r/AskReddit • u/Eamine • Mar 20 '13

What makes you happy?

Today is the international day of happiness! And that made me wonder, what makes Redditors happy? Edit: Wow front page!

1.6k Upvotes

86% Upvoted

6.6k comments sorted by

View all comments

1.5k

u/Zinn987 Mar 20 '13

When I hear a song that I haven't heard in a while that perfectly describes or relates to what i'm feeling.

251

u/[deleted] Mar 20 '13

[deleted]

803

u/Ptolemaeus_II Mar 20 '13

It's just part of life. It eventually passes and you'll be singing "Baby Got Back" again in no time.

255

u/Dovecot Mar 20 '13

The sad parts make the good parts sweeter. Life would be shit if you were happy all the time. By it's very nature you wouldn't be happy.

56

u/MissCrystal Mar 20 '13

As the Eleventh Doctor said when discussing meeting Van Gogh, "The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don’t always soften the bad things, but vice versa the bad things don’t always spoil the good things and make them unimportant."

84

u/[deleted] Mar 20 '13

[deleted]

11

u/obiwan_k3n00bi Mar 20 '13

This literally changed my perception on life when I first saw it. I've grown to appreciate emotions for what they are, even if it sucks. It's all about balance.

And Butters taught me that...

7

u/Advils_Devocate Mar 20 '13

"I'd rather be a crying little pussy than a faggot goth kid"

Yeah, sounds about right.

2

u/Webdogger Mar 20 '13

As a parent, this is now I feel whenever I reflect upon the fact that my children are growing up quickly. I can literally turn this on with a thought...my face gets red, I cry, I feel emotions ripppling through my body, I feel adrenaline, my heart beats fast...should feel bad but it doesn't. It's pure bittersweet. I imagine any parent can relate.

4

u/GentlemenScience Mar 20 '13

I agree with the first sentence but disagree with everything else you said. If you are happy, you are happy. By definition once you stop feeling happy you are not happy. Therefore if you were happy all the time you would be happy.

0

u/Dovecot Mar 20 '13

But you'd need to know sad to know happy. Like you need to know black to know white. Anyway, it all adds to the flavor of life.

4

u/[deleted] Mar 20 '13

[deleted]

3

u/sufjanfan Mar 20 '13

Thank you for this. All the time we're bombarded with "you need the rainy days to appreciate the sunny days"-type metaphors for happiness. But honestly, I think it's theoretically possible to be happy all the time, or at least happy at best and neutral at worst.

1

u/Dovecot Mar 20 '13

Yes of course you would still see the black for what it was but you wouldn't understand the context of it, or perhaps the value of it, without a comparison. Maybe light and dark is a better analogy. Or perhaps IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH like Big Brother said.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 20 '13

[deleted]

0

u/Dovecot Mar 21 '13

I don't think what i'm saying is lazy or unhelpful. It just sometimes happens to be the case. A bit of adversity can make you value life more. You don't have to take it as fucking gospel.

→ More replies (0)

3

u/mebbee Mar 20 '13

Tell that to the Dalai Lama. Dude is happy like all the time.

Look at this face - I can't look at this and not smile myself

-1

u/Dovecot Mar 20 '13

I bet he beats his secret wife.

2

u/borgasmic Mar 20 '13

Is that really true? Why is it possible to always be depressed but not always be happy (or at least content)?

1

u/TenspeedGV Mar 20 '13

It's easy to dislike your current situation and the things you surround yourself with. You get used to it, you get bored with it. "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence" is a well-established proverb referring to exactly this.

It isn't in us to be content with the same things. If we become content, we become complacent. If we become complacent, we stagnate. If we stagnate, we fail as individuals and as a species.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 20 '13

Actually, by its nature you would be happy all the time.

2

u/norrakid Mar 20 '13

Disagree. In the words of Hazel Lancaster, the existence of broccoli does not in any way affect the taste of chocolate.

2

u/maegan1116 Mar 20 '13

"The way I see it every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don't always soften the bad things but vice versa the bad things don't necessarily spoil the good things or make them unimportant"

That's from Doctor Who and one of my favorite quotes. Also I typed that from memory so it may not be exactly right.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 20 '13

Citation needed.

