WHAT IS HAPPINESS?
Before we get too far into this it might be good to define what we're talking about.
The dictionary defines happiness as:
"The state of being happy."
Ugh, Thanks for nothing Webster's. Okay... so the definition of happy is:
"Feeling or showing pleasure or contentment."
Geez, this is a long way to go… Okay, therefore happiness is:
"The state of feeling or showing pleasure or contentment."
That's better, but I don’t think that definition does "happiness" any justice. It's not active enough. It's missing the joy part - the elation that bubbles up inside you. Where's the... Fun?
Happiness is an emotion. It’s a response to an outside stimulus. A reaction to an action. In this way you can’t, necessarily, have a resting, default sense of happiness (I mean, you can, but let’s baby step this thing). Sure, happiness can be a “state of feeling”, but it’s a state of feeling caused by an outside force. It’s a reflex. Happiness happens because something else happened.
If we concede that happiness is a response to a stimulus, then it would be prudent to consider the stimulus being as important to the equation as the response.
I would define happiness as:
"An amused sense of wonderment at what you are experiencing."
Happiness is being pleasantly surprised by what is happening to you. Think of a baby playing peekaboo. The sudden disappearance and reappearance of a person's face causes a blinding rush of happiness in the kid. "OMG there's a face! OMG where did it go?!" The baby is experiencing an amused sense of wonderment at what they are experiencing. Unfortunately peekaboo doesn't work on us anymore because we've learned the trick, but the concept remains the same: what in the world just happened? Followed quickly by being grateful to know that it can happen.
There is a lot that happens to us on a daily basis. Heck, on a moment to moment basis. It’s not exactly peekaboo, but much of it is no less surprising. Every one of those moments is a stimulus that demands a response. There are a lot of emotions that you can sort through as a response. Any one of them may be appropriate. Any one of them may be justified. But, if your first reflex is an amused sense of wonderment, you can find a lot of happiness in this world.