What is happiness?
There is no general path, or pattern or series of actions which will guarantee 100% your happiness. If there would be, sad faces would become a myth, an echo of some faded era. But here is actually the beauty. The happiness is like we are, unique. It is unique for each of us, modeling so destinies and lifes in a continous search of it.
This journey of searching is what will ultimately define you, your true self. Don't expect just to adopt someones idea of what happiness means. You have to find yours.
John St. Mill, speaking about the principle of the biggest happiness, says that pleasure is the greatest good of men, and happiness means absence of pain into body and of suffering into soul. The absolute purpose of life would be a lifeless as much as possible of pain, and plentiful as much as possible of pleasures, having both quantity and quality.
Sounds great, right? Let's see what Aristotel says.
Aristotel considers that happiness and virtue are the coordonates of human life. The happy life is the one on the same page with virtue because actions of virtue ar actions of happiness because fulfilling beatiful and virtuos facts can only generate something similar, so happiness.
Both sides seems pretty plausible and there are many more as intriguing like these. The secret is to discover and to understand where we fit in and what fit us and of course, not stoping from that continuos pursue of happiness.
It's not easy, i know but great things happens for those who wish and act.
What is happiness for me? Love. Because you cannot love and not being happy like you cannot be truly happy and not loving.