Being in love/being happy= freedom to do whatever you want?

[Roh_Chris]

First I want to say, my prayers are with both you and the girl you mentioned- I can't even begin to imagine the things she's going through, living that way, and I think your advice to her was very good.

In a situation like that, "be happy" is absolutely not a bad thing to tell a person. I wouldn't say that it's necessarily a cultural difference, in that case- people everywhere go through some really bad, or really difficult, things, and I think it's not uncommon for their friends and family to try to encourage them to do what will make them happy.

The context of this thread, though- that might be more a cultural thing...the whole idea that an individual is the most important person and nobody else matters. I really don't know, having never been outside the U.S. or studied other cultures. Now I'm curious...is this mainly an American attitude? Looking out for Number One, doing whatever makes us happy regardless of anything/anyone else?

Thank you for the words of support, MissCris. I am really grateful for the wonderful folk on Singles Forum and for the blessed community we have here.

Your point got me thinking a lot. I apologize if my answer came across as being offensive, as that was not the intention. This is a very tricky question to answer and hence I put a lot of thought into my reply. Once again, I apologize if I offended you or any of the other readers in any way.

Coming back to your post, I think it is not mainly an American attitude. It has to do with the context of the situation - is the person expected to do something that could hurt another's feelings or is the person expected to move out of a difficult situation? I agree, it is not merely cultural - it is something more than that. Thank you for starting this thread to discuss this issue.

 

[MissCris]

Thank you for the words of support, MissCris. I am really grateful for the wonderful folk on Singles Forum and for the blessed community we have here.

Your point got me thinking a lot. I apologize if my answer came across as being offensive, as that was not the intention. This is a very tricky question to answer and hence I put a lot of thought into my reply. Once again, I apologize if I offended you or any of the other readers in any way.

Coming back to your post, I think it is not mainly an American attitude. It has to do with the context of the situation - is the person expected to do something that could hurt another's feelings or is the person expected to move out of a difficult situation? I agree, it is not merely cultural - it is something more than that. Thank you for starting this thread to discuss this issue.

Oh no! No, don't apologize- nothing you said was offensive at all.

 

[ArtsieSteph]

I honestly think there should be a balance. In the situation mentioned in the first post there were people who could be hurt by splashing happy pictures of the new person. The other divorcee, possible children of the now split couple, and parents on both sides could have their feelings hurt or become uncomfortable. I think this should have been considered, not the "don't care about anyone else" attitude.

That being said, there is no reason to hide from the before mentioned people. At that point it's them who is being unfair, not the new couple. You get tagged on a facebook picture while at a party or something, or loading vacation photos, there's not much you can do about it.

Being happy is wonderful, pushing it and flaunting it in everyone's face isn't so much.