Serious how do you get your fulfilment?

[His Eminence Lord Poppington II]

you know, what do you do in an attempt to be happy?

it might be beyond simple interests. i find i get a certain amount of fulfilment in maintaining trivial routine or dropping a really nice deuce.

a deep sense of fulfilment is pretty elusive~ maybe it has to do with achievement and not being a scumbag?

 

[Lasagne]

masturbating

 

[His Eminence Lord Poppington II]

nah that's very poor for fulfilment. can't you read man it says 'serious'

 

[Lasagne]

i asked the people on #pokemon if i should post that in a serious thread and they agreed

i always believe in the nice internet people

 

[jumpluff]

There are a lot of things that make me happy and it's cliched but I sincerely believe that it's these little things that make me feel content. The ability to do these little things makes me feel complete in a way, and having the freedom to spend my time the way I want matters a lot to me. I used to feel fulfilled only by being successful, and consequently I was really unhappy despite having a sense of validation because I was always stressed from striving to do better.

Learning about something new I was curious about, finishing a new book or listening to a new album (because I have a massive backlog and really enjoy reading and listening to music), finishing a game, reading more about something that interests me a lot, spending time with my pets, eating sweet things, rainy days, all of these things make me feel happy. Even prosaic things can fill a person with calmness and joy.

I'm kind of a sap though and the most fulfilling things to me are probably when I feel like I've helped someone and when I feel like I understand myself. I feel really happy when the people around me are accomplishing the things they wanted and overcoming challenges; unfortunately I tend to get emotionally overinvested in other people's problems. At the same time though I also spend a lot of time analysing how I feel and trying to come to an understanding about my problems and about myself as a person and when I feel like something's clicked, that perception of being in touch with myself makes me feel like I'm moving forward.

Lately I have been feeling very unfulfilled and afraid of the future though, but I've been studying again and that makes me feel better about myself. I guess you could say I also have a drive to feel like I'm making progress in order to feel fulfilled, even though I no longer feel like I can afford to be the (extremely) ambitious person I used to be. Nonetheless, mostly I sleep a lot and eat things that are bad for me and that keeps me satisfied.

 

[Perfect Cell]

As cliche as it sounds, watching people work together and being able to win/finish/ect always gets a warm spot in my heart, especially if I'm part of that team.

 

[Aldaron]

knowing that whatever i'm "forced" to do (formerly going to school, now working full time) both is something i can enjoy (if I didn't need money, I wouldn't work, but even though I have to, I still love my job and the people I work with) and actually directly helps me do whatever i want to do, whether that is spontaneously taking trips, going to exorbitantly priced restaurants, buying nice shiny cars, buying every volume of one piece and every high def episode of one piece, or investing way too much personal time into an online pokemon community.

I have a feeling that a lot of answers to this thread will shy away from materialism / money (because that's what intellectuals on the net do), but seriously, a ton of stuff that I'm able to do in my life that fulfills me, like going to exotic places and taking beautiful hikes, or eating incredible food or whatever, is predominantly due to having a lot of money.

so yea, a large part of my personal fulfillment is related to obtaining that cash money

 

[MMII]

Smogon ;-;

 

[X5Dragon]

Oh wait the serious tag. Hmm, well I like being successful as much as possible. Success brings self satisfaction, better sleep at nights, feeling like going places and having a meaningful existence. The cash doesn't hurt, but it's not the reason it makes you joyful.

I guess in order to be successful at something you need to prepare for it as well as train and pain for many a days, but once you experience it you will never want it to go away.


To crush your enemies, see them swept before you, and to hear the lamentation of their fanboys.

 

[jumpluff]

knowing that whatever i'm "forced" to do (formerly going to school, now working full time) both is something i can enjoy (if I didn't need money, I wouldn't work, but even though I have to, I still love my job and the people I work with) and actually directly helps me do whatever i want to do, whether that is spontaneously taking trips, going to exorbitantly priced restaurants, buying nice shiny cars, buying every volume of one piece and every high def episode of one piece, or investing way too much personal time into an online pokemon community.

