Sid says, "There's no such thing as inaction, Joe. There's only choice and consequence." (185) Do you agree? Do our actions (or lack there of) render our happiness?
Created: 12/15/20
Replies: 4
Join Date: 05/23/20
Posts: 165
Join Date: 08/12/16
Posts: 233
I truly believe that happiness is a choice. All of us have good and bad things that happen in our lives, we make choices that we may have some regret over, but in the big scheme of things, the only way to be happy is to accept our circumstances and choices and not live with regret. To me, regret is the opposite of happiness and I know too many people who live with that as the main focus of what their life has been. You get up every morning and you make the choice, today I am going to be happy.
Join Date: 02/25/19
Posts: 112
I definitely agree with the "choice and consequence" part. As for its impact on happiness, that seems like a multi-layered issue. What if I make the choice to sacrifice my happiness so that someone else I care about would be happy (like when Joe says he wants to sacrifice his happiness to protect Cal's)? I might not be happy about it right away, but I would definitely be happy to see that other person happy. Similarly, some choices might make us happy but at the expense of others. To me, it's about weighing the choices and consequences.
Join Date: 06/28/11
Posts: 78
I've had lots of conversations with people about choice and consequences. Choices definitely have consequences. Some are immediately evident while others take longer to demonstrate the impact. Some consequences are positive, some not. It's all part of making your way through life and hopefully learning as you go. I don't think happiness is completely a consequence of my choices though. Other people and circumstances I have no knowledge of nor control over might impact my choice.
Join Date: 12/03/11
Posts: 276
I do believe that happiness is a choice. We cannot control what happens to us, but we can choose how we are going to react. This maybe was why I reacted so strongly to another quote in the book: "everyone is always one decision away from a completely different life (p. 175)"
Reply
Please login to post a response.