I just feel like I'm morally obligated to chime in — you can't be told you don't exist and not feel a little weird about it =) >this notion of happiness as a p

I just feel like I'm morally obligated to chime in — you can't be told you don't exist and not feel a little weird about it =) >this notion of happiness as a permanent state of being. I've never experienced it or seen it Alright, so maybe your idea of what others mean by happiness is not what I'd expect. I don't think most people would define happiness as a permanent state of being. There's a risk we'd be talking past each other a bit, so I'm going to try to define what I mean by happiness, and why I'm, so far, pretty sure that I exist! As far as I'm concerned, "being happy" is about how your baseline level of emotion is. When nothing in particular is happening, let's say if you lied down for a minute, are you stressed, depressed, worried, miserable, feeling like you are wasting time idling and really should be doing something else? Unless most of your day is an emotional rollercoaster, to me a large part of the time is "baseline" like this. If nothing is acting on you, then your emotions come from within. And I'd like to hope most people in a stable situation don't experience any of the above negative emotions for no reason, they're not actively suffering when nothing is being done to them. But that's not what happiness is, it's just neutrality. And happiness isn't the only emotion you're allowed to feel either (that would be pretty unhealthy!). It's not a constant, or a permanent state. It doesn't mean you can't have a bad day, or that you take bad things with a smile. It means you take neutral things with a smile! It means that when things are at baseline, you don't need to look for a reason to feel good, and redeem the fact that everything is going great and you have nothing to worry about! You don't need a reason to smile. If what's puzzling you is the 'religious attachment' to pursing happiness, well, I don't get it either. But those articles that sell happiness methods and simple steps and lifestyle changes are clearly not meant for me. I don't feel like happiness is something you chase, or some out of reach goal that requires years of devoted training. Somehow this seems controversial enough that I'm not comfortable admitting to happiness on my main account's post history! But I hope you can believe that I'm being sincere, and that I wish you the best. Much love <3