What activity (or activities) bring you the greatest short-term feeling of peace or joy or contentment in your life?

For you, what activities seem to cultivate longer term feelings of peace, or joy, or contentment?



(I'm sure this has been posted before, but we have a different set of people participating these days.)

Oral communication with good results for short-term contentment and written communication for long-term contentment. I got to have a good talk at our local burger place with a stranger. His friend had just left and I was eave-dropping on the conversation. Later I just jumped into the river for some more short-term contentment.

listening to music, reading alone or to my son.Taking a crap gives me great joy and contentment.

communion.
reading.
reading.

oh, did i mention a good book?

spending time with someone that i respect, joking around, driving with the windows down. just about anything

I am not sure how to identify short and long term as wellbeing is cultivated in several ways...

I suppose....

Short term - music, reading, visiting art galleries, laughter, conversation, chocolate fudge cake

Longer term - mindfulness, connecting with nature, moments of meditation, cultivating a sense of gratitude

on the weekends my lil britches is off with the dad I find the most enjoyment out of NAPPING!!!
I also enjoy sitting out at my pond with nature and meditate while fishing.

Short term Peace would be for me,,, A good Ice Cream Cone,,,
Banana Split,, Mountain Climbing, Reading, Baking

Long term ,,, Meditating, Exploring nature and all that is around me,,, Long walks in deep thought,,, My Children & Grandchildren Laughing, smiling and growing in life as well in spirit..

Peace-joy-contentment:

Nature: woods, water, parks, the beach. Especially the beach...

Human companionship: talking, walking, affection and physical contact

Arts: books, paintings, music, plays, movies

Contemplation: yoga, meditation, trying to understand or connect with God


So walking on the beach holding hands with someone I love while discussing music and the nature of God- and I am filled with peace, contentment and joy...

Oh yes, and laughing, always laughing!!!

Nice question Trader. It's nice to pay attention to what really brings us joy instead of wasting time balencing our checking accounts and such...

And it seems relatively non-confrontational as well!

confession followed by communion

I spend time with kids and family. Their excitement and curious perception of the world helps to ground me and helps put things in perspective. Being out in nature is great too.

I shoot at stuff off my back porch.

Wow! Awesome answers!

NEXT QUESTION:

Are any of your activities inspired in any way by religion/spiritual practices?

I don’t look to external activities or events to find peace. If I did I would probably never find it.

I’m not just saying that as a moral cliché. I seriously mean it. If I had to rely on external activities, people, events or situations to find peace I’d seriously be in a bad way.

I would like to find a companion to share life with though, but that will most likely bring me more war than peace.

I've found a deep and continuous peace within. I never experience anxiety anymore. Not to say that I’m immune external stimuli. I do have knee-jerk reactions to negative input on occasion that cause me to become briefly upset. But they are rare anymore as not much upsets me, and I never allow myself to stew in a negative state. As soon as I realize that I’ve become upset, I instantly let go of those emotions and they instantly dissipate back into the ocean of the cosmos . I simply make a conscious choice to relinquish anxiety, anger, or fear as soon as I recognize that I bought into them.

How you feel at any given moment genuinely is a conscious choice. Nothing profound about that. Just a truth of life.

I have to totally agree with Abra - my philosophy as well (wait a minute - is this the religion forum )

I would have to say though - that I get special enjoyment out of sitting in Harvard square on a mid-summer evening with a huge cup of coffee - staring at a chess board with a worthy opponent - and listening to the street performers playing jazz in the background amidst the pounding of chess clocks.

I never have short term feelings of peace or contentment,they are always long term. My feelings of peace and contentment deviate from waking up everyday to see my beautiful great nephew smiling, laughing and trying so hard to speak to me in words that he just can't express yet because he is only a year old. Then he always grabs the side of my bed and stands up and trys to get me up to play with him. That is the most awesome thing in the world. The rest of life that I am content with like getting up and earning an honest living so I can provide a beautiful home, drice a nice car etc. etc. are a given, that's life but it's all material.

there is something that brings huge peace to me the beach.
a particular beach in my country which only access is walking because it's sorraunded by mountains in the pacific coast.
not much people goes there because there is nothing and the access is limited by nature.
I love being there by myself for hours and hours.
sadly i have not been there in more than 3 years. I hope not to die before being there again.

I've been mostly-offline the past few days - thank you to everyone who shared their activities! I'm so glad none of you appeared to be 'looking' for peace. Its great to be familiar with your own mind, and the way that different activities effect you.
I really appreciate everyone's honesty - I have seen threads where people (none of you guys) seem to mostly try to give the socially respectable answers... but ice cream cones, fudge cakes, 'taking a crap', enjoying material comfort/security - I didn't expect answers like those, but they definitely have a place! Thank you!


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Lulu - when you said "communion", do you mean the sacrament, or something more mundane?

TLW - that place sounds awesome! Get out there man!

Ruthies - Interesting observation about short-term/long-term - it may be purely semantics...

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My (indirect) purpose in asking was look at ways that "peace/joy/contentment inducing activities" have (and have not) been codified into (or encouraged by) religious/spiritual practices. We have religions that emphasize reading (scripture, or course), enjoyment of good food, listening to (and making) music, dance, time with family and friends. Chess and painting are reminiscent of satori. The only activities I have yet to find a connection for are 'taking a crap', driving with the windows down.

I think I'll go take a nap.