I have a feeling that a lot of answers to this thread will shy away from materialism / money (because that's what intellectuals on the net do), but seriously, a ton of stuff that I'm able to do in my life that fulfills me, like going to exotic places and taking beautiful hikes, or eating incredible food or whatever, is predominantly due to having a lot of money.

so yea, a large part of my personal fulfillment is related to obtaining that cash money

Increasingly I'm realising this is just a fact of life. Like I'm kind of an idealist and growing up I never cared about money even though my parents are poor, because obviously you need other things in your life and I was a kid with crazy ambitious career dreams, but as I've gotten older I've slowly learned that you just need money not just for the necessities but to pursue your hobbies. And sometimes there are things you just really want to own and owning them makes you happy.

The corollary of this is that I worry all the time about money and what will happen if we / I don't have any. I think the things that make me happy aren't necessarily connected to money itself, but not having money makes life difficult and stressful, and having money allows you to do really enjoyable things, like travel, eat good food, see concerts, etc. Also, having money is just one type of security. There are all kinds of disasters that can come up and the necessity of financial preparation for them is just ugly reality. Obviously I've never been in a situation where I have a lot of money so I can't speak for the actual acquisition of money as a fulfilling act, but I know if I came into a lot of money (particularly if I earned it, but right now I'm not picky) I would be really satisfied (I have a lot of problems money can't solve, but I also have a hell of a lot of problems money totally can).

There are a lot of things you can do for no real cost that can make you happy, but not having money is really limiting... and most people want to have adventures or whatever. I guess you can run off with little money but only some people can really do that and not have it backfire horribly...

I don't like growing up very much. x(

eta: irl I've become a reaaally pragmatic person in response to my parents' disturbing financial irresponsibility (my parents literally borrow money from their weed dealer when they aren't taking shit from me+my brother) and I don't like it, my first reaction to being told my parents were getting a new bed for me was 'WE CAN'T AFFORD THAT'... yea, we can't. Having a new bed reemphasises how important having a good bed + mattress is, if you're not rested more or less nothing feels good. I didn't realise my bed was that bad... I gotta lighten up =/

 

[GatoDelFuego]

video games make me happy and probably dictate my life

Yeah aldaron knows what's up

 

[Arcticblast]

The fact that I basically abused a loophole in my essay to talk about my girlfriend the whole time should answer this thread pretty well.

 

[faint]

Honestly, I don't know. I love the feeling of being able to help others, but if I'm helping someone just for my own enjoyment I'd consider myself an asshole. But I guess it's small successes that make me happy. Working for a long time on one problem and finally being able to figure it out, making people laugh, and just having downtime for myself, knowing that I don't have anything due and that I can just relax and do as I please.

One thing that I can say for sure that makes me 'happy' is a good night sleep. Maybe it's because it's so rare for me to have one that I find it enjoyable, but waking up from a good night sleep feels great and just puts me in a better mood for the entirety of the day. Having consistent energy to be able to do whatever I want instead of feeling tired and wanting to go home makes me feel like I'm living my life better than usual.

I think there's a lot of things in life that make us happy and we just don't realize them, and that's why I'm finding it difficult to answer. I like this thread though.

 

[cookie]

trolling

(i'm not trolling)

 

[vonFiedler]

When I was a kid I was abused by my stepfather. My mom was in a co-dependant relationship at the time, so not only was she enabling, but most of my family had ostracized me because I wasn't willing to fall in line. Every time I threatened to expose him, they told me that if he went to jail that our family wouldn't have enough money to pay for cable or buy me video games. Had known then what I knew now, that 'things' are fleeting and you can be happy with almost no money, then maybe I could have done things differently. I didn't have regrets about my childhood until recently, but I definitely chose material happiness over doing what was right (maybe partly I felt I needed things just to cope with my situation). If I had done things differently, maybe I wouldn't have a sister who still ostracizes me well into adulthood, and who is becoming her father. Maybe I wouldn't have a little brother who is throwing away opportunities to stay closer to his father, a father that has poisoned him against my mother. Maybe I wouldn't have a mother who isn't allowed to date for fear that my dad will take it out on my brother, while said dad whores around himself. So if anyone thinks my not being materialistic makes me a "net intellectual", they can fuck right off.

