The Emotions and Happiness

HAPPINESS has been defined by an authority as the enjoyable emotion arising from the gratification of all desires. The enjoyment of pleasure without pain. Another has said that happiness is the state in which all desires are satisfied. But these definitions have been attacked. It is held by many that a state of the absolute satisfaction of desire would not be happiness, for happiness consists largely in pleasurable anticipation and imaginings which disappear upon the realization of the desire.

It is held that complete satisfaction would be a negative state. Paley expressed a better idea when he said that any condition may be denominated 'happy' in which the amount or collective of pleasure exceeds that of pain, and the degree of happiness depends upon the quantity of this excess.

Some have held that an existing contrast between pain and pleasure (the balance being in favor of the latter) is necessary to establish happiness. Be this as it may, it is admitted by that entire one's happiness or unhappiness depends entirely upon one's emotional nature and the degree of the satisfaction thereof.

And it is generally admitted that to be happy is the great aim and object of the life of the majority of persons, if, indeed, not of every person, the happiness, of course, depending upon the quality and degree of the emotions forming the person's emotional nature. Thus it is seen that we are dependent upon the emotional side of our mental life in this as in nearly everything else making life worthwhile.

Theologians have often sought to point out that happiness is not the goal of life and living, but human nature has always insisted that happiness is the greatest end, and philosophy has generally supported it. But wisdom shows that happiness is not always dependent upon the pleasure of the moment, for the sacrifice of immediate pleasure frequently results in a much greater happiness in the future. In the same way an immediate disagreeable task often gains for us a greater satisfaction in the future.

Likewise, it is normally greater happiness to give up a personal pleasure for the happiness of others. Then it would be to enjoy the pleasure of the moment at the expense of the pain of the other. There is often a far greater pleasure resulting from an altruistic action of self-sacrifice than in the performance of the selfish, egoistic act.

But, as the subtle reasoned may insist, the result is the same the ultimate happiness and satisfaction of the self. This conclusion does not rob the altruistic act of its virtue, however, for the person who finds his greatest pleasure in giving pleasure to others is to be congratulated as is the community which shelters him.

There is no virtue in pain, suffering, sacrifice, or unhappiness for its own sake. This illusion of asceticism is vanishing from the human mind. Sacrifice on the part of the individual is valuable and valid only when it results in higher present or future happiness for the individual or someone else. There is no virtue in pain, physical or mental, except as a step to a greater good for us or others. Pain at the best is merely nature's alarm and warning of "not this way." It is also held that pain serves to bring out pleasure by contrast, and is therefore valuable in this way.

Be this as it may, no normal individual deliberately seeks ultimate pain in preference to ultimate happiness; the greatest ultimate happiness to one's self and to those he loves is the normal and natural goal of the normal person. But the concept of "those he loves," in many cases, includes the race as well as the immediate family.

Wisdom shows the individual that the greatest happiness comes to him who controls and restrains many of his feelings. Dissipation results in pain and unhappiness ultimately. The doctrine of thoughtless indulgence is un-philosophical and is contradicted by the experience of the race. Moreover, insight shows that the highest happiness comes not from the extravagance of the physical feelings alone, or to excess, but rather from the cultivation, development, and manifestation of the higher feelings the social, esthetics, and intellectual emotions.

The higher pleasures of life, literature, art, music, science, invention, constructive imagination, etc., yield a satisfaction and happiness keener and more enduring than can possibly the lower forms of feeling. But the human being must not despise any part of his emotional being. Everything has its uses, which are good; and its abuses, which are bad. Every part of one's being, mental and physical, is well to use; but no part is well used if it uses the individual instead of being itself used.

A writer has held that the end and aim of life should not be the pursuit of happiness, but rather the building of character. The clear answer is that the two are identical in spirit, for to the man who appreciates the value of character, its attainment is the greatest happiness; the wise teach that the greatest happiness comes to him who is possessed of a well-rounded, developed character. Another writer has said that "the aim of life should be self-improvement, with a due regard to the interest of others."

This is but saying that the greatest happiness to the wise man lies in this course. Anyone who is wise enough or great enough, to make these ends the aim and goal of life will find the greatest happiness there from. Arnold Bennett advances as a good working philosophy of life: Cheerfulness, kindliness, and rectitude. Can anyone doubt that this course would bring great ultimate happiness?

