have a nice life here but who knows how long that will last

[David48]

I was thinking what exactly is "Happiness" as distinct from Pleasure......pleasure is a good feeling for a short time, I suppose.

For me personally....Happiness comes in the form of a mind that is peace with itself, thus making me contented with my lot.

Maybe a person who has had this contentment all their lives may not value it as much as somebody who only found it late in life.

Maybe 'Happiness' is something you can share? A laugh, a smile, a shared joke ... in my personal life ... the soon to be birth of our first child. A present given or received.

Then maybe a 'Pleasure' is something more personal ... singular. Sort of like a Massage received, a Pint of your favourite Brew ... for me, a beer, a sunset and no mosquitoes ... a good sleep, and the gf brings brings me a cup of her special coffee in the morning while I'm still lazing in bed.

.

[Swiss1960]

OP, I love your avatar........ litterally, I love her!

I've wrapped her, tied her bow and posted her to you.

does she have a twin sister?

[rct99q]

I was thinking what exactly is "Happiness" as distinct from Pleasure......pleasure is a good feeling for a short time, I suppose.

For me personally....Happiness comes in the form of a mind that is peace with itself, thus making me contented with my lot.

Maybe a person who has had this contentment all their lives may not value it as much as somebody who only found it late in life.

Maybe 'Happiness' is something you can share? A laugh, a smile, a shared joke ... in my personal life ... the soon to be birth of our first child. A present given or received.

Then maybe a 'Pleasure' is something more personal ... singular. Sort of like a Massage received, a Pint of your favourite Brew ... for me, a beer, a sunset and no mosquitoes ... a good sleep, and the gf brings brings me a cup of her special coffee in the morning while I'm still lazing in bed.

.

Congrats on the soon to be birth of your (and your partners) first child. Mine is now 6 months old and a true delight!! I am sure yours will make you as happy as you wish her/him to make you.

As for your op, our lives are a combination of nature and nurture. Some things are beyond our control. Some people are born happy, others not. Some people have been in happy environments thus contributing to them being happy, others have not. Some people defy the odds, born unhappy & unhappy environment and still are happy in their lives.

Some people are happy because they have lots of money and others are happy because they are devoting their lives to eliminating child poverty. Some people are happy committing horrible acts of violence and others are happy helping those in need.

For me personally keeping my life simple has made me happy. Never set up a plan just followed what i wanted to do.

[wileycoyote]

Choices and the contentment

[Showbags]

Promises are made to be broken.

and they not worth crap anyway in this country.

[Tafia]

Happiness is relative, ask me if I'm content. Yes I'm content.

[Tafia]

Happiness is relative, ask me if I'm content. Yes I'm content.

[David48]

Does appear that you are doubly contented ...

[Andre0720]

True happiness comes from within...WHERE ONLY YOU YOURSELF HAS CONTROL OVER IT... If your happiness depends on money....or the beautiful house you own....then the thief who steals your money also stakes away your happiness. If a punk burns down your house, he has destroyed your happiness too. In both the above instances your "happiness" is in the hands of other people. I think it's about the ability to detach from the material things for your happiness and find it deeper down within yourself.

Happines might be related to:

Having enough resources, enough knowledge, enough wisdom, enough courage, to go out there, and:

Keep busy from morning to evening, doing all of these things that you really like to do, that bring pleasure...

If what keeps an individual happy is to own, to possess, to acquire wealth, his knowledge, wisdom and courage might be questionable...

[Andre0720]

Choices and the contentment

In order to make a choice,, to choose what is best,

One has to have the awareness of possible choices.

Comes from knowledge...

[Shancloudy]

 

 

 

There are no secrets.....the more money you have, the more choices you have, which gives you more reasons to be happy in the "promised life".

 

Simple.

 

Yes, you'll be happy for a short time but after that. Did you try to ask yourself I am really happy?

 

 

 

I reckon there's a bit of truth in both statements.

 

Money doesn't make you happy, but what it does is gives you options.

