Definition of Happiness

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Definition of Happiness
A Lucky Seven Ways to Define Happiness

Happy originally meant good fortune.

What is the definition of happiness? Interestingly, the English word happiness comes from the middle English hap or fortunate. In keeping with the spirit of good luck, here are a lucky 7 happiness definitions for your consideration.

1- Dictionary Definition
Our first definition is from the Miriam Webster on line dictionary . They define happiness as:

Good fortune – obsolete, prosperity.
Joy, a state of well-being or contentment, a pleasurable or happy experience.
Felicity, Aptness

2- Positive Feelings and Positive Activities

The Joy of Dance

Dr. Martin Seligman, one of the founders of positive psychology, uses happiness and well-being interchangeably. His definition of happiness is: both positive feelings (such as ecstasy and comfort) and positive activities that have no feeling component at all (such as absorption and engagement). In his happy life formula, Dr. Seligman defines a happy life as a life filled with positive feelings and activities. he says the degree to which you experience these feelings most of the time is your level of enduring happiness.

3- The Fuel To Thrive and Flourish Another positive psychologist, Dr. Barbara Fredrickson, defines happiness as, the fuel to thrive and to flourish, and to leave this world in better shape than you found it. Like Dr. Seligman, she believes that happiness includes activities that are absorbing and engaging. She goes on to say, You tap into it whenever you feel energized and excited by new ideas. You tap into it whenever you feel at one with your surroundings, at peace. You tap into it whenever you feel playful, creative, or silly. You tap into it whenever you feel your soul stirred by the sheer beauty of existence. You tap into it whenever you feel connected to others and loved. In short, you tap into it whenever positive emotions resonate within you.

A Genuine Smile

4- A Genuine Smile Guillaume Duchenne, an early happiness researcher, looked at the quality of people’s smiles and found that truly happy people had a smile that not only turned up the corners of their mouths, but also crinkled the skin around their eyes. Studies of year book photos showed that people who had these genuine smiles consistently had higher life satisfaction than those that didn’t smile genuinely. So, another definition of happiness is a genuine smile that includes your eyes.

5- Good Physiology Happiness can also be defined by our physiology. Researchers can identify happy people by their brain waves, their predominant hormones, and by the chemical make up of their cells . As people’s moods shift from tense to happy, researchers can measure changes in blood pressure, heart beat and circulation. The Institute of Heart Math studies variability in heart rate and finds that people who are feeling happy have very regular heart beats while those who are stressed or unhappy have irregular heart beats. They use this pattern to create biofeedback machines that help people learn how to develop happier thought and behavior patterns. All of these physiological markers show researchers that feeling happy has definite benefits for our bodies and each marker becomes a definition of happiness.

6- Peace and Contentment Another authority on happiness, the Dalai Lama, says that Happiness is determined more by the state of one's mind than by one's external conditions, circumstances or events- at least once one's basic survival needs are met. This state of mind is characterized by feelings of peace and contentment and manifests itself as acts of compassion towards others.

Building Blocks of Happiness

7- Expansive and Friendly No Matter What In her book, Happy For No Reason, Marci Shimoff agrees with the Dalai Lama that happiness is a state of mind more than a reflection of circumstances. She defines a spectrum of happiness moving from unhappy to happy for bad reason (like alcohol or drugs) to happy for good reason (like love, accomplishment, or engagement in interesting activities) to happy for no reason. Happy for no reason is a state of mind that is open, expansive and friendly no matter what the circumstances.

What ever method you use to define happiness, Miriam Webster got it right when they declared that the definition of happiness as good fortune is becoming obsolete. Although the origin of the word happiness came from luck or good fortune, this definition is obsolete because we humans now know the keys to happiness and we can learn to enhance our happiness at any time. We no longer need to rely solely on luck to experience joy. However you define happiness, you can explore these pages for more information on how to live a happy life.

Try our Happy Words Survey to discover your own happiness definition.

For more information on the Formula for a Happy Life, click here.

For more information on the Science of Happiness, click here.

For tools and tips on being happier, click here.

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