"The absence of suffering" is a well known definition,I think. It may then follow that happiness is the default status ... and may explain the Garden of Eden myth? Edit: on reflection the resolution of adversity brings more happiness and perhaps more realistically.
''Happiness is a gift, and the trick is not to expect it, but to delight in it when it comes. '' - Charles Dickens
Having a Good Women by your side and Good People Company . And having a Good Retirement Plan . Which I don't have , wish I did .
Life is constant suffering unless you're very rich and economically successful. Are you telling me that an extremely rich man like Bill Gates is also suffering in life despite all the money he has amassed? I don't think so. I think Bill Gates is living happily and enjoying every moment of his life because he is ultra-rich. For me personally I grew up in poverty with a father that would do everything to control me financially so of course I was never happy in life. I still live in extreme poverty and I will become homeless or maybe even go to jail somewhere in the future so how will I ever be happy if I'm homeless or in jail? I think that if I were to become very rich and free to live my life however I want and to pursue happiness is the only thing that could make me happy in life and free me from the chains of poverty and control.
Read the life stories of rich people. Drugs, divorce, crime - having money is no panacea. You would make yourself just as miserable as you are now.
You're lying. The evidence shows that rich people are indeed much happier. You don't know shit and are just talking out of your ass.
"Much happier?" No. Rich people are indeed a bit happier than poor people, on average. But again it's no panacea - rich people are every bit as capable as you are of hating their lives. Rafael Badziag, a researcher and author, recently embarked on a six year study of rich people - how they get rich, what they do once they get rich, what habits they have etc. He noted that: "What I found out in my research is that money itself doesn't change much about your ability to be happy — it just magnifies your personality. Happy people become happier and unhappy people become miserable when they get wealthy." You'd be miserable.