Happiness consists in that which contents the spirit, and the latter depends completely upon the character of the feelings and emotions entertained by one, as weighed in the balance of reason, and as passed upon by judgment and the sense of right action. The greatest degree of happiness, or at least the greatest ratio of pleasure over pain, is obtained by a careful and intelligent cultivation of the feeling side of one's being in connection with the cultivation of the intellect and the mastery of the will.

To be able to bring the capacity for enjoyment to its highest; to be able to intelligently choose that which will bring the greatest ultimate happiness in accordance with right action; and, finally, to be able to use the will in the direction of holding fast to that which is good and rejecting that which is bad this is the power of creating happiness. The feelings, the intellect, and the will here, as ever combine to manifest the result.

Finally, it must be remembered that all human happiness consists in part of the ability to bear pain to suffer. There must be the dash of Stoicism in the wise Epicurean. One must learn to pluck from pain, suffering, and unhappiness the secret drop of honey which lies at its heart, and which consists in the knowledge of the meaning and use of pain and the means whereby it may be transmuted into knowledge and experience, from which later happiness may be distilled. To profit by pain, to transmute suffering into joy, to transform present unhappiness into a future greater happiness this is the privilege of the philosopher.

The mental states and activities known as "desire" are a direct development of the feeling and emotional phase of the mind and form the motive power of the will. Desire, in fact, may be said to be composed of feeling on one side and will on the other. But the influence of the intellect or reasoning faculties has a most important part to play in the evolution of feeling into desire, and in the consequent action of the will by the presentation and weighing of conflicting desires.

Therefore, the logical place for the consideration of the activities of the intellect is at this point between emotion and will. Accordingly, we shall leave the subject of feeling and emotion for the present, to be taken up again in connection with the subject of desire, after we have considered the intellectual processes of the mind. But, as has been indicated, we shall see the presence and influence of the feelings and emotions even in the activities of the intellect. 

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Source - CP

10 Beautiful Quotes of the Week

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The Inspiring Life after Death Quotes

Life is a precious Gift of God. Those who live it wisely get not afraid of Death. But the most important thing is to know the right path in life. Many people spend their life without knowing the purpose of life. Does everyone need to know what is real life? Life isn’t about running after luxury things. It has something different objects. Our life cycle revolves around the good job, luxury cars, lavish home, obedient kids, health, traveling, etc.

Sometimes life gives us some pain to kick in our mind to know me. What are you're life purpose? Life tells us on many occasions to know me before you end. No one came ever back after there death. Coward dies many times before their death. But Valiant don’t afraid of death and embrace it bravely.

But the real thing is to know what to come after death? Is it a permanent end or you will be a move to another world? Whether your body will expire after a few days of death? There are endless questions come into you're mind, but no one has a true answer. Think for a moment, how many people had come in this fake world and went down after a specific life span. There is myriads life after death quotes available on the internet world. But here I’ve collected some of best life after Death Quotes.

4 Things That Sabotage Your Motivation

Motivation is a vital part of productivity. When you are motivated, you work faster, work better, and stay happier for longer. Your own habits can affect how much motivation you have. Here are four common things that can rapidly ruin your motivation.

Lack of Confidence

One of the most common ways you can damage your motivation is by not believing that you can do it. Having a negative mindset can be destructive to your motivation and your work. If you are given a task at work and automatically assume that you are going to fail, you will end up avoiding starting the job for as long as possible. If you want to maintain your motivation, you need to be able to believe in yourself.

Impatient

In this world of instant gratification, one of the main reasons people give up on things is because they don’t see the results fast enough. It is hard to keep putting the same amount of effort into something when the results are immediately evident. Motivation often falls to the wayside if the results of our efforts aren’t seen in a few weeks. To keep your motivation, you have to remember to be patient.

Learn the Meaning of No

When your to-do list is a mile long, it can be easy to feel unmotivated. You need to learn how to say no to things when you don't have the time or if you don't feel comfortable doing it. Being able to say no will allow you more time to focus on those projects that you feel confident about and able to complete. To maintain a sense of control over your life, it's okay to say no to things. Feeling in control will help you feel more motivated and confident in accomplishing your goals.

Easily Distracted

Someone emails you a link to a funny cat video and the next thing you know you've spent the last several hours surfing the web and looking for random cat photos. Distractions come in many forms, but most types are harmful to your motivation. Distractions more often than not happen when you're overwhelmed, bored, or disinterested in accomplishing your tasks. To avoid sabotaging your motivation, disconnect from the Internet, avoid answering emails and phone calls for a period. This should allow you the time to complete your tasks without disrupting your motivation. The power to stay motivated remains with you. By avoiding these frequent pitfalls, you can maintain your motivation and accomplish what you set out to do.

