happiness

[vagabond]

We have a saying about kids in my family: "We don't need no stinkin' geniuses." It's rare, IME, to find a happy one.

that´s quite a heavy saying, ellajam. is that used to talk about kids or said to kids?
thinking about it i strayed away while ignoring the valid point (teaching people not to gloat, at least that´s how i understood it)

to feel unneeded and stinkin´ could contribute to being unhappy.
this "stinkin´" seems used a bit like in "stinkin´rich", it could be  describing both sides of competitive thinking.
are there statistics showing that intelligence is somehow linked to unhappiness?
happiness is just a state of being, though some have a harder  time being happy than others.. and hard to define,too.
you can´t be happy all the time except if drugged or brainwashed. but maybe that´s just my subjective cynic view.
at times being unhappy is presented like a failure. people react appalled if you don´t answer  the question "how are you" with "great".
but it´s not a failure, it needs to be expressed and shared, like in this forum for example.  why are there people who read depressing poems at all if there isn´t some value in that?

and about genious, how to define that anyway and more importantly what for ?
intelligence is fluidly graduated and can´t really be measured except as an approximation in those mostly mathematical-logical tests. there´s also genious creating music, lyrics, having a talent for movement or empathic intelligence...  maybe sometimes genious is more like inspiration - it can happen to anyone.

ok.. everyone is getting ready for sylvester and new year and this is a little inappropriate at this time of the year but it seems i have a knack for being inappropriate : )

[ellajam]

No worries from my pov, it's what we as adults say to each other when the kids are less then perfect in their academic performance. My generation, in my family, tended to be disturbed by imperfection and sometimes we need to remind ourselves that less stress is better. Being smarter than most everyone else does not seem to bring happiness. My experience is mine, might not be yours.

As to what is happiness, for me it is acceptance and satisfaction with one's own place in the world. That doesn't eliminate grief, anger, or any other source of unhappiness, it just makes it easier to allow joy in also.

[vagabond]

acceptance.. difficult but you´re right i guess.
i like that saying more in the context of your explanation : )