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I thought that was stupidity.
did you ask them to define happy? because it doesnt sound like they’re happy
In my albeit limited experience, I’ve found that a lot of people equate physical comfort with happiness. The concept of a “fulfilling life” seems to be a strange, alien thing. Today, only the (ayin)ashir can supposedly be the (alef)ashir.
(I’ve had many a conversation (read: argument) with an important figure in my life, who believes that its imperative that I own more than three or four pairs of pants and shirts and two suits. This person gets angry that I refuse to buy more clothing on the grounds that I simply have enough to meet my needs.)
B”H I find that in E”Y in my general community, I think that in most homes, this is no the case. The high school kids actually do put in a good 10-12 hours daily on Sundays too no less and because everyone else does it, no one seems to feel they’re missing out on anything.
No one looks down on the youngerman who tries to sell cakes to make a couple extra shekel. In fact, one of the happiest people I ever met actually did this when I was in yeshivah in order to put together enough money for Shabbos.
Perhaps people get angry when you don’t agree with them because they take it like a criticism. An opinion is part of you and unless you work or developed on it, it may feel like rejection of part of yourself from the other person. Most people don’t like to be criticised, perhaps because we like to think of ourselves as perfect people, at least to the outside world?!
Just a thought..
Your thoughts on self esteem etc sounds true enough too… talk of if they’re happy… ;-/
Hope you’re feeling better after ranting here. It is frustrating not to be heard out.
When people are emotionaly involved in their opinion they can not agree to the opposite view. When you force them to do so they’ll only get irritated. That is one reason that I ignore many threads here.
I have a VERY pressured life. It makes me exhausted, occasionally frustrated, often curt and impatient, sometimes very unpleasant to be around. it also makes me incredibly productive, fulfilled, and content. I most certainly am happy under this kind of pressure.
BUT that doesn’t mean everyone is. Some people thrive on pressure and rise to the challenge. Others are buried under its weight; they could achieve the same heights under a more relaxed regimen.
SO, while it may not be unhealthy for you to learn 10-12 hours a day as a 12-13 year old (or 17-20 year old, for that matter), it may be very destructive for others. Chinuch l’naar al pi darcho. You are right, in thinking that some of this “softness” may be attributable to general social norms and standards where kids are under less pressure and so are unable to handle the pressure as well. But, the reality is that social norms are here, they do impact on how kids handle life, and we need to work with these realities rather than try to ignore them and expect kids to fall in line.
Sounds like they are jealous of you. Forget about it.
If a person is happy, then they must have accomplished something (excluding mind-altering substances). The more one accomplishes, the happier (in theory) one gets. Problems arise when one’s personal recognition of accomplishment are skewed. This can apply to shabbos guests and to children equally.
yitayningwut -I think the problem is that there is WAAAYYY too much emphasis these days about everyone being happy. Don’t get me wrong, I think everyone should be happy. I just think that realistically, we can’t all be happy all of the time. The issue is that kids are never going to be happy when they are told to do something. It doesn’t matter if the school day was only 3 hours, they would be unhappy about that too. The constant desire to do things just to make kids happy is actually causing more harm than good. They never appreciate things anymore. I bet when you had a day off from school it was like going on vacation – what to do with all this free time? Do today’s kids appreciate a day off? No. They want to know why they didn’t get two days off, because that would really make them “happy”.
I think we would all be better off if we thought about what the kids need instead of what would make them happy
Yitay, years ago, in Yeshiva, I would get agitated about the fact that many discussions would end with, “Oh, fine, have it your way.” It bothered me why we couldn’t just argue out the merits to each side. After pondering it for some time I came to one conclusion: keep in mind who you are talking to.
By now, to most people, who actually can’t handle a normal argument I just nod when they say whatever ridicules statement, since I know that they will only get angry at my disagreement, and I will be stuck there going around the same point over and over. But with people who know how to get convinced (a great art) I still can discuss things.
In short, don’t enter an argument if you can’t leave it.
generally,if people get so upset that you have a different idea than them and can;t accept it it is becuz they are jealous, or feel inadequate so they have to put you down. i know many people who work very hard and accomplish a lot more than me, and i admire them.i am not jealous so their accomplishments don;t bother me. but when a person has low self esteem,or feels guilty about their own choices,then they have to knock the next one down. dont sweat it.you are right.
I have to say, I don’t think it’s necessarily because they felt “inadequate” or “jealous”. Like I said on the “What’s the Idea with College?” thread – some people just don’t get that other people are hardwired differently than they are, and therefore need different things to lead fulfilling lives. And then they get all passionate and stubborn about it, because they REALLY think that the other side is delusional – because they honestly can’t conceive of living such a way.
(I’ve had a lot of experience dealing with such people…I just keep telling myself that they are really well-meaning…)
Of course, it’s highly possible that they were just a bunch of mean old goats. I’m just saying.
My own, very non-authoritative opinion: it’s our generation’s own brand of sinas chinam. There’s absolutely no reason to care or bother about others’ life choices, but we all keep on doing it anyway.
That’s the spirit! 😀
I find it interesting that people insist on lower educational standards as a measure of happiness. I’m not expressing this well, but I think that there are two issues at hand. One is education and one is “happiness” or whatever that means to people. I think that in general we are in this world to “work” – omol. For men that would mean learning Torah/working, and for women that would be taking care of the children/house/working, etc. In order to succeed in learning/working, a person has to work hard to achieve a certain level. In many countries other than America, school hours are much longer and more rigorous. In EY, my 8yo son is in cheder from 8:30 until 5, 10yo until 5:30 and many 13-14yo boys are until 6:30 and it just gets longer after that. As far as secular education, I just read the in South Korea, school is from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. except on Sunday.
I do understand that people need down time, recreational activities, etc, to be more productive and recharge batteries, but is that the equivalent of “happiness”?
The secret to happiness: Whenever a Bochur feels like it is too long, just take another coffee. If you are in 9th grade and they don’t let, then it becomes an adventure so it is even more fun and a greater boost to continue learning Geshmak.
Inherently learning is the most productive thing in the world (to me, to you, and most importantly to Chazal when explaining God’s will). Ergo, healthy people, when learning, should feel enormous accomplishment, satisfaction, and happiness. Sadly, the recent generation (myself included) is not that healthy. Despite actual accomplishment we don’t feel it enough. Additionally, the values of Chazal May not be ingrained enough in us. Your Shabbos Guests seemed to exemplify this latter idea.
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