Public Speaking Tips

We all find or can find ourselves sometimes in a position of talking to a group of people. This talk may be short or long; it may be a five-minute talk to introduce a speaker to the audience, or a thirty-minute speech on an important business matter. Whatever the length of time spent on the speech, if you are asked to give a talk you must take it as a compliment.

If you have been requested to make a speech, it means that the man making the request and many others with him believe that you are a man of ideas and experience which will be of value to the listeners. But it may be that you do not feel confident to talk to the group as effectively as you would like to. The reason, as you know, is that a good speaker always prepares his speech before he comes to the rostrum. He also knows the method and technique of giving a talk well. Here are some of Public Speaking Tips.

Preparing you’re talk

There are people who can speak effectively before a group with not any initial preparation, but this can be true of only a few lucky ones and that too on occasions when they are speaking on topics of general interest only. Speaking before a group of knowledgeable businessmen requires methodical preparation of you’re speaking. It is a folly to go unprepared before a group of such people. It is, therefore, necessary first to;

Collect and organize Material

This is the most important step towards the preparation of a good effective speech. Books from a library can be of immense help. Magazines, Newspaper, internet; and journals will add to your information. An interview with a specialist can also give you facts you want to include in you're talking, but it will a good precaution not to include any information which is not authentic and not supported by an authoritative source.

Take some notes as well; jot them down on a note paper. You can begin preparing you're talking with the facts you already know. Later you can add personal observations or experience to explain and illustrate important points and facts

Make Outlines

You must rewrite your speech in outlines. It is very useful to work. You note, arranged according to main ideas and in order of, they’re relative importance are the material for preparing your outline. Make Outlines are such important thing before public speaking. 

Hold Interest

The success of you're talking will depend largely on how much you are able to hold the interest of the audience. You must have variety in you're talking. Anecdotes, personal experiences and relevant examples add greatly to the value of a speech.

If possible you talk should also have some kind of suspense. Difficult ideas should illustrate with the help of charts and graphs. When you prepare you're talking, consider how best you may hold an interest in the audience.

Do not Read, Converse with you’re Audience

We have all listened, at one time or other, to speakers who stand before they’re audience ignoring their hearer, not even looking at them but they’re eyes glued only to they’re notes. This cannot be called a talk. It does not communicate. Such a speech may well be delivered in an empty hall. A written talk is of value when you practice your presentation.

It will enable you to fix all important points in memory. Having memorized each idea, you can use only brief notes. Many good speakers use this method. They prefer speaking from brief notes or points, not from a fully written speech. They believe that their speech will not sound well if read from a written manuscript.

Practice Hard Before Public Speaking

The only way of acquiring the skill for delivering a natural speech is by practice. As you practice, if you find yourself speaking in an affected or unnatural manner, immediately check yourself. Imagine yourself standing before your audience. Talk loudly enough for all to hear you clearly. Make slow movements, and do not use hand gestures too many times. Practice talking in front of a large mirror.

Practice hard and continue until your words flow from you naturally from idea to idea, even without the aid of your brief notes. You have prepared you're talking and it is now time to deliver it. If you keep before you the following tips, they will help you make you talk sound natural, effective, and eloquent.

Control you’re voice volume

We all know how dissatisfied the audience feels when they cannot hear what the speaker says. You should never allow this to happen to you. The easiest way of avoiding it is to ask you’re hearers at the start of you’re talk if they can hear you clearly.

Look at your Listeners

The best way of making you’re listeners feel that you are not delivering a speech but actually talking and conversing with them is to look directly at them. Never make the mistake of gluing your eyes to you’re written manuscript. Look at the middle section of the audience, then at those to the right and the left. As you continue in this way, the listeners are sure to feel that you are talking to each of them.

Objectionable Mannerisms

You may not even know if you have any objectionable mannerisms. Seek the help of you’re friends. Ask them to watch you speaking and then report. If you clear you’re throat or wet your lips frequently during you’re speech. A speaker who has even one such annoying mannerism cannot talk effectively to his listeners.

This is especially true of beginners who toy with keys, pens, pencils or they’re notes because they are nervous. By doing so, they distract the attention of they’re listeners. Don’t carry small objects with you to the rostrum. Just concentrate on you’re message; you will do well if you have made good initial preparation. 

