Happiness is...

It struck me today that I don't actually know what happiness is. People live their lives in constant, self-acknowledged pursuit of happiness. Economists call it "maximization of utility"; philosophers generally agree that happiness is the ultimate goal of everyone's life; humans expend quite a lot of energy and time trying to ensure and maintain their own happiness.

To be sure, it is possible to say that "for me happiness is lying on a beach in the Caribbean with someone I love", or "seeing Manchester United win the Treble", or something like that. But different people derive pleasure from different things. The person watching the football game is happy; the person lying on the beach is also happy. Does that mean that Manchester United has something in common with the beach? And anyway, these examples are only activities that make you happy. I am sure that no one in the right frame of mind would want to watch Manchester United win the Treble 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (although I must say MU could definitely do a bit more winning than they have lately, pah), or lie on a beach until they die.

And happiness isn't the same thing as pleasure. Even if I were aching from too much kickboxing, or soaking wet from running in the rain, you could still say I'm happy. An exhausted weightlifter can be happy because he is in pain ("No pain, no gain"). Therefore, happiness isn't the same thing as an activity or even a set of activities...so...what is it? A mental state? A false sensation caused by the release of chemicals? Eating chocolate? Looking at a beautiful landscape? Listening to fantastic music? Being rich?

I thought...if every rich person were happy, except one, could we define happiness as being rich, and call that one odd person an anomaly?

I thought...if people have more satisfied desires than unsatisfied desires, could that be seen as "happy"?

I thought...is there any one thing that is guaranteed to make all people happy?

I thought...can anyone be happy without knowing they are happy? Is happiness in the mind?

I thought...that despite all my thinking, at the end of it, I am still unable to find anything remotely suitable to follow the words "Happiness is..."

I think that I am trying to define something that is better left undefined. But surely if you do not know what happiness is, how do you know you have it? And more importantly, how do you pursue happiness, if you don't even know what it is?

You know what would make me happy? If someone gave me a satisfactory definitive ending to "Happiness is..." :) In all seriousness, it would be nothing short of a philosophical revolution.