 

I'd rather be with money then without.

.

 

 

Yes, that's true.

Sometimes I even asked myself Am I happy? The answer is yes i am happy but that's happiness isn't complete. Then I asked my parents why I feel like this they replied to me you need to find someone that makes you complete. Yes, you're a strong woman you can get what you want but it doesn't mean you don't need someone beside you.

 

All I can say is give me a chance to prove that money doesn't make you

happy.

Lol

[WitawatWatawit]

"OH - The main reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live ... "

David, we're friends, aren't we?

One thing I gladly left behind was the family dramas. Here, I can just mind my own business and cruise through the day with a minimum of fuss. Back home I felt that family (and others) were constantly watching and judging me. Life seemed to be spent almost like you were under a microscope. If that makes me paranoid, then don't forget that being paranoid doesn't mean somebody isn't watching you. (he follows me everywhere) That aside, I find contentment here by not letting too much get me down - it's not too difficult to adopt a mai-pen-rai attitude. Maintain a good personal standard of living, relax, smile and joke a lot and don't curse at idiots too much. And smile when others curse you for being an idiot - that just confirms their view and makes them happy.

[ongchart]

A happy man is one who knows he has enough.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[David48]

"OH - The main reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live ... "

David, we're friends, aren't we?

One thing I gladly left behind was the family dramas. Here, I can just mind my own business and cruise through the day with a minimum of fuss. Back home I felt that family (and others) were constantly watching and judging me. Life seemed to be spent almost like you were under a microscope. If that makes me paranoid, then don't forget that being paranoid doesn't mean somebody isn't watching you. (he follows me everywhere) That aside, I find contentment here by not letting too much get me down - it's not too difficult to adopt a mai-pen-rai attitude. Maintain a good personal standard of living, relax, smile and joke a lot and don't curse at idiots too much. And smile when others curse you for being an idiot - that just confirms their view and makes them happy.

Great Post ... you're the first to mention that which you left behind.

As for being friends ... the first opportunity, the plan to drag you kicking and screaming from the DarkSide for a wee Ale ... or two ...

I'm not back for the birth of the TWINS till mid-January ... so it will have to be sometime after that.

[Rob8891]

I guess it's a string of things, starting with leaving my ex 4 years ago, shedding a lot of baggage along the way, and then retirement this year and not having to try to educate the Great Unwashed day in day out.

Happiness can only really come from within one's self. Money can't buy it. My retirement was planned so that I moved to LOS where the time is MINE: I have a new-found freedom, (and also the pension and income from a rental goes SO much further than at home, and consequently there are less worries in that department).

As other posters have suggested, not getting stressed over minutiae is a real happiness-booster, creating a spiral of happiness....

(less stress = lower blood pressure) + (improved diet = lower cholesterol) = greater happiness, which feeds back into better health......

(of course, my lovely thai lady may have some bearing on the issue of happiness too....)

[thaibeachlovers]

There are no secrets.....the more money you have, the more choices you have, which gives you more reasons to be happy in the "promised life".

Simple.

Yes, you'll be happy for a short time but after that. Did you try to ask yourself I am really happy?

I reckon there's a bit of truth in both statements.

Money doesn't make you happy, but what it does is gives you options.

I'd rather be with money then without.

.

If I had a lot of money I could make my Thai family happy, then my wife would be happy and then I'd be really really happy .

[Showbags]

There are no secrets.....the more money you have, the more choices you have, which gives you more reasons to be happy in the "promised life".

Simple.

Yes, you'll be happy for a short time but after that. Did you try to ask yourself I am really happy?

I reckon there's a bit of truth in both statements.

Money doesn't make you happy, but what it does is gives you options.

I'd rather be with money then without.

.

If I had a lot of money I could make my Thai family happy, then my wife would be happy and then I'd be really really happy .

Until she took it all from you...then you would have to start over again from poor and miserable....or poor and content because you know money cannot buy you happy happy...

