SoulPancake / Perspectives / What do you Risk for the Possibility of Happiness?

Dive into some Perspectives about Life's Big Questions

Landor

- 6 months ago

Feature
3
Like
Follow

What do you Risk for the Possibility of Happiness?

A SoulPancake Exclusive with Raissa Landor

What’s your wager?

Have you ever made a bet that, against all odds, you will follow a course of action full of risk? You make choices every day of your life, but how rational are these choices? Why did you choose College X over College Y? Why are you living in the Midwest rather than the Far West or the Far East? Why are you spending your life with Tom rather than John or Harry?

Do you listen to head or heart when you make decisions? What if head and heart are in conflict? How do you decide? Will you quit a job in the middle of a recession to follow your heart? Join the Peace Corps? Hitchhike to Patagonia? Run for president?

Pascal, a seventeenth century mathematician, states “The heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing.” Are you willing to wager that these reasons, of which reason knows nothing, are the right course for you to follow?

Pascal wagers on God. “God Is or He Is Not…Reason cannot decide this question…At the far end of an infinite distance a coin is being spun which will come down heads or tails. How will you wager? Reason cannot make you choose either, reason cannot prove either wrong…since you are obliged to wager, you must be renouncing reason if you hoard your life rather than risk it for an infinite gain.”

Pascal concludes that “it is the heart which perceives God and not the reason. That is what faith is: God perceived by the heart, not by the reason.”

What do you have faith in? What do you risk for the possibility of happiness?

Team SP

Landor

Follow Message

More Perspectives from Landor

The Corner: Rainn Wilson's English Teacher 25 Responses Are You Stoic in the Face of Life's Difficulties? 14 Responses Is Your Work a Job or a Vocation? 27 Responses

Show More ↓

Recent Discussed Liked

First level responses second level responses

I have faith in family, friends, and a good work ethic.

I have faith in the universe. It has been here longer than any of us ever will. It has been so ominous and magical to give birth to the sun. The only thing we ever risk for happiness, or better yet sacrifice for happiness is money. I feel like a lot of people don't know what really makes them happy. They just think if they take the path to obtaining a wealth of money, they can enjoy themselves later or be comfortable. What happens after that? Are people really happy any more? Are people in other countries happy?

You have to follow your heart! Can't your mother see her living through you, by the simple action that you will be pursuing your dream, like she never did....it's not about the field you go in....it's about pursuing the dream. I think you already know what you should do.

why not risk it all........................

As a recent graduate of med school, i was faced with the daunting task of picking what field to specialize in . So i took a years internship in a hospital rotating through 5 different departments to help me reach a conclusion. When i was in the Orthopedics ward i was the happiest person you would ever meet, all sunday i would look forward to monday and all week i would look forward to operation day. The thing is i have a mother who was the only child of her family to have gone to school, and she had 7 sisters. She was real good at science and at the end of high school applied the only 2 medical colleges in the country, undoubtedly she got admission in both. Then on her way there to start her college life and fulfill her dream to become a gynecologist one day, her aunt came to visit and said, dear your poor father is getting old and has put you through this many years of schooling, so instead of starting this course which will take so long why not do something shorter like a diploma in the English language and you can be a teacher in the local high school. That way you will be done sooner and help your father support your family. So my mother thinking this was the best, put her dream aside and did as her aunt asked of her. Now to come back to how that was relevant my mother wants me to be a gynecologist the only one of her 5 children who went to med school. For the last 20 plus years she has sacrificed more than i can count here, and so for me not to go into gynecology as a field of specialty it makes me feel like i am being selfish doing what i want which is orthopedic surgery. Somehow i feel like she gets to live her dream through me if i go into the field of gyne. So now i am faced with deciding between my own happiness and that of my mothers. I should also mention i HATE gynecology with a passion, worked there for 3 months and tht was the worst time of my life. So ......whose happiness should i risk????

Not everyone seeks happiness. I believe in God. God IS goodness and encompasses all that is right. If right and wrong do not change, then the variable must be that which makes me happy. It would seem that the wise decision is to follow goodness and to make decisions based on what is right.

