"Aversion to happiness, also called fear of happiness, refers to "the subjective experience of negative affect (e.g., fear, anxiety, guilt, or discomfort) when experiencing or expressing happiness, which stems from the belief that happiness may lead to negative consequences".">"Empirical studies show that fear of happiness is associated with fragility of happiness beliefs, suggesting that one of the causes of aversion to happiness may be the belief that happiness is unstable and fragile. Research shows that fear of happiness is associated with avoidant and anxious attachment styles. A study found that perfectionistic tendencies, loneliness, a childhood perceived as unhappy, belief in paranormal phenomena, and holding a collectivistic understanding of happiness are positively associated with aversion to happiness. A study found that high perfectionism, low self-esteem, and low meaning in life contribute to fear of happiness."Any books on this issue?I have always avoided feelings of real happiness. I don't really know why. I'm not sure if it's a generally subdued reaction to stimuli, or an indifference towards outward displays of happiness, or something else. I see people who smile broadly, their eyes wide, who are energetic and full of ambition and optimism, who enjoy embracing life and the adventures and pleasures it offers, and I don't feel naturally compatible with them.
>take schizo bait post>add "board relevant" tag>spam it everywhereI cannot tell if what the world considers ‘happiness’ is happiness or not. All I know is that when I consider the way they go about attaining it, I see them carried away headlong, grim and obsessed, in the general onrush of the human herd, unable to stop themselves or to change their direction. All the while they claim to be just on the point of attaining happiness.
The problem is that you're wrapped in your ego. Let go of your ego and stop identifying with thought; then you can be happy. The Buddha figured this out millennia ago: everything is impermanent but you can stop being miserable about this by following the eightfold path. Stop trying to pathologize yourself and telling yourself all of these false narratives about happiness aversion.
>>24988947don't listen to this lying bald niggaread Tao Te Ching
>>24988942I used to think like this, but some people I know are intuitively orientated towards experiencing life in certain adventurous ways (e.g., hiking) and they obviously and genuinely derive pleasure and happiness from doing that because it's just something they are attracted to. I find myself not really drawn to doing that kind of thing, but I'm not sure if it's because something is broken in my internal compass, or what. I mean you hear about Schopenhauer playing the flute, etc; even the most pessimistic shut-ins seem to have something they enjoy doing. For me I just feel completely adrift.
>>24988954I started to become happier once I dropped the sensation that I needed to do activities that others can see, and stopped using the standard by which I evaluate others works and decide I like them or not, to be the standard with which I evaluate my own life. I feel proud about many small things in my life, they all accumulate towards a good baseline real happiness, and not the "at least I'm not suffering kind", a real "I feel in control", sometimes I look at myself and just smile, and on the best days I write good things (still, only for myself, not for others) and feel proud. Here are a few things that I enjoy about me : I take pride in understanding how I think and how I know what I know.I take pride in my ability to work hard on things I love, although I don’t love many things.I take pride in what i see, in people, in art, in life.I take pride in knowing what I want, from art, from people.I take pride in living and promoting life, not slavery. or some things that I love : Goddamn I love myself ! ; I love quiet ; I love attentiveness.I love people who invigorate others by being an example rather than screaming at them.I love people who don’t jump to conclusionsI love people who are real (I know, cliché), who don’t make their life a performance for others to see, “Look at me, how I’m productive and bring value to society”, “Look at me, how I’m selfless and how I scorn any selfish desire in others and in me”, “Look at me, how I’m strong and have so much stuff; mate me”.I love going through galleries of stuff (Pinterest images, YT videos, code) and saying “this I like, this I don’t” and developing my taste in a subject. Deciphering what makes something good. . . . (I have written many more)To me all these small things mean so much to my life. And many "normal" achievements, situations where you often see people smile and have "outward displays of joy" I mostly don't react : I liked getting my driver's license for like 1 day, I felt NOTHING after getting my degree, and I feel NOTHING when being congratulated by others (I have a big distrust for the judgement of others) Schopenhauer was probably a very happy man, more than he lets out, even if he put emphasis on having a "calm" life more than anything.
