Originally Posted by
BackToSquareOne 
Just curious, did happiness come easily for you in sobriety or is it something you really have to work at? Is happiness just a state of mind we can easily control or does the mind seem to go wherever it wants to, at times going all over the place?
Do you think it's possible to just roll with the flow and be ok with whatever comes your way or is that a very elusive goal? I was listening to a Buddhist speaker talk about the folly of constantly chasing happiness. The attitude that I'll be happy when I do or get this or that, we will just replace the last thing with something new. Isn't that what drives us on tho? Don't know where I'm really going with this, any thoughts on any of it?
Very deep questions BTSO, really got me thinking. Could it be that pursuit of happiness (mine) to the exclusion of all else, was at the root of my problem? Did happiness, back then, simply mean the daily satisfaction of my base instincts? Quite possibly.
Had I come to AA with the idea that I had a right to be happy, to continue that pursuit at a kind of contractual level - like "sure I'll do the steps but I expect to he happy as a result," would that attitude have brought me success?
In actual fact I came to AA with just a glimmer of hope that AA might have a way out for me. I was looking to survive, even though I did not believe it was possible. I was way beyond looking for happines.
As the result of following the simple directions with the sole intention of overcoming alcoholism, I now have what an earlier poster talked about, a meanigful life. I get to experience all emotions and feelings, including happiness almost as a by product.
It's more about the feeling of uselessness and sellf pity slipping away, a sense of purpose about my life that is immensely rewarding. My first inkling of this feeling was about two months in when I found I could actually be of use in this world.