Observe you’re Audience

Observe the look of you’re listeners while public speaking. If you see, as you are delivering you're talking, that there faces have started becoming blank. this is the signal that they are being bored by you’re speaking and that you should try to boost there interest. You may tell them, at the right moment, an interesting anecdote or a short story which may also illustrate you’re the point.

The End

At the end of Public Speaking, you need to watch your last words. It is a sign of inexperience to hurry through the last words of you’re talking as if to get rid of them. Your speech must seem well founded at the end. It is a pity, indeed, to spoil a good, well-prepared talk by a careless finish. You must not rush through your final lines. Keep up the volume of your voice and good timing till the end.

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5 Tips to Boost Your Confidence

Having self-confidence will give you not only success in your endeavors but also respect from your peers, counterparts, subordinates, and superiors. When you have a lot of self-belief, you will enjoy lots of success in your personal and professional lives. When you fail in the target that you have set for yourself, it impacts your confidence to a great extent. It does take a lot of time to start getting a person in believing in him again after he has had a bad experience. Here are 5 simple but effective hacks that you can try to improve your self-confidence and self-belief.

1.       Personal grooming

One of the most simple but powerful tips to boost your confidence is to dress up well and be well-groomed, wherever you go. Wear smart formals to the office and ensures that your clothes are well-matched without a wrinkle on them. When you dress smartly, you automatically start to feel confident about yourself.

2.       Perfect your breathing

Life will give many opportunities to feel stressed, nervous and anxious. You should be careful that you never succumb to these pressures.  If you believe in your abilities, you won’t bow down to these nervous situations. All you need to do at this stage is to practice simple breathing exercises. When you feel bogged down, upset or nervous, take a break from your work and relax well through breathing in and your heart.

Calm down the palpitations that race from your heart and knock your eardrums down. Once you have calmed down, think about the situation and take appropriate decisions. When you are calm, you are more likely than before to take the right decisions. With more right decisions come more success, thereby improving your self-confidence to a large extent.

3.       Motivational pep-talks

When you feel a low phase, look into the mirror and give yourself a pep-talk. Remind yourself of your potential and few incidents from the past where you did a commendable job. Appreciate yourself for achieving your goals within the allocated timeline. List your strengths and tell yourself why you are the best man to do the job. These small, pep –talks go a long way in increasing your self-belief.

4.       Improve your body language

Start walking upright and always look into the eyes of the person/people you are speaking to. When you are addressing a gathering, spread your arms wide while speaking, as this will make you look confident and approachable at the same time. Work on your stage presence and have eye contact with all the people in the gathering, when you speak. You also need to sound bold and clear if you want to be audible to everyone hearing you.

5.       Move away from negativity

A very important tip to remain self-confident is to stay away from negativity. If your friends or colleagues keep doubting your beliefs and tell you not to push yourself too hard to achieve your objectives. Then you need to stay away from them. Like positivity, negativity to is contagious. Their negative vibes might dampen the energizing thoughts in your mind. Try to stay with those people who are creative, confident about their actions and always learning something new in their lives to become better people. 

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The Obstacle in Our Path

The Elephant Rope

The great thing about this story, it is so easy to digest. The story that I’m talking about is so powerful and inspirational that many of them really do get you thinking and even leaves you speechless at times.

A gentleman was walking through an elephant camp, and he saw an elephants weren’t being kept in cages or held by the use of chains.

All that was holding them back from escaping the camp, was a small piece of rope tied to one of their legs.

As the man gazed upon the elephants, he was completely confused as to why the elephants didn’t just use their strength to break the rope and escape the camp.

They could easily have done so, but instead they didn’t try to at all.  He was so curious and wanting to know the answer, he asked a trainer nearby why the elephants were just standing there and never tried to escape.

The Trainer Replied;

WHEN THEY ARE VERY YOUNG AND MUCH SMALLER WE USE THE SAME SIZE ROPE TO TIE THEM AND, AT THAT AGE, IT’S ENOUGH TO HOLD THEM. AS THEY GROW UP, THEY ARE CONDITIONED TO BELIEVE THEY CANNOT BREAK AWAY. THEY BELIEVE THE ROPE CAN STILL HOLD THEM, SO THEY NEVER TRY TO BREAK FREE.

The only reason that the elephants weren’t breaking free and escaping from the camp was because over time they were adopted the belief that it just wasn’t possible.

Moral of the story:

No matter how much the world tries to hold you back, always continue with the belief that what you want to achieve is possible. Believing you can become successful is the most important step in actually achieving it.