WHAT IS HAPPINESS:

Hmm, no doubt about it, that’s a tricky one.
what is happiness – smiles stackedWhen you want to discover how to be happy, it makes sense to first figure out the answer to the question “what is happiness?”.
Having a clear understanding of what is happiness makes it much easier to achieve it.
Also, knowing what the end result looks like means that when you get there, well, you know that you’ve got there!
The answer to that question is not so obvious, obviously. 😉 It’s probably why you’re reading this page.

Definition of Happiness

Let’s take a look at a few potential answers and some of the issues surrounding the idea and the reality of what is happiness.
We can get a sense of the broad range of answers to the question of what is happiness by looking at what dictionaries and encyclopedias give as their definition of happiness. Wikipedia, that venerable goldmine of online information, claims happiness to be “a state of mind or feeling such as contentment, satisfaction, pleasure, or joy.”
On the other hand, Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary offers three definitions of happiness, one being “good luck; good fortune; prosperity.” Quite different? I think so. The first one is talking about an inner state, the second is talking about something entirely outside of ourselves.

Authentic Happiness

So if the dictionaries of the world are offering multiple answers, which one is right? Which answer is talking about authentic happiness?
Well, I take it to mean that we get to choose the answer that will give us the best chance of success if we were to take it onboard as our target in life. The answer that gives us control over our own happiness. And as much as we like to think so sometimes, we can’t truly control anything except ourselves.
So there’s a distinction between happiness that’s from the inner, and happiness that’s from the outer (if there really can be such a thing).

Happiness or Pleasure?

There’s another issue of difference too: happiness verses pleasure. There is some debate over the meanings of these words, but for the purposes of this website, happiness is a state of being that we’re striving to make permanent, and pleasure is a temporary sensation or feeling.
I think a lot of people, in their quest to find out how to be happy, mistake pleasure for happiness. There’s nothing wrong with pleasure …as long as you can recognize that it isn’t happiness. You can’t simply string a bunch of pleasurable experiences together and expect to find happiness. (Shame!)

Levels of Happiness

Happiness as a near-constant state of being is what we’re after here, but I would argue that even that kind of happiness isn’t just one kind. There are different levels of happiness, and it’s possible to move between them from hour to hour, day to day, and month to month. In fact, I think it’s the different levels of happiness that keep us on our toes and makes life interesting. Who says being happy all the time has to be boring?!
So to help us answer our question, “what is happiness?” and find our own personal definition of happiness, it helps to think about the levels of happiness we have experienced. First, we can think about the emotions we have when we think we are happy. We can identify feelings that range from contentment to a buzzing excitement; from a peaceful to joyful; from merriment to bliss.

Learned Optimism

It’s fairly well understood that positive people are generally happier than people who tend to see things negatively. The thing is, you don’t always know when you’re being negative. Learned optimism can help. Optimism and pessimism are not just about whether you see the glass half-empty or half-full. It’s what you believe about the causes of positive and negative events in your life.
Do you believe that you passed that test because you studied hard or because you’re clever? The first belief is that a positive event was caused by something that’s temporary or not intrinsic to you. The second focuses the cause of the positive event on your innate qualities.
While each “cause” could actually be true, even at the same time, studies show that believing the second one makes you a happier person overall. The opposite would be true if we were talking about a negative event. It’s possible to change your thought habits and learn to practice optimism, which is one route on the journey of how to be happy.
A final thought to ponder: is happiness an art? Or a science?
There is no wrong answer. 🙂