Site Search:
 
Get TEFL Certified & Start Your Adventure Today!
Teach English Abroad and Get Paid to see the World!
Job Discussion Forums Forum Index Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Students and Teachers from Around the World!"
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

What Makes You Happy?
Goto page 1, 2, 3, 4  Next
 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> General Discussion
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
nomadder



Joined: 15 Feb 2003
Posts: 709
Location: Somewherebetweenhereandthere

PostPosted: Tue May 11, 2004 7:31 pm    Post subject: What Makes You Happy? Reply with quote

Being miles away from anyone or anything you know you sometimes get to thinking what in the wide world makes you happy?

Lately I've been thinking that the satisfaction of my old teaching job made me happy-seeing progress and feeling like you were contributing to something useful.

Nature makes me happy-like the dozens of hummingbirds buzzing around me yesterday and a walk in the rainy rain forest.

Seeing new and inspiring places.

Happy, flowing, meeting of the mind relationships-more difficult to find the older you get I find.

Coffee and yummy foods of the world.




******Serious replies only please.******
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Aramas



Joined: 13 Feb 2004
Posts: 874
Location: Slightly left of Centre

PostPosted: Tue May 11, 2004 8:25 pm    Post subject: Re: What Makes You Happy? Reply with quote

nomadder wrote:

Happy, flowing, meeting of the mind relationships-more difficult to find the older you get I find.

******Serious replies only please.******

That's probably because people tend to be less happy and their minds congeal as they get older.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Shaman



Joined: 06 Apr 2003
Posts: 446
Location: Hammertown

PostPosted: Tue May 11, 2004 8:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

A good list indeed, nomadder. I'd add good music as another quintessential component.

Shaman
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Alitas



Joined: 19 May 2003
Posts: 187
Location: Maine

PostPosted: Tue May 11, 2004 10:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

My first extended time away from home, I made lists of things that I missed, and these were the things that made me happy.

Things like a cool breeze on a hot August night, the crickets chirping, new snow, staying up all night to watch hockey on CBC and then laughing at Don Cherry with my friends.

Then when I left my "new" home in Venezuela to come back to New England, I made lists of things I missed there, such as fresh mangos, the jasmine tree outside my window, Polar on the beach, dancing with friends all night. Seeing lush, tropical vegetation and the green-ness of things always made me smile.

My nose has the best memory, every once in a while I'll smell something from some other time and place, and that truly gives me a moment of reverie.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
johnslat



Joined: 21 Jan 2003
Posts: 13859
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

PostPosted: Tue May 11, 2004 10:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dear Aramas,
Quote:
That's probably because people tend to be less happy and their minds congeal as they get older.


Oh my - and here I thought I was even happier as a geezer and that my mind was quite uncongealed. But then, the above must be true because:

"I am not young enough to know everything."
Oscar Wilde

Regards,
Unknowingly Sad and Congealed John
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Gordon



Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Posts: 5309
Location: Japan

PostPosted: Tue May 11, 2004 10:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Watching my daughter experience things for the first time.

DQ Blizzards

Tim Horton's coffee

Beautiful sunsets

My daughter letting us sleep in past 6:30

School vacations

The Canucks winning the Stanley Cup (a wish really)

Having a day off with my wife
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
denise



Joined: 23 Apr 2003
Posts: 3419
Location: finally home-ish

PostPosted: Wed May 12, 2004 12:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

sitting in a cafe/pub/house/park/etc. with a friend

staring at the ocean on a clear day (although the polluted beaches of Japan tend to depress me, but that's a whole 'nother story)

formerly, lacing up my ice skates and stepping out onto the rink--the rush that I felt now comes from binding on my snowboard

watching Major League Baseball

seeing people walking their dogs

seeing dogs run on a beach

finding a really good vegan substitute for something typically not vegan (e.g., ice cream, beef jerky, buttermilk pancakes, etc.)

calling my parents & friends back home and hearing the surprise in their voice when they realize it's me

etc., etc.

One last thing--great topic, nomadder! It's nice to see people focusing on the positive.

d
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
small_human



Joined: 07 May 2004
Posts: 24
Location: World

PostPosted: Wed May 12, 2004 12:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've been thinking about this very topic myself recently...