HOWEVER, In a perfect world, choosing what is good and what is right would eventually lead to happiness; but as time passes, I've found that the distance between what makes me happy and what is right has grown. Again, I find my criteria for happiness being the variable. So then, do we rely on the "right" decision, assuming that our happiness will eventually come full circle? If so, how long will that take? Do we have that much time to risk? How much control do we have over deciding what makes us happy?

I believe that for me heart and mind=soul/spirituality. They merge to create being...

I have faith that eventually I will locate the primoidal atom that gathers mass without being a hitchiker to the universe; possibly it is not necessary because the fabric of the cosmos is the same as that which is around us, hidden in the atmosphere but resting outside our human body (the etherial man or soul). Descartes who wrote "I think therefore I am" (remarkably like the Bab who said that "I am what I am"). Descartes believed in the "Immaterial substance" --his famous dualism" but compared it to the mind and the physical instead of what Bahais believe to be the soul). They both had troubles with the Catholic church although the split between the Catholic dogma and science was not quite to the point where they would want to kill him. I like Pascal's equilateral triangle he invented to calculate. My own equilateral triangle is a tetrad pyramide composed of 3 triangles each with 3 points which when united in a pyramid compose 9 points ( the sum of 1269 AH =9 [Mumammad Higeria] within two months of Bahaullah's declaration plus or minus because He was in prison at the time He was summoned). Adding the base (3 more points gives 12 the number of Desciples of Christ) which is a way of thinking of the New Testament, Koran and Bahaullah.A tetrad is in the crystallographic Cubic system including diamonds but I can't think of anything eles it can be used for. I believe you have established a date for the beginning of the cycle of Bahaullah and the ending of the Holy and Exaulted cycles of Christ and Muhammad.

I have faith in Love...the Bible says God is Love and all the other World Religions agree. I have faith that there is One God Who will never leave us alone...i.e. without quidance from His Teachers and Messengers (Abraham,Christ, Budhha,Krishna,Muhhamed, Moses and Baha'u'llah). I have faith that one day there will be the equality of men and women, the elimination of prejudice, universal education, world unity and one common faith. I know I won't see that day but humanity will get there someday :)

Team SP

Thanks for this. It's really helpful to remember that our wisest scholars haven't always been slaves to reason, but rather understood the role of heart/mind/soul.

I have personally been grappling with a LOT of these exact questions. I applied to the Peace Corps, then immediately after started a wonderful relationship, that I'm still in, which is my first REAL relationship. Now I'm waiting to see if I get an official 'invitation' for Peace Corps, which should come after I've been dating this person for about a year. On top of that, I'm graduating with degrees in music but have NO desire to professionally pursue music, thus, Peace Corps was my answer of "not knowing what to do with my life". But now, leaving my boyfriend and going to Africa would make me an AWFUL volunteer because I would be so miserable at just cutting off a great relationship. So now I have to make the toughest decisions I've ever had to make in my entire life, WHILE trying to decide how much my genuine love of this person should play into these decisions (and I have NEVER had to factor in a 'significant other' into any of my decisions, having never been in a real relationship). I'm 22 mind you, and at a major crossroads in my life. I am hoping that now, focusing on what I truly think will make me happy, and maybe less on what I think I am 'supposed to do' will help me make the right decisions. Hopefully!

I have very little faith and was raised without the idea of God. I also take very few risks.
The majority of people are droning away at existence. I drone. I just tend to think about it.
Most people are taught to work toward a selfish existence as a societal norm it really makes sense.
I recognize the idea of Pascals philosophy. Why would anyone wager against faith when it could turn out to be true. My real battle would then be how I can wager without an understanding or mindset of faith? Do I proclaim it in verse, everyday, just in case I die? Brush my teeth with it, just in case?
How can I obtain faith if I don't know how it feels like?
...To me, happiness is not a destination. People always talk about it like that. People often say, 'when I do this' and 'become that' I'll be happy. I'm sure this method works for many people. But chances are they were in a comfortable position before that step.
We all grasp at happiness and to me it is really just a feeling. It comes and goes like any emotion. People are living for tomorrow's Utopian idea of happiness, when really, the state of mind people live in is subjective to emotion. Making more money, paying house bills on time, having 2.5 children, living in hawaii... Are these goals really what happiness is for the faithless or faithful? Happiness. Faith. Blame my upbringing, but this is not written to be negative, my personality has a different tone than others.