 

[Princess Bubblegum]

Eating breakfast.

I fulfills and fills me. :)

 

[Lavos]

i don't like being alive very much because there's a lot of stress and a lot of obligation in my everyday life. i wake up most days with a pit in my stomach thinking about what i'm going to have to do today. stuff like going to school, doing chores, etc. - in other words, really mundane activities that everyone has to deal with - seem to depress me a lot more than they should. thus, doing little things that bring me happiness is what gets me through the day. some of these things include sleeping in the middle of the day when i have something i should be doing, walking slowly in the rain, reading really great books, and dipping chocolate in black coffee. i don't like going out into the world with the intention of helping people, but when i do something that inadvertently makes someone else's day a little more bearable, that also makes me happy. nothing in this world is better than lying under a blanket with someone you love on a snowy december morning, though. happiness is one thing. but absolute content is quite another. i'm assuming you all know the feeling when you realize everything is perfect at one precise moment and you get all tingly and your ears heat up and you smile without meaning to? those moments can't be artificially replicated and they exist to be treasured. i guess that's what i call fulfillment.

 

[Brap]

Not smoking weed.

Apart from the obvious above, my girlfriend. She's the reason I keep on plodding through each day.

 

[Oglemi]

laughing

knowing that I will probably laugh the next day is literally the only thing keeping me going and the only thing i really "look forward to" on a day-to-day basis

 

[Aldaron]

When I was a kid I was abused by my stepfather. My mom was in a co-dependant relationship at the time, so not only was she enabling, but most of my family had ostracized me because I wasn't willing to fall in line. Every time I threatened to expose him, they told me that if he went to jail that our family wouldn't have enough money to pay for cable or buy me video games. Had known then what I knew now, that 'things' are fleeting and you can be happy with almost no money, then maybe I could have done things differently. I didn't have regrets about my childhood until recently, but I definitely chose material happiness over doing what was right (maybe partly I felt I needed things just to cope with my situation). If I had done things differently, maybe I wouldn't have a sister who still ostracizes me well into adulthood, and who is becoming her father. Maybe I wouldn't have a little brother who is throwing away opportunities to stay closer to his father, a father that has poisoned him against my mother. Maybe I wouldn't have a mother who isn't allowed to date for fear that my dad will take it out on my brother, while said dad whores around himself. So if anyone thinks my not being materialistic makes me a "net intellectual", they can fuck right off.

you are seriously the biggest moron I've had to deal with in a while if you're assuming my half facetious comment was made to generalize to every situation

you also clearly did not even get the point of that statement considering your dumb potshot...

so, watch as I get my e-fulfillment if you don't shut the fuck up with your snarky bullshit

 

[apt-get]

Living off government money while living the NEET dream and having the biggest pokemon plushie collection out there

Yes im serious

 

[comatthew6]

Not failing tests/classes make me very happy and fulfilled.

 

[mattj]

really long winded post so I put it in tags

 

[His Eminence Lord Poppington II]

i find the distinction between fleeting moments of happiness, which can be obtained through a large number of ways (eating, drugs, fucking, etc.) can occasionally be followed by feelings of emptiness once they come to pass. i feel truly fulfilled when other people are involved, my close friends with whom i can relate and shit. i have yet to obtain any sort of stable income, but having money and doing shit with it is pretty great. watching a great film / reading a good book / listening to a snazzy new artist are all cool, but only great when shared.

faint i wouldn't worry about intentions when you help people lol. i doubt you're an egoist and both parties feel better afterwards, that's the joy of giving!!!

 

[LilOu]

Hope.

The hope that one day I will get an Asuna for me :] And the hope of more things, obviously.