The inverse of happiness

We all want to be happy. I certainly want to be happy, content ; it's the most important goal in my life. Yet how often do we pin down this concept of 'happiness'? It is a nominalisation which we need to define and name in our own terms. When we do this we might just find that it is closer than we think. And we might find that it costs very little. Most often, and not wanting to come across as a cliché , happiness is found in simple pleasures.

Here's a few steps to get you started:

1. What is it, exactly, that want when you want 'happiness' ? .. Perhaps you want to be happy with what you have got?

2. What is the experience of being happy for you? Think of the sensory experience - see, hear and feel etc. Connect to this experience of happiness and remember this.

3. In what context - where, when etc - do you want to be happy? If its 'all the time' - ask yourself how realistic is that?

4. Will being happy satisfy all parts of you, all aspects of your life? Or will it compromise or conflict? Ie a wife & mother with a husband who is abusive or who has developed npd (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissistic_Personality_Disorder) would not fare well with 'i want to be happy in my marriage '

5. Think about What makes you happy? Those internal (thoughts, attitudes, beliefs ...) and external (activities, other people ...) resources. TIP; spend some time on this.

6. Finally, what stops you or gets in the way of your happiness ? And how can you use those things in point 5) to overcome them?