@SciFiCat Very true. You could be on the Food Network :P

Well, look at it this way: Loving food, means enjoying well prepared balanced yet tasty food. Food that can be appreciated by its quality and flavor and not by its amount of fat and calories it has. A funny thing happens when you begin to appreciate food like that, food that is crappy a.k.a fatty and fast, begins to taste bad, your body rejects it and suddenly you begin to lose weight and feel better because you are giving your body something it is worth eating, and without much effort. Also, eating like this will help you live longer and enjoys more meals :P That doesn't mean that you cannot enjoy a piece of chocolate cake or pizza once in a while, you can eat anything, you just have to be smart and moderate about it.

Definitely agree that it's a dual party problem, but democrats lean towards the hand outs (nanny state) far more than republicans (self accountability). And don't fall for the guns and such, just look at our national expenditures and you'll see that social security alone is more than what we spend on defense (even in war time). Add in other social services such as unemployment (for years now, again...), medicare/medicade, and those alone are more than 3x of what we spend on defense. That's not even factoring in the new ObamaCare for everyone.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fy2010_spending_by_category.jpgBTW - I lean more towards libertarian than Dem/Repub.

@Vaivod Yeah, I wish I could stop caring so much, and I really don't have a reason to care--I'm just a neurotic mess most of the time! :P And, yup! Crazy is just one in my collection of just a few personas--though it is my favorite :D @valadrez I agree is your first part completely, and that there is no guarantee that pursuing happiness will actually bring you your happiness. That's true. I'm not so sure about the Democrats ruining the country, though--not to say that they don't have their part in it. But the gun-nut patriot Republicans have just as much blame at our state as anyone--It's a team effort! :P

I'm sure you've heard 'happiness is a state of mind', and the saying 'when life gives you lemons, make lemonade'. That's reality. Success & happiness are going to be different for each individual, and in reality we shouldn't look to anyone but the man in the mirror to determine what both of those mean. We make our own decisions, course our own path, and choose whether we will be happy or not as our decisions bear fruit whether good or bad. In the end, happiness is yours to claim, or yours to deny. On the topic of the American Dream, that's something completely different. It's 'Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness', not the guarantee of happiness, which is something that's been lost on the last generation or two. Instead of learning to do for oneself, many have learned to game the system in order to eek out an existence that requires little to no effort, and sadly the government (primarily Democrats) have enabled it which has weighted down our economy, ballooned our deficit, and presented the greatest threat to national security since the founding of this country.

What an hour to get deep, but never mind. I'll give you my two cents. It's certainly true that society has a definition for "perfection" and "happiness". And the mass like it and they follow those canon as if there was no ability to think on their own. I used to care for what people thought about me. Nowadays, when I'm 21 years old, I don't give a damn about it. I do what I do, because that's what I want. I don't care if people think I'm a weirdo or a tomboy. That's what I am, so I just go with the classy: Get over it! :P And I've recently started to do jogging, just because I want to be able to swim like a fish without being disturbed by the low resistance of my body or the asthma. PS: That was actually a nice read. I didn't know this side of you. I'm glad to know you're not as insane as I thought you were :P

Thanks for the responses guys! :D @Bad_Gamers83 You mean the country? That's not really what this is about. I hope you can clarify :) @Soothsayer42 Yes it is. I walk all the time and never break a sweat :cool: @aerobie I know, it's a bit strange. But thanks, and I'm sure I will! @sirkibble2 I think that's very true. Happiness is so suggestive, and I think the problem here is that it's not as suggestive as it should be. Everyone's telling us what makes us happy and that isn't fair. It isn't fair to ourselves, to them or to anyone.

You're definitely on to something. There are a lot of people out there who are discontent. And there is a difference between being discontent and doing things for healthy reasons. If I'm working out to make someone else happy, then it's the wrong reason. If I want to work out for my own success and health because I may see danger ahead, then yes, my success, my American Dream is seeing this through.

Thanks for sharing. The feeling that comes through in this leaves me at pains to find the right response. May you find detachment and contentment, on your own terms.

Walking.... is better :P

Well, I think we are, we're just at the bottom of an upswing /shrug