The thing (or situation) that makes me happiest is having a balance between new experiences and familiar comforts.

The moment when the new country you're settling into becomes manageable but still surprises you everyday. Ah, if only it could last forever...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Capergirl



Joined: 02 Feb 2003
Posts: 1232
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada

PostPosted: Wed May 12, 2004 12:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Things that make me happy:

My daughter

My friends

Teaching

Travelling

Reading

Being active (and healthy)

Feeling safe and secure

Freedom - to do what I want and live how I want
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
nomadder



Joined: 15 Feb 2003
Posts: 709
Location: Somewherebetweenhereandthere

PostPosted: Wed May 12, 2004 1:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes Denise-cafes and pubs are excellent. If only it were easier to find pubs that don't blast the music.

Capergirl-health and safety are also things we sometimes take for granted but after being sick too many times in Latin America and after hearing about some tourist horror stories I think about these things alot. After just scanning Thorntree on Lonely Planet I'll be afraid to step out my hostel tomorrow let alone go on to the next countries. Common sense and luck will get me through.

Shaman-yes I later thought about inspiring music as a good addition to the list.

Gordon & Capergirl-I don't have kids but early today I saw a little girl barefoot on the side of the road waving good bye to her father as he left on his motorcycle and this made me happy too-the sweetness of children
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
foster



Joined: 07 Feb 2003
Posts: 485
Location: Honkers, SARS

PostPosted: Wed May 12, 2004 1:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Friends and family

Freedom to come and go as I please

Travel

Reading deliciously trashy novels on a rainy afternoon

Eating yummy yummy food

Getting a long-distance phone call from someone I miss

A good weekend out with my pals in HK or having them over for a roof-top BBQ

The view from my flat on a clear day (so rare, must appreciate it!!)

When my students say something nice to me (again, rare)

Having enough cash to do what I want to do within reason

Realizing that I lost weight without trying!! Smile (Happened this AM - Joyous! Very HappyVery Happy)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
nolefan



Joined: 14 Jan 2004
Posts: 1458
Location: on the run

PostPosted: Wed May 12, 2004 2:24 am    Post subject: good one Reply with quote

Having lived in 4 countries in the past year, I have gradually taken off quite a number of things out of my list.

It used to be food items, music, my favorite pub, watching football etc......

Now, most of those things seem unimportant. The things that bring a smile to my face are/would be:

-Thinking about my long motorcycle road trips in the States or the Time I did the Paris Dakar.

- Hearing a song on my ipod that I have not listened to in a while

- a smile of my wife's face

- setting a new record when I play SNOOD

- Watching "as good as it gets" for the Nth time.

- A good conversation that lasts all night.

- making a new website
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Magoo



Joined: 31 Oct 2003
Posts: 651
Location: Wuhan, China

PostPosted: Wed May 12, 2004 7:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Spending the evening alone with my wife and off-the-wall daughter

No longer feeling the need to go out and get smashed, every night (cf the above)

Going out for a potentially boring evening with my (Chinese) family and getting smashed

Throwing off the chains of youth (Aramas)

Beer, slippers and a home-cooked dinner

Being in China

I'm getting old...and loving it Very Happy
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Magoo



Joined: 31 Oct 2003
Posts: 651
Location: Wuhan, China

PostPosted: Wed May 12, 2004 7:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

John
shouldn't that be, "I'm not young enough to THINK I know everything"? Wink
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
gugelhupf



Joined: 24 Jan 2004
Posts: 575
Location: Jabotabek

PostPosted: Wed May 12, 2004 7:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Riding my motorbike along country roads early on Sunday mornings in the summer, before all the day trippers are out of bed.

Playing with kittens. I'm not very paternal with human infants but I can't see a kitten without wanting to pick it up and play with it.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> General Discussion All times are GMT
Goto page 1, 2, 3, 4  Next
Page 1 of 4

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


This page is maintained by the one and only Dave Sperling.
Contact Dave's ESL Cafe
Copyright © 2018 Dave Sperling. All Rights Reserved.

Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group

Teaching Jobs in China
Teaching Jobs in China