I left my life behind to start a new one with a man I had been dating for less than a year. Although I never regretted my choice, I did need to mourn the loss of my old life before I could find happiness in the new one. Just as I had to take a leap of faith to make the move, I had to trust that it was possible to have a life again. Now that we are happily married, I need to continue to believe that I can and do deserve the wonderful life we have - and continue to be brave enough to take chances and live with risk.

Maybe there is no risk when happiness is the outcome

I have faith in my children. I trust (perhaps foolishly) in the goodness of people. I see happiness differently.

The possibility of happiness is within you, Tom Bodett gives some simple conditions for happiness:"They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world. Someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for." Abraham Lincoln believed people are about as happy as they make up their mind to be, pointing out that happiness is as much about personal choice and orientation as it is external conditions. I agree with Mr. Bodett and Mr. Lincoln.

So, I don't need to risk anything for the possibility of happiness. There is no road to happiness. Happiness IS the road.

I believe happiness and my faith in God are one in the same. At first there was risk and struggle as I let go of the things I desired, but the more I let Jesus into my life, the more I could see clearly that they were not things that made me happy, rather things my sinful natural passionately desired. Things like porn, lust, drunkenness, slander, and gossip satisfied the passionate desires of my body, but they didn't make me happy. Now being set free, and living by God's blessing and trusting him makes me happy.

I feel like it is up to us as individuals to interpret happiness for ourselves. Some might have to risk more for happiness that others get by risking less. Are lucky risk takers happier than those who don't take risks? Can happiness even be quantified? I believe that we can take happiness from anything we choose. Taking risks just shuffles our lives around a little bit; it lets us receive feelings of happiness from things we are not used to.

I have faith in the Lord God. I would risk anything to be happy as long as it isn't at the expense of some other person's happiness, including God's.

Wow! That was a really great way to look at life choices, and faith and god. One problem remains is the varying degrees of responsibility that each individual holds to others. If, for example, a parent risks the future of his/her children in order to attain happiness, is this right? Does a parent have the right to make that necessary wager in order to obtain happiness? The obligation of parents to children is extreme and does not apply to everyone, but every participant of a society has obligations and promises to uphold that may not lead them on the path to happiness, which is the correct path, happiness or duty?

I did quit a good job in the middle of a recession to follow my passion. Through a very difficult patch of introspection and with the help of my sacred plant allies, I discovered the person I have always been and how I can harmoniously relate to the world around me. Once I was living consciously of this fact, I found that by continuing my life inside the traditional corporate consumer system while yearning for more, the cognitive dissonance built up until it was too much to stand.

I put my faith in myself and started searching for a job in sustainable agriculture. I quit my 9 to 5 and then got a job offer the next day, but it required my to move across the country and work for a tiny fraction of what I was making. I said my goodbyes, donated or trashed 95% of my belongings and hit the road.

Now here I am on the farm, with only a week to go before heading home for the winter and I am happier than I have ever been in my entire life. I have never worked harder than I did this year and I am a better, healthier person because of it. I have found that when I started going with the flow of my own positive energy, doors open for me like never before. Last month I secured another sustainable agriculture job that will give me the opportunity to build my own modest home and settle down in a beautiful forest for the indefinite future.

I risked everything and the payout was greater than I could have imagined. I encourage everyone I meet to find their own path and do whatever it takes to get on it!

I am all about calculated risk. Does that hold me back? Probably.... There are constant battles between my head and my heart, so sometimes I choose status quo which is not really a good choice either. I know I hold back from following me heart because I fear how those choices will affect others. So, the question is, how do you get over the fear of following your heart?

When the lender I worked for closed their doors I made a decision to have my own Eat, Pray, Love moment and find my purpose and passion. The stock market reduced our assets from six figures to five with a 40% loss and still I persevered. I had a lot of fear and worry with escalating debt and so sent out resumes and went on interviews and yet still the universe answered by showing me a different path. To stay out of the space of fear, anger, worry and stress I started writing gratitude statements and walking in nature to get out of my head and into a blissful state of NOW.

