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IMO....YES...BUT only if it's a healthy relationship. There are many dysfunctional relationships or angry ppl that don't make for happiness.....they just spread the bitter & dysfunction around. edit: you can see a lot of that on the forum IMO.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jadyclem
Relationship doesn't make for happiness. Why? Because you reflect who you are in your relationship. If you're not first a happy person, you can't get or give happiness. One question I want ask is "what is happiness? " You can't be happy or experience happiness until you define what it is to you. Some of us are looking for what we're yet to identify or define; that's why we keep jumping from one activity to another or from one person to another in hope of finding what is missing. Yet we don't know what is it that is missing that we're looking for. So I'm gonna end my response like this, whether relationship can make for happiness or not is dependent on your perception of what happiness is to you.
Being a shut-in doesn't make for happiness either.
Location: Huntersville/Charlotte, NC and Washington, DC
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Most of my relationships have made me miserable, which is why I have very few of them currently, which has brought me closer to happiness than I’ve ever been. Which means I disagree with OPs premise that relationships make for happiness.
Sure great relationships w/ people, whether romantic OR just friendships enhance life just as long as they're POSITIVE. Of course, NEGATIVE relationships are nothing but headaches, aggravation, frustration, & everything else negative & therefore definitely not worth having in one's life.
I will add that yes, positive relationships enhance life, which brings happiness, however to me, they're NOT mandatory to make me content in life. In fact, no one should feel like they NEED anyone for their happiness. I've always had that philosophy.
I think if you are happy within yourself it sets the tone on how you live your life and what types of relationships develop. Needing relationships is vastly different than nurturing ones that grow organically, be it minimal to more involved.
There is a scale. Some people find that having many relationships make them happy, others find that they want only a few relationships. Then there are some (very few I imagine) who really don't want any relationship that is too much more than surface level. Everyone is different. In general though, yes...good relationships make people happy.
Location: As of 2022….back to SoCal. OC this time!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jbgusa
Being a shut-in doesn't make for happiness either.
What does being a shut in have to do with healthy relationships making for happiness?
We are all more closed in than we used to be.......so a healthy relationship is going to make us more happy than a dysfunctional one...or not having one IMO.
I have said many times, "Everyone needs a partner"... You need someone to share your life.
No. Whole worlds of no.
I thrive on being alone and my life isn't for sharing. If anything I need LESS human contact so I can give all my time and energy to things I'd rather do.
Maybe you are asking the wrong question. In Abraham Maslow's American Psychologist's Theory of Hierarchy of Human Needs he lists belonging and friendships as two of the things a person needs to reach his full development of potential.
To that end, and thinking satisfaction in the long-term, perhaps it is healthy for humans to learn to manage all kinds of relationships not just the ones which make us happy.
Happiness is a butterfly coming and going but reaching a sense of self-management in relationships and family is satisfying. I wonder how one learns to have good relationships without managing a few rocky relationships.
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