Happiness and Pleasure

Are you happy to be pleased or are you pleased to be happy?

In this short essay I will only touch on what comes to mind on the subject of happiness and pleasure for I do NOT purport to have the expertise to offer a comprehensive analysis on these feelings an/or emotions.

Most arguments about the difference between happiness and pleasure suggest that happiness is more enduring than pleasure, the latter being perceived as a transient feeling (or state of mind) which lasts only for a short duration. In other words, happiness and pleasure may be described as finite feelings (or states of mind) that have a duration associated with each, the former being the one that is expected to last longer than the latter.

The common examples of comparing the two feelings (or states of mind) include the following:

- Pleasure from eating something you like only lasts for the duration of consuming that pleasing bite or meal.

- For a finite duration, physical possessions can be sources of pleasure but not happiness

- Happiness emanating from a relationship whether it be marriage, friendship or a combination thereof may last for a lifetime or, for what most would agree, longer than the foregoing examples about pleasure.

With the above in mind, let me address the question that I posed at the outset of this essay, namely: Are you happy to be pleased or are you pleased to be happy?

Staying true to my note about keeping this simple and, after considerable deliberation about the sources and nature of each of the two emotions, my answer to the question is: neither! Instead, I would say that I am happy to have you as my friends and pleased that you took the time to read this and some of my other thoughts!

Hani Badawi
October 18, 2017

Minds Eye, Nature and Perception of Things

We all perceive things and react to them with different eyes and never will what you perceive or react be exactly the same as what anyone else does. This is because our minds eye, unlike our physical one, will color things differently from others depending on the unique circumstances and experiences that provided the coloring box and brush to each.

I would argue that, not unlike humans, nature will also manifest itself differently depending on circumstances that, by and large, originate from geological, geographical and physical factors, but in some instances ones that are inflicted by humans.

Modeling behavioral patterns of nature, whether it be hurricanes, earthquakes, fires, changes in climate such as global warming, etc. is a very difficult undertaking but progress continues to make headway as our tools continue to develop.

Likewise, understanding or modeling human behavior is a very difficult undertaking when tackled by specialists in the field of psychiatry or psychoanalysis and again, like in the case of nature, specialists have made some headway at unraveling some of the above mentioned coloring boxes and brushes but considerable challenges remain.

With the above in mind, it is not surprising that we often ascribe differences in our human perceptions and reactions to us having different natures!

Hani Badawi

October 17, 2017

Misinformation Sources

In this age of “information superhighway” and its associated diverse media channels, one has to be aware of the multitude of misinformation that is being propagated.

Needless to say, when misinformation is blindly heeded it may cause anxiety and animosity amongst friends and family to reach new heights and, alas, falling from these heights can be very painful!

Hani Badawi
October 16, 2017

Marking Territories

Dogs mark their territory by urinating on trees and walls, never on human beings, whereas pathetic leaders do that by tweeting on their fellowmen/women to the detriment of their nations!

Hani Badawi
October 10, 2017

Chicken and Egg Dilemma

History shows that when respect is demanded via scare tactics and bullying, invariably the outcome is more strife and uprising by the bullied parties.

Unfortunately, it is often the case that the bullied themselves turn into bullies and perhaps that’s the reason for the endless strife and discord amongst individuals and/or nations!

Hani Badawi
October 13, 2017

Your Life is a Garden

Your life is like a garden filled with a multitude of plants. Pluck the weeds, prune the shrubs, keep the bugs away, water the plants appropriately and never ignore the roots.

Most importantly sow more seeds of your favorite plants, ones that will ultimately fill your life with joy!

Happy gardening to all!

Hani Badawi
April 12, 2017

Problems and Solutions

Our knowledge is an accumulation of experience that is reaped via: parental upbringing, siblings, traditional schooling, "school of hard knocks!", friends, work, reading, TV and, last but not least, circumstances.

Correct solutions to mathematical problems, crossword puzzles and any other form of mental challenge depends on one's education and accumulated knowledge and cannot be attained simply via intelligence or inspiration.

If you agree with the aforementioned statements, then let's together address the question: Can we resolve circumstantial challenges through accumulated knowledge?

On posing that question, I suspect you'll notice that a circular argument, similar to the unresolved question: "Which comes first, the chicken or the egg?" is encountered here!

As a result of grappling with this intriguing question for some time, I arrived at the following thoughts (and I would be presumptuous if I were to call it an answer):

· As free thinkers, we naturally accumulate knowledge, and, even when our experience appears to be almost identical, we never accumulate knowledge at the same pace or in the same way

· Furthermore, as our brains are wired differently, our emotional responses in dealing with our circumstances will invariably differ

· In the process of aging we acquire wisdom but our retention of knowledge inevitably diminishes and our memory ultimately fades away

And:

· We adapt and adjust our responses to circumstances differently.

· We continue to fine tune our thoughts as time goes by

· As time is unidirectional and cannot be locked or reversed (as much as we would like it to!!) we are continuously confronted with circumstantial challenges

Inevitably and fortunately there are positive factors that we also encounter over time. Fortunately these have a tempering effect on our circumstantial challenges and allow us to proceed to the next challenge in our lives.

As the saying goes: Life Goes On!

These are my present thoughts on that matter. They may change in time as my challenges dictate!

May your circumstantial challenges always be far outweighed by the positive factors in your life!

Hani Badawi

April 12, 2017