Do you believe this??

ABSOLUTELY - Geeze without question

I wake up in the morning and my feet hit the floor... how can it not be a good day?

The 95/5 'formula' is used a lot...

(oops, this guy went off the reservation)


I woke up - it's raining hard, a big storm coming after the rain, I have to drive to the gym, it's cold....but I'm on the green side of the grass so it's all good.


Some of the happiest people I know have the least to be happy about...but they've got that 95% down to a science.

Even if you are in less than ideal or even terrible circumstances there may be some discomfort and frustration but if you are able to improve the circumstances or there is already a process in place that will improve things over time. There is far more likely chances you will have higher levels of joy and happiness than if things had no potential to get better. Then when you get things to a certain point where you are out of the bad conditions you add gratitude and appreciation to the emotions. Even if you still have a vast amount of things left to improve.

My answer is more about a baseline emotional stat that lasts over months and years versus the day to day or emotional swings or the short term bits of drama that add so much entertainment to people's lives.

Absolutely, I'm on board with that perspective! Cultivating joy and happiness is heavily influenced by our mindset--how we perceive and respond to circumstances plays a pivotal role. While external factors do play a part (that 5%), the majority of our experience is shaped by the way we approach and interpret life. So, count me in for a resounding "Yeah!"

Indeed everything is mind over matter or circumstance in this instance...

But, don't try to tell that to the people here at the local Walmart we just left - they certainly were not were spewing joy and happiness. By God, if physiology could speak that place reeked of silent screams resounding; "get me the hell out of here!" <--- or maybe that was just my observation and translation of the circumstances people seem to be encapsulated into these days???

OR... "Maybe it was just me wanting to get the hell out of there too, lol" (*probably both!)

My joy and happiness meter generally peaks at about 51% - the other 49% definitely still working on!

yes i would should really appericiate what we have

I wouldn't 'try to tell them' or spend much time observing them....they don't affect my attitude or happiness in the least.


I usually ignore everyone around me in a grocery or a walmart, etcc - but once in a while I flash a smile and 'hello' or 'great day isn't it' at a stranger and surprisingly I always get a smile back. Sometimes it's a confused 'do I know her?' smile...but ya take what you can get.

Do what? Be friendly and optimistic? Try it as an experiment sometime - you might be surprised at the reaction you get


Then again - I'm 5'2" and not big enough to be a threat to anyone - IF I were man-sized I might not get the same reaction.

Joy and happiness cannot be contained in numbers.
If 99% spout something
Would you take it as gospel?

savidge4 and all the Warriors in this thread, I hope you have an incredible 2024 where all your dreams and goals become a joyful reality

The 5 95 or whatever doesn't really matter.

I'm becoming very militant about staying out of or extracting my from circumstances that over time negatively impact my baseline joy and happiness. The thing I have been gradually moving up over the past 7 years.

I'm not In good circumstances at the moment but there is still enough opportunity to be in a batter and better emotional state.

Oddly it actually mean avoiding doing a list of things that would probably feel really good for a few days to a few weeks. But lead into the baseline going down or the hedonistic cycle. It also leads to getting into circumstances that are purposely uncomfortable for a few months to identify new things to avoid that cause issues or things I can do to improve the long term baseline.

Some people are optimistic during difficult times and some are only optimistic when things are good .

So yes mindset has a lot to do with a person's outlook

2 People can be in poverty and have totally different view points about life .

That's an interesting point about happiness being more about mindset than circumstances. I'd say there's probably some truth to that. Your mindset and perspective can definitely impact how you view things and feel about life. But I also think circumstances still play a role too. Having a really positive mindset might not overcome really difficult life challenges. It's probably more like mindset accounts for 60-70% and circumstances the rest, rather than 95-5. Overall though focusing on having the right mindset is good advice since that's what we can control most.

Yes absolutely!

Seems we gaht a classickyool Stoicism vs Epicuriana deal gowin' on here.

Kinda whethah it is noblah in the mind to suffah the slings an' arrows of unrelentin' privilege ... or jus' kinda slack out bcs eithah imminent tsunami or idc.

Only 2 things mattah here.

1) It is inevitabyool there gonna be CIRCUMSTANCE.

Global. Local. Personal.

Yanno ... alla the shit/treasyoore gonna 'zist even aftah you DIE FROM READIN' THIS.

2) It is inevitbyool there gonna be YR PRSNL POV on CIRCUMSTANCE till'n the day you don't DIE FROM READIN THIS or any othah mortal consequence.

SO ...

Where is the Teasy Squeazy Pleasy space in this *emergent before you evin gaht here* interface?

Truth is, we all gonna wake up tamara c/o Planit Earth.

Earth gets ****ed, we gaht zero choice 'bout shit.

So what is our choice regardin' circumstance?

Seems we nevah figured the magnitood of our propulsive inevitability back in the day when we invented blindah (bcs) an' saw closah rathah than furthah (bcs) -- an' now here we are, kinda myoosickly prone to the kicksteps of an upya-AI-4'n--US soodo wondahland.

My view?

The interface buttween Sirks and self-propulsed jerks, smirks, snarks & arc/arks is a frighteningly impossible void to be filled.

As a natchrl Sagittarian, my impulse/braino compels me to leap smart.

Anywan' I carry with me ain't gotta be no dead weight.

Is there a moment when the virtues of stoicism an epicureanism natchrlly fuse?

This was nevah a tick box.