We all seek one thing in life and that is happiness. Defining it, however, proves a rather difficult task as each person’s approach and understanding of what it means is different.

Wikipedia defines happiness as a mental or emotional state of well-being characterized by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy.  Although the general definition of happiness would be the same for everyone, the ability to create the required positive or pleasant emotions would stem from different sources for each and every person.  For some, feeling loved by another creates the feeling of euphoria, for others being successful in business achieves the same result.

Like with any comparisons, you can only achieve the desired results if you are comparing apples with apples. Therefore, happiness should be measured as the state of mind when you enjoy your life circumstances and your daily surroundings and you go about your every day with a smile.

Unfortunately, human nature often makes us wish for more than we already have. We see that someone has a bigger house, a nicer wedding ring, a more attentive partner or better behaved kids and our immediate reaction is, in most cases, “why can’t I have that too!”. The main flaw in that thought process is that the person with a bigger house may not have anything else going for them, or they may have poor health or be very unhappy in their relationship. Also, a person who appears to have a more attentive partner may only get such attention in public or their partner may be unfaithful.  You never know what someone is going through or has sacrificed to have the one thing that you are so jealous of.

Therefore, it may be best to work out what are the few most important things for you to have in life and try to achieve having those things. Anything else is a bonus.

Personally, if my family is healthy, my kids are happy and I am in a loving relationship, that is all that matters. Winning Tatts Lotto would be nice, but my life is euphoric without it. Money come and go but money cannot buy happiness, or at least not in my case.