"Happiness is a mental or emotional state of well-being defined by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy." So reads the first line of the English Wikipedia page on happiness. If I could add two things to contentment and joy, I would add 'feeling adequately stimulated' and 'feeling that your life/what you are doing is meaningful/has meaning'. Very broadly I think I can agree with Wikipedia here. But I also think that happiness isn't the same thing for everyone. Different people experience positive feelings differently, and gain those positive feelings differently. In my experience, the most common denominator for happy people isn't how much money they have or how many friends they have, but their outlook on life. It seems that most happy people are optimistic and have an easier time overlooking bad things that get in their way than unhappy people. I also don't think the saying "everyone wants to be happy" is entirely correct. Many artists, like musicians, for example, have expressed fear of becoming too happy, because they think their art would suffer. "The stars shine brightest at night" is a saying I like. I don't want to be blissfully happy all the time, for example. I feel like I wouldn't be me anymore, plus I feel like that would be a very boring and uninteresting life (for me). Music and being with the people closest to me are some of the things which make me happy. What makes you happy, and what is happiness to you?
I always imagine in the future, if i'll get lucky enough, i'd be financially stable and everything i'm worried about now regarding the future would be settled, and i'd still ask myself.. "Is this happiness?" i feel like i'll always have a void in my heart that no one would be able to fill.. but who knows. i actually think all people feel that way.. even the happy ones, but in a much lesser extent than my case. unless they're miserable then they probably feel as much.
To me, happiness is liking where I am right now in the present moment. When I think back to the times when I'm most happy, it's when I'm lying somewhere on my back. Once it was while visiting some college friends after eating a nice barbeque with them. Once it was with my family in a city park, relaxing on the cool grass. Another time it was after I beat Bonetail for the first time ever in Paper Mario and the Thousand-Year Door. It was so difficult that I was actually sweating so I took my shirt off and laid back on the couch, and watched the moon from outside. In all these moments, I felt HAPPY. So I guess a big component of being happy is not having to move around very much? Lol. I think there's some truth to that, though. Because so often in life when we're in motion, we're trying to get somewhere, to reach some goal. If you stay still, you can appreciate the immediate moment that you're in, without striving for an objective. That's enough to give me some happiness. In these memories I have of being happy, they're associated with family, friends, good food, and a sense of achievement. These are some of the best things in life and the things that make it worthwhile. I'm looking forward to more good times!
Interesting question! For me, happiness is authenticity, the ability to live my life as openly and honestly as I can. I spent 14 years in total ignorance of my true self, and now that I'm able to be open about being trans, my life feels so much insanely better. Besides the trans thing, being true to my feelings and morals brings me happiness. In other words, happiness is the ability to live your life in the freest way possible. For me at least.
