What is happiness???

Happiness is a state of mind or feeling such as contentment, satisfaction, pleasure, or joy.[1] A variety of philosophical, religious, psychological and biological approaches have been taken to defining happiness and identifying its sources.
Philosophers and religious thinkers have often defined happiness in terms of living a good life, or flourishing, rather than simply as an emotion. Happiness in this older sense was used to translate the Greek Eudaimonia, and is still used in virtue ethics. In everyday speech today, however, terms such as well-being or quality of life are usually used to signify the classical meaning, and happiness is reserved[citation needed] for the felt experience or experiences that philosophers historically called pleasure.
Happiness forms a central theme of Buddhist teachings, which focuses on obtaining freedom from suffering by following the Eightfold Path. In the Buddhist view, ultimate happiness is only achieved by overcoming craving in all forms. Aristotle saw happiness as "the virtuous activity of the soul in accordance with reason," or the practice of virtue. In Catholicism, the ultimate end of human existence consists in felicity, or "blessed happiness", described by the thirteenth-century philosopher-theologian Thomas Aquinas as a Beatific Vision of God's essence in the next life.[2] One psychological approach, positive psychology, describes happiness as consisting of positive emotions and positive activities. In most religions, happiness is the eternal reward for those who meet certain criteria.[citation needed]
While direct measurement of happiness is difficult, tools such as The Oxford Happiness Inventory have been developed by researchers. Physiological correlates to happiness can be measured through a variety of techniques, and survey research can be based on self-reported happiness levels.
Research has identified a number of correlates with happiness. These include religious involvement, parenthood, marital status, age, income and proximity to other happy people. Happiness economics suggests that measures of public happiness should be used to supplement more traditional economic measures when evaluating the success of public policy

What Makes You Happy?

Do you know what really makes you happy? "Happiness seems less a matter of getting what you want than of how you feel about what you have." says David G. Myers PhD, Professor of Psychology at Hope College in Holland Michigan. David Lykken, a psychologist and Professor Emeritus at University of Minnesota says his research shows that each of us has a happiness set point determined by our genes. You can't change the set point much but you can do some things that allow you to bounce above that happiness level. What is really amazing is that the research shows that the things that we think would make us happier like money, physical beauty, and social prominence do not matter.* It's other things that cause that little bounce! So what gives you that bounce and why is it important?
So what are some strategies that make you happy? For some of it might be just the smell of an apple pie in the oven — or the taste of it in your mouth! Others might look to an accomplishment to make them happy. For an author perhaps it is finally finishing a book, for a mountain climber it may be reaching the peak, and for a bird watcher see that special bird he/she has been watching for. Still others may find happiness in the world of nature - a spectacular sunset, a beautiful bird, the calming effect of the ocean or a lake.
What are some ways to get to really know yourself? One way that has worked for me is journaling. Each morning I get up and write 3 pages in my journal. The idea comes from the book, "The Artists Way" by Julia Cameron. She suggests you write whatever in stream of consciousness every morning. Another idea is to just spend time by yourself for quiet reflection. For others it may be by being with friends. Sometimes a good friend can help us to see the joyful aspects of our own lives better than we can ourselves.
Putting yourself first can help you to identify ways that make you feel happy. The next step is to be open to really appreciating the opportunities to feel good during the day. Laughter is a great way to release tension. Finding the humor in a situation can in fact add more happiness to our own lives and that of those around us. If you focus on the present and really appreciate what is going on around you, you may in fact find some things that will make you happy that you might have missed in the past. Appreciating the small pleasures in life can go a long way in increasing your happiness quotient.
Take Action:Sometimes you need to remember what happiness feels like. Try some of these ideas for a reminder:
1. Put on a happy face and walk confidently with long strides and arms swinging and eyes straight ahead.
2. Spend time with happy people.
3. Daydream about a time and place that you felt completely happy.
4. Close the door and the windows, put on your favorite music and sing as loud as you can. (Often this works best if you have a toy microphone or a real one!)
5. Create your own idea here and let me know what it is.

The types of happiness

three types of happiness:
Pleasant life.A pleasant life consists of having as much pleasure as you can, as many of the positive emotions, and learning some of the dozen or so techniques that actually work for increasing the duration and intensity of your pleasures. There are shortcuts to the pleasures. You can go shopping; you can watch television; you can take drugs. These things do not lead to true happiness.
Engaged life.An engaged life is being one with the music, being totally wrapped up in the people you love or what you're hearing. There are no shortcuts to the engaged life. The engaged life can only be had by first knowing what your highest strengths are, your signature strengths, and re-crafting your life to use them at work, in love, in leisure, in parenting and in friendship.
Meaningful life.A meaningful life consists of again knowing what your highest strengths and talents are and using them in the service of something that you believe is bigger than you are. Hugh Heffner was wrong. The pursuit of pleasure makes almost no contribution at all to a satisfying life. It is the pursuit of meaning and the pursuit of engagement.Life satisfaction is not a function of pleasure, it is a function of engagement and meaning. Longevity and morbidity is surprisingly a function of the positive variables as opposed to the negative variables.