How Do You Define Happiness?

Do you ever find yourself thinking “I will be happy if… someday when (fill in the blank) then I will be completely happy …” If so, you could be stuck in a perpetual state of searching for happiness; as if happiness is running away from you all the time and that can leave you feeling that happiness is really just an elusive fantasy.

Webster’s definition of happiness: State of well-being characterized by emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy.

Reality is the definition of happiness for each of us is highly subjective and depends on many things such as individual values, attitude and outlook on life. There is a temporary state of happiness when you have a good day or achieve a goal … then there’s the broader, feeling of satisfaction with yourself and life in general. For you happiness might be excitement, fulfillment, freedom, and feeling fully alive with joy. For someone else it might be a more peaceful, contented, hopeful and comfortable feeling.

The consistent finding from dozens of scientific studies is that happiness is less a matter of getting what we want than wanting what we have - which means the key to happiness isn’t out there somewhere, it’s within each of us and as simple or complex as how we choose to see the world around us … it’s in the laugh you share with a good friend over coffee, cheering your child on at soccer, treating your husband or wife to a date night, or in curling up with a good book.

There is also something quite profound the effect quotations can have on us. It’s amazing what a mere string of words can do to touch our hearts and give us just that bit of extra courage and inspiration.

THE 20 MOST INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES ON THE SECRET TO ACHIEVING HAPPINESS

Happiness is not a matter of good fortune or worldly possessions. It's a mental attitude. It comes from appreciating what we have, instead of being miserable about what we don't have. It's so simple, yet so hard for the human mind to comprehend. ~Bits and Pieces

If you want to be happy, be ~Leo Tolstoy

We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have. ~Frederick Keonig

Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product. ~Eleanor Roosevelt

Our greatest happiness does not depend on the condition of life in which chance has placed us, but is always the result of a good conscience, good health, occupation, and freedom in all just pursuits. ~Thomas Jefferson

Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions. ~Dalai Lama

There is no value in life except what you choose to place upon it and no happiness in any place except what you bring to it yourself. ~Henry David Thoreau

Remember happiness doesn't depend upon who you are or what you have; it depends solely on what you think. ~Dale Carnegie

Often people attempt to live their lives backwards; they try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want, so they will be happier. The way it actually works is the reverse. You must first be who you really are, then do what you need to do, in order to have what you want. ~Margaret Young

Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things. ~Robert Brault

The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance, the wise grows it under his feet.” — James Oppenheim

There is only one cause of unhappiness: the false beliefs you have in your head, beliefs so widespread, so commonly held, that it never occurs to you to question them.” — Anthony de Mello

How we feel about ourselves, the joy we get from living, ultimately depends directly on how the mind filters and interprets everyday experiences. Whether we are happy depends on inner harmony, not on the controls we are able to exert over the great forces of the universe. ~Mihaly Csikszentmihaly

The really happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery when on a detour. ~Author Unknown

Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self- gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose. ~Helen Keller

Life is made up of small pleasures. Happiness is made up of those tiny successes. The big ones come too infrequently. And if you don’t collect all these tiny successes, the big ones don’t really mean anything. ~Norman Lear

Happy people plan actions, they don’t plan results. ~Dennis Wholey

Being happy doesn’t mean everything is perfect. It means you have decided to look beyond the imperfections. ~Author Unknown

Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be. ~Abraham Lincoln