[khunpa]

My world and life, as I knew it toke a huge turn 2 years ago, when I lost everything due to going bankrupt with my businesses, that I had owned and run for nearly 20 years. Had I not lived in Thailand and with a Thai-woman at that time, then I am pretty sure, I would properly have drunk myself to death or something like that.

Thailand and my Thai Girlfriend, gave me the "time to think" and reconsider my life and options. It was very hard times financially, but I learnt to accept the situation and focus on the future instead.

Today, I have far less money than I had before, but I am very happy and have a completely changed look on life. When I wake up in the morning, although what kinds of problems I am facing, I choose to be happy and make the best out of the day. I do no longer, as before, take money for granted and value the money that I make and spend it much more wisely.

The experience of losing everything financially also opened my eyes, to who I could trust and who I could not trust. Believe me, you would be very surprised of how few people are willing to help you and standby you, when you really need it. All are you friends when you have money, but when you have nothing many will turn their back on you. So when it comes to friends and even family members, I have made a huge cut in what I consider to be my "real friends".

I am now back on track financially and rebuilding that part of my life. The big difference is, that my ambitions are much lower than before and my daily life is much more relaxed. This was what I learnt from Thailand and especially my Thai-girlfriend. Not, to worry so much, to be more relaxed, take one day at a time and most important choose to be happy.

You do not need a lot of money to be happy... You just need to choose to be happy and appreciate the things you have, instead of focusing on the things you do not have.

Edited December 6, 2013 by khunpa

[thaibeachlovers]

replying to Showbags #54. I can't delete a reply to allow posting on that post.

Wrong.

My Thai family are mad at me because I don't give them anything, because I don't have enough, and I certainly don't give everything I have to my wife. If I did, she wouldn't have to go to work 6 days a week.

While she still loves/ lives with me, the family situation does make her unhappy, ergo, I get to be unhappy sometimes too.

I live by the golden rule for men in Thailand- only give what you can afford to walk away from to a woman.

[johnmarhall]

having NZ lamb going home coming back to my home here respecting thai culture the list goes on what makes me happy

[thaibeachlovers]

having NZ lamb going home coming back to my home here respecting thai culture the list goes on what makes me happy

<having NZ lamb> No wonder you're happy! I couldn't afford that .

[khunpa]

True happiness comes from within...WHERE ONLY YOU YOURSELF HAS CONTROL OVER IT... If your happiness depends on money....or the beautiful house you own....then the thief who steals your money also stakes away your happiness. If a punk burns down your house, he has destroyed your happiness too. In both the above instances your "happiness" is in the hands of other people. I think it's about the ability to detach from the material things for your happiness and find it deeper down within yourself.

Completely agree on this. Together with the choosing of living your OWN life, based on your own needs and not based on what others expect from you.

When looking back on my life, I have spent so much energy on satisfying others and trying to live up to others expectations of me. Instead of making me happy, that only made me constantly stressed and unhappy.

Today, I could care less about what others think of me or the way that I live. I live like I want to live and do what makes me happy. Does not always make you "Mr. Popular", but it does make you happy.

[JLCrab]

True happiness comes from within...WHERE ONLY YOU YOURSELF HAS CONTROL OVER IT... If your happiness depends on money....or the beautiful house you own....then the thief who steals your money also stakes away your happiness. If a punk burns down your house, he has destroyed your happiness too. In both the above instances your "happiness" is in the hands of other people. I think it's about the ability to detach from the material things for your happiness and find it deeper down within yourself.

Completely agree on this. Together with the choosing of living your OWN life, based on your own needs and not based on what others expect from you.

When looking back on my life, I have spent so much energy on satisfying others and trying to live up to others expectations of me. Instead of making me happy, that only made me constantly stressed and unhappy.

Today, I could care less about what others think of me or the way that I live. I live like I want to live and do what makes me happy. Does not always make you "Mr. Popular", but it does make you happy.

see post http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/686840-post-of-the-year-competition-2013/?p=7127127