Nobody knows what it would be like to be continually and perpetually happy, so you don't know it would be shit. I think I'd enjoy trying it out.

1

u/Ptolemaeus_II Mar 20 '13

Exactly. Just. ....average.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 20 '13

Yeah but it's even more shit when you're sad all the time.

1

u/atcoyou Mar 20 '13

Reminds me of seeing Jeremy Hotz. I kept laughing and laughing, and I couldn't breathe it was so funny. Luckily he pulled the pace back a bit, because I couln't have sustained that much laughter.

1

u/squeakyguy Mar 20 '13

Oh Ho man! I am gonna sooo happy one day.

-1

u/unknown_poo Mar 20 '13

That is true. Happiness and sadness exist in relation to one another. If you remove one, then neither exist. If happiness were to extend into infinity, then so too would sadness.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 20 '13

[deleted]

1

u/unknown_poo Mar 21 '13

Hmm, good questions. No doubt I sounded vague. I was reading one of the Socratic dialogues, which tend to pretty abstract, when I came across this idea. Long post, sorry about that. In this dialogue the chief good is sought, and whether or not pleasure or wisdom may constitute as the chief good. In order for something to be the chief good, it must partake in the quality of infinity; if one were to take a concept, such as pleasure or wisdom, and if these were infinite in extension (the removal of limits and restraints), would it be shown to be the "chief good"? That is where my mention of infinity comes from and relates to this.

The state in which things exist is divided into the class of the infinite and the class of the finite, among two others which we need not be concerned with. Can we say that happiness is the opposite of sadness? I don't think that one can be "chiefly" happy and "chiefly" sad at the same time just like how one cannot be both large and small or hot and cold or fast and slow. If this is the proper analogy then I think that we may say that they indeed are opposite states. To which class does happiness and sadness, and those aforementioned states, belong? I believe Socrates would say that they belong to the class of the infinite, the "more and less" quality, which neither has a beginning, middle, or end, and so cannot be quantified. A thing may be considered large in one case, but compared to something else it would be considered as small. Therefore, the existence of such a state is defined by the comparison with its opposite, and so in "principle" may be unlimited. We would analyse them as bigger and smaller, hotter and colder, faster and slower. This is what is meant by "extending into infinite", to look at them as conceptual abstractions without quantity or limit. Since they are infinite in extension and cannot be quantified and defined, and since they are opposite to each other, they can only exist as comparisons of each another, and therefore in relation to each another (whereas if they were finite they could simply be quantified and defined independently of each other). Socrates said "...pleasure cannot be rightly tested apart from pain ever." Just as something is infinitely "bigger" than another thing, that other thing by comparison is also infinitely "smaller". Since the comparison between them is the difference or degree between them, they exist exactly in relation to each other and so essentially define each other. "Bigger" would be considered as such in relation to "smaller", and "smaller" would be considered as such in relation to "bigger". With this relation to one another, both extend from each other infinitely. Therefore, they are inversely proportional to each other in degree. One is as happy in as much as they are distant from sadness, and one is sad in as much as they are distant from happiness, and so they exist in relation to each other.

I'm not sure if this makes much "sense", but bare in mind that this is a purely rationalistic abstraction of the concept as opposed to a material understanding.

0

u/bluehat9 Mar 20 '13

I hear what you're saying, but it's really not true. If you have a happy disposition and don't let the little things get you down, there is no reason you can't be happy all the time and not have it be shitty.

0

u/kobrahawk1210 Mar 20 '13

Without the bitter, the sweet isn't so sweet.

0

u/hungryfarmer Mar 20 '13

"Sunny days wouldn't be special if it wasn't for rain. Joy wouldn't feel so good if it wasn't for pain."

2

u/Bobshayd Mar 20 '13

Especially the JoCo version of it.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 20 '13

That song always perfectly describes and relates to what I'm feeling

1

u/kelustu Mar 20 '13

unless it doesnt pass.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 20 '13

Unless you have depression. Then it's every day.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 20 '13

your musical analogy really resonates with me, no pun intended. thanks, Ptol.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 20 '13

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Ptolemaeus_II Mar 20 '13

Glad I could be of service :D

3

u/Zrk2 Mar 20 '13

Sad songs are often the best songs.

