Lovely morning. What does happiness mean to you? Happiness may be something we are always looking for, but what constitutes happiness is different for everyone. When many people talk about the true meaning of happiness, they may be referring to what they feel in front of them at this very moment, or they may be referring to a more general feeling they have about their life as a whole.
So what state of being is happiness? There are various definitions of happiness in the dictionary, such as stating that it refers to an emotional state characterised by joy, contentment, satisfaction and fulfilment, or defining it as luck, or as something desirable to a person or the absence of dissatisfaction. But in any case, it is often described as a positive human emotion and a feeling of satisfaction with one’s life.
We may have many different emotions and we may live our lives with a balance of these different emotions. The ancient philosopher Aristotle’s words seem to answer our questions about happiness. He believed there were four levels of happiness. One was happiness through immediate gratification, another through comparison and achievement, another through positive contribution, and another through fulfilment and satisfaction. He also suggested that happiness was the only human need, and that all other human needs existed as a way to achieve happiness.
When we consider his definition of happiness, we can only say that this is exactly what he meant. And it certainly makes sense that when we are working hard on something, we are trying to fulfil our own dreams, with all sorts of emotions – joy, impatience, anger, confusion, etc. – for the happiness we feel when we achieve something.
Of course, what constitutes happiness may differ from person to person. It may depend on the environment and experiences a person has lived in, and it may also depend on the way a person looks at things and people. But maybe happiness is something that exists everywhere in our daily lives, and it is just a question of whether we notice it or not. If we do not take it for granted that something exists, but always appreciate the people and things that exist, we may be able to spend our days experiencing small happiness many times over in our hearts.