 But I thought of speaking on this topic today because one of my cousins shared on Instagram a point of view regarding too much of importance having been attached to our happiness. That we should always be happy, we should always remain happy and what all should we do to remain happy all the time. The quote she shared on Instagram basically emphasized that it is quite normal not to be happy at times as you have those low or sad moments. I basically want to amplify my thought process around that theme. I completely agree that happiness is fundamental to mental and physical health but that should not become our crutches for performance or lack of it must not become an excuse for our mistakes and blunders. There is no universally accepted definition for happiness, I have analyzed it. According to one school of thought it is the real and present experience of feeling of emotion like pleasure or joy, basically an emotional condition at a given point in time. Obviously it is momentary and has no permanency attached to it, that school of thought. For example Daniel Kahneman an Israeli American psychologist and economist notable for his work on the psychology of judgment and decision making as well as behavioral economics for which he was even awarded the 2002 Nobel