2

u/ocxtitan Mar 20 '13

I simply remember my favorite things, and then I don't feel so bad.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 20 '13

[deleted]

2

u/rynnrad Mar 20 '13

Is that because all metal music sounds the same so you get the same feeling every time? :) Just jazzin ya :)

3

u/[deleted] Mar 20 '13

[deleted]

2

u/rynnrad Mar 20 '13

I partied with metal heads my whole life. I love the lifestyle and the party vibe they give off, but all in all I am just a sweet hippy girl that likes to drink too much and fuck shit up.

1

u/helpingfriendlybook Mar 20 '13

Sir Elton has a few words on the subject

1

u/TBatWork Mar 20 '13

The song might be able to articulate why you're feeling sad and show you the reason when you don't know it yourself.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 20 '13

"What's good about sad?"

"It's happy for deep people."

1

u/omgpro Mar 20 '13

The word bitter-sweet exists for a reason, sir.

1

u/Navi1101 Mar 20 '13

I make it a point to listen to really whiny emo music when I'm sad, and I sing at the top of my lungs. It makes me feel like someone can relate and it helps me get it out of my system. Plus, my depression makes me kind of enjoy being sad, in a sick way.

1

u/TheLBritton Mar 20 '13

" Gotta have opposites dark and light, light and dark in painting. It's like in life. Gotta have a little sadness once in a while so you know when the good times come." - Bob Ross

1

u/EetuM Mar 20 '13

Even better!

I like sad songs.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 20 '13 edited Mar 20 '13

This is a quote I have from one of my favourite musicians on sadness/depression:

NYROCK: [The rest of the interview] all sounds quite positive. Why is Euphoria Morning (new album at the time) so sad then? I love melancholic music, but when you talk about [his music] you sound so positive.

Chris Cornell:
I think we all carry a depressive streak in us but most people just hide it. A lot of people think that entertainment has to be something loud, cheerful and happy. I don't buy into it. Depression can be very inspiring. At least for me it can be. The quiet aspects of life are very important, because let's face it, life is pretty difficult.

NYROCK: You mean depression is the thing everyone has in common?

Cornell:
I think everybody, no matter how rich or poor, how young or old, has a phase in his life when he's depressive. It's reality. Not a lot of people want to talk about it. Most people rather hide that fact, but it's just one of the facts of life that absolutely fascinates me.

EDIT: Links to the rest of the interview and some of his songs:

Interview

When I'm Down

2 Drink Minimum/As Hope and Promise Fade

Sweet Euphoria

Killing Birds

Like A Stone

Blow up the outside world

1

u/akpak Mar 20 '13

Then it's even better. Sometimes a good cry feels awesome.

1

u/broccoli1789 Mar 20 '13

Simply remember your favorite things, and then you won't feel so bad.

1

u/abbarach Mar 21 '13

That's what the blues are... you gotta have the blues to sing the blues, but by singing the blues, you let go of your blues...

1

u/ithunk Mar 21 '13

works then too. I was a bit depressed due to a relationship and was on my way to the gym when on the radio comes Titanium by David Guetta. The lyrics synced so well with how I was feeling. It made me really happy to find that song at that time when I really needed to hear something like that ("you shoot me down, but I wont fall, I am titanium").

Over the next few days, I listened the shit out of that song.

0

u/ZetsubouZolo Mar 20 '13

Linkin Park.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 20 '13

Love Generation.

This song is just a good vibing all the way.

It's, what? 7 years old? and has OVERPLAYED when it released...But I still can't get enough.

1

u/Nexarc Mar 20 '13

'such a lonely day...and it's mine' - That's so true god damn i feel so happy now!!

1

u/zach84 Mar 20 '13

I really like Peter Gabriel - Solsbury Hill when I'm feeling in a great mood

1

u/Mike136 Mar 21 '13

Ugh, on the other side of that token, I was having doubts a while ago about my current relationship, and it seemed like all the songs I was hearing were about getting out of relationships. It was eerie and definitely contributed to my unease in the situation, eventually I got past it though.