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The three components of happiness are something to do, someone to love, and something to look forward to. Think about it. If we have useful work, sustaining relationships, and the promise of pleasure, it is hard to be unhappy.

'Everything we need is easy to procure, while the things we desire but don't need are more difficult to obtain.'

you should avoid exposure to too much news of the depressing type. It's a good idea to avoid music, books, and movies that are downers. __Show me someone who you think is always in a good mood and I'll show you a person who (probably) avoids overexposure to sad forms of entertainment__. The easiest way to manage your attitude is to consume as much feel-good entertainment as you can.

I'm here to tell you that the primary culprit in your bad moods is a deficit in one of the big five: flexible schedule, imagination, sleep, diet, and exercise.

In terms of personal happiness, you cannot be peaceful while at the same time blaming others. Surely there are times when other people and/or circumstances contribute to our problems, but it is we who must rise to the occasion and take responsibility for our own happiness. Circumstances don't make a person, they reveal him or her.

In some respects we do not learn from our own history. Several branches of research have been examining our inability to learn from our own reactions to past events: For example, people fail to learn that their emotional reactions to past experiences (positive or negative) were shortlived--yet they continuously retain the bias of thinking that the purchase of an object will bring long-lasting, possibly permanent, happiness or that a setback will cause severe and prolonged distress (when in the past similar setbacks did not affect them for very long and the joy of the purchase was short-lived).

The rich are happier on average than the middle class, but only by a little, and part of this relationship is reverse correlation: Happy people grow rich faster because, as in the marriage market, they are more appealing to others (such as bosses), and also because their frequent positive emotions help them to commit to projects, to work hard, and to invest in their futures.

That brings me to the next important mechanism for happiness. __Happiness has more to do with where you're heading than where you are__. A person who is worth two billion dollars will feel sad if he suddenly loses one billion because he's moving in the wrong direction, even if the change has no impact on his ability to buy what he wants. But a street person will celebrate discovering a new Dumpster behind an upscale restaurant because it means good eating ahead. We tend to feel happy when things are moving in the right direction and unhappy when things are trending bad. __The directional nature of happiness is one reason it's a good idea to have a sport or hobby that leaves you plenty of room to improve every year__. Tennis and golf are two perfect examples.

Sonja Lyubomirsky, a leader in the scientific study of well-being, has written that she prefers the phrase "creation or construction of happiness" to the more popular "pursuit," since "research shows that it's in our power to fashion it for ourselves."

To attain real happiness, humans need to slow down the pursuit of pleasant sensations, not accelerate it.

"For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin--real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be got through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life." This perspective has helped me to see that there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way.

"The more you think happiness is a social thing, the better off you are,"

Quality time, not quality objects, leads to happiness

Homo sapiens is just not built for satisfaction. Human happiness depends less on objective conditions and more on our own expectations. Expectations, however, tend to adapt to conditions, including to the condition of other people. When things improve, expectations balloon, and consequently even dramatic improvements in conditions might leave us as dissatisfied as before. If universal basic support is aimed at improving the objective conditions of the average person in 2050, it has a fair chance of succeeding. But if it is aimed at making people subjectively more satisfied with their lot and preventing social discontent, it is likely to fail.

Happiness is simply the absence of desire. When you observe a cue, but do not desire to change your state, you are content with the current situation. Happiness is not about the achievement of pleasure (which is joy or satisfaction), but about the lack of desire. It arrives when you have no urge to feel differently. Happiness is the state you enter when you no longer want to change your state.

Be Happy Where You Are Sadly, many of us continually postpone our happiness--indefinitely. It's not that we consciously set out to do so, but that we keep convincing ourselves, "Someday I'll be happy." We tell ourselves we'll be happy when our bills are paid, when we get out of school, get our first job, a promotion. We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another. Then we are frustrated that the kids aren't old enough--we'll be more content when they are. After that, we're frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with. We will certainly be happy when they are out of that stage. We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, are able to go on a nice vacation, when we retire. And on and on and on!

The Dalai Lama says too much choice brings unhappiness.

Let's start by defining happiness and agreeing on what causes it. My definition of happiness is that it's a feeling you get when your body chemistry is producing pleasant sensations in your mind. That definition is compatible with the science of happiness. ... The big part--the 80 percent of happiness--is nothing but a chemistry experiment. And it's hugely helpful to think of it that way. You can't always quickly fix whatever is wrong in your environment, and you can't prevent negative thoughts from drifting into your head. But you can easily control your body chemistry through lifestyle, and that in turn will cause your thoughts to turn positive, while making the bumps in your path feel less important. Let's get to the mechanics of manipulating your body chemistry.

We are more interested in making others believe we are happy than in trying to be happy ourselves. --FRANCOIS DE LA ROCHEFOUCAULD

A 2003 World Value Survey (worldvaluessurvey.org) as well as the 2018 Happiness Report (http://worldhappiness.report) found that the happiest people in the world have a tight sense of community, social support, and strong family bonds. After basic needs are met (security, shelter, health, food), our happiness quotient is most significantly impacted by the quality of our relationships with our partners, our family, our friends, our spirituality, and ourselves.

The best way to kick-start this is to start making a daily list of the good things in your job, your career, and your life.

Money can't buy happiness, but it can make you awfully comfortable While you're being miserable. ~ Clare Boothe Luce

Want to know how to make yourself instantly unhappy? Compare yourself with someone else.

Psychologist Tim Kasser stresses that the enrichment of time will lead directly to happiness, while the enrichment of material objects will not.

"There is no way to happiness--happiness is the way."

Mark Twain nailed it: "Comparison is the death of joy." We're with Mark.

You don't "become" happy A person once said to me that the only thing missing from his life was children. He believed that he would be content when he achieved that objective. Maybe a lot of people feel the same way. Once they achieve some criteria, they will be able to "become" happy. It's like reaching the summit of a mountain called "Happy Mountain," where you're guaranteed happiness for the rest of your life. Or running a "Happy Marathon," where you cross the finish line and you're awarded a medal called "Happiness." But happiness isn't on a mountaintop or at a finish line. It isn't possible to "become" happy. That's because every achievement can make you happy for a moment, but you'll soon get used to it. It'll become a part of your daily life, something that'll be taken for granted.