Today my husband works two jobs so that I can fulfill my new role as Author. In May I published my first book, "Choose Gratitude Not Attitude Even When Sh*t Hits the Fan" I'm now working on my second book, "Be Grateful." I have had various reactions from friends and loved ones as we are now facing foreclosure and in the midst of having our loan modified. So yes, I have risked a lot to find happiness and step into my bliss. We could possibly lose our house and that would create a huge strain on our marriage.

I am continually marketing my books, creating other products, sending out press releases, creating an online presence and blogging to stay relevant. I am also a motivational speaker and search for places to share my message of gratitude. I use myself as the prime example.

I really feel, deep in my heart, that everything will turn out okay. Fear is a made up dimension based on a future that is all in our head. That's not to say that I don't take action. I also have moments of sheer panic although those happen less and less. I am learning to trust, breathe and move through obstacles.

I am following my heart which sometimes argues with my brain and then I only have to relax my stomach, fill my lungs with air and expect a miracle! I do believe in God and I am in constant prayer. I am also a spiritual person, so meditation, manifestation, affirmations and a belief in the universal laws of attraction encourage me every step of the way.

Like Pascal, my faith is also in God. Not so much the "churchified" God of religion but the intelligence I keep catching glimpses of when I'm willing to entertain that could well be something out there greater than what we just see and measure and reason.
Too many times my "reason" of the moment -- even backed by what I think to be the strongest of evidence available to me at the time -- has been proven by time to not be all that reasonable. It's not so much what I might think of something as what it actually is.

And against all odds and rationalizations/reasoning . . . I found a path there. A narrow one: a "one foot in front of the other". Oftentimes finding a stability there to stand on that eyes could not see nor intellect could rationalize into existence . . . even once I was there firmly standing on it!

God is perceived by the heart. And not by the heart that is cold and hardened by the lie that nothing exists save we say it can by means of our mind and logic and reason (which remember, have in each of us been proven as fallible!).
Only the heart that is willing to be humble, can perceive God.

The hardened heart can only say, "Prove it to me in a way I approve of": and risk the peace and joy of finding purpose greater than self and a wonderful new frontier to explore . . . for the sake of fleeting happiness that at least their fallible god of self is intact for another few precious moments.

I have faith in a God that wants us to love one another. This also includes loving ourselves and living our lives in alignment with these beliefs. I have recently made the most difficult decision to end a relationship after many years for the possibility of happiness. I am in my 40's and through my relationship with God, I have found the courage to take risks to find peace and joy in my life. I am also teaching my son this in hopes he will get it alot sooner than I did.

SoulPancake

Landor

What do you Risk for the Possibility of Happiness?

What do you have faith in? What do you risk for the possibility of happiness?

springandhollow

I have faith in family, friends, and a good work ethic.

designedtolive

designedtolive

You have to follow your heart! Can't your mother see her living through you, by the simple action that you will be pursuing your dream, like she never did....it's not about the field you go in....it's about pursuing the dream. I think you already know what you should do.

victoriasway

why not risk it all........................

LargerDanLyf

elizbiff

Susielou

I believe that for me heart and mind=soul/spirituality. They merge to create being...

Hali

Kathy9

jon_fitzgerald

Thanks for this. It's really helpful to remember that our wisest scholars haven't always been slaves to reason, but rather understood the role of heart/mind/soul.

Hollabaloo

MR2

MHorner

schmallu

Maybe there is no risk when happiness is the outcome

Me2You

SpokenThruScott

BVuu

Leland

I have faith in the Lord God. I would risk anything to be happy as long as it isn't at the expense of some other person's happiness, including God's.

crazyeddie2

Mwasa

Jerseygirl

CoachBe

Griz

raerae43

What do you Risk for the Possibility of Happiness?

What do you have faith in? What do you risk for the possibility of happiness?

I have faith in family, friends, and a good work ethic.

You have to follow your heart! Can't your mother see her living through you, by the simple action that you will be pursuing your dream, like she never did....it's not about the field you go in....it's about pursuing the dream. I think you already know what you should do.

why not risk it all........................

I believe that for me heart and mind=soul/spirituality. They merge to create being...

Thanks for this. It's really helpful to remember that our wisest scholars haven't always been slaves to reason, but rather understood the role of heart/mind/soul.

Maybe there is no risk when happiness is the outcome

I have faith in the Lord God. I would risk anything to be happy as long as it isn't at the expense of some other person's happiness, including God's.

What's Next?