I read the linked article and the impression I have is that the studies cited seem like fluffy nonsense. It's true that some people who have a lot of power or material wealth can be unhappy but I think often the reason is that they started that way or developed a degree of dissatisfaction while pursuing their goals. Not from attaining them.

At major universities, professors earn tenure and creds by doing "research". For those in the social sciences, such pursuits can lead to projects where credibility and common sense often get stretched. Psychology research tends to be peculiar anyway. They need to make up situations to develop "data" and that gives them a paper. Not necessarily insights.

Interesting topic; I was just thinking last night how content I am with my life right now.

No, I am no longer burning with ambition, but I am recently retired and that gives one a different perspective on life. Being retired means to me that I am no longer under the control of other people (read bosses/management), trying to meet deadlines or a slave to the clock/calendar. For the first time in my life I am in charge of me and don't have to do what others tell me to do. That makes me content - very content.

As far as striving for things go, well, things have changed. Now that I truly have time to pursue my own interests, I find that I am striving to improve in areas such as my art, jewelry making, devoting more quality time to my fledgling business, have a cleaner house, do a better job of nurturing my relationships and take better care of myself and that makes me content.

I suppose it's all relative what people strive for and depends on what stage of life they are in too.

My post above applies to my own experiences; I wasn't able to read the article.

Those 'findings' are quite a stretch. You might sum it up by saying people who are content are less competitive. So? It didn't say that the person making less money than his competitive peer suffered harm.

I'm not an 'adventurous eater'. Does that make me dim?

We've sometimes talked here about Pollyanna sentiments being deliberate naivete -- a refusal to consider recognize 'bad stuff'.

I question the assertion that 'happy' people are more judgmental. (Big stretch.)

I would think that happy people are less judgmental.

I thought it was an interesting article. I appreciate ALL that chimed in with an opinion.

I remember running with a woman, she was well educated, worked as a nurse. She'd just left her boyfriend of 10 years. She'd set him up with an IRA, now totaling $60K. She thought he should give it back to her, since they broke up. He; quit his job, bought a tiny house in the middle of no where and planned on living off the interest the money earned, not owning a car, riding his bicycle, tending a small garden. He was thrilled to be "set for life". I'd never heard of anyone so easy to please....happy with so little. This article made me think of him.

You could look at it as some are happy and satisfied with what they have, while for others, the grass is always greener on the other side. These types of people are never satisfied. I've always thought of them as searching for something, but they don't know what they are searching for so they keep struggling.

Also, I think it's important to remember that everyone has different definitions and expectations of happiness. Nicole's example of the man who was happy living off the interest of his nest egg in his little house and tending his garden wouldn't make me happy because that's not the kind of life I want. He might think that my desire to travel and see the world is way over the top and that I'm one who is never satisfied.

I'll bet that everyone of us here have different ideas about what happiness means and how much we are willing to strive in order to attain happiness. Some of us are probably happy with what we have, some have probably settled and would have liked more than what they ended up with and others are still reaching for those elusive goals that will make them happy. So, there is that to consider too.

To me, happiness is contingent on the welfare of others like family and beyond. I am a very contented person who can feel happy easily but also feel sad for certain people. I think we're born to experience both. As far as depression, many who have it can't feel happy. That's a whole different headset to consider.

Trump seems, on the whole, to be happy. He is to me the epitome of a judgmental, whiny, insensitive person, so there you go.

There are competitive people, whether it be playing chess or racing cars or being CEOs that aren't happy unless they are in a competitive situation (and winning).

Other people are satisfied with few material things and are more geared toward interacting with friends, nurturing, gardening, etc. It seems as if it would be difficult to create generalities about what makes 'people' happy, because 'people' are so different from one another.

Trump does seem happy and it's unlikely he ever suffers from self-doubt or overly emotional feelings. But like Typhoid Mary, he's a carrier who shows no symptoms himself..

His cabinet picks so far have made me very unhappy and others quite emotional, none more so than the moron Rick Perry. He's like Sarah Palin, all he needs to do is open his mouth for the audience to know he doesn't have a clue what he's talking about.

There was another post, also mentioning Trump before my comment and maybe before Lucille's, that seems to have been deleted? Or am I imagining something that wasn't there?

Added by edit:

Lucille or someone else had commented about the experience of having had Perry as the governor of Texas (a post with a long history of questionable office holders) that also seems to have vanished.

This is not a politcal thread. Please keep this just what it was meant to be......

Sorry nicole, for me it was intended as a light diversion not too far off the topic. I was at a social event last night where many people were discussing their unhappiness and it was on my mind.

Elmer I value your opinion...always have....as I do others...buuuuuut.....the stock market is up.....maybe focus on that....:0) (that was a joke...it'll make U happy)

You two (nicole and lucille) are among my favorites!

Every time I refresh the page, new posts appear, or disappear. lol I wrote a post on the original topic, but I've reconsidered, and plan to just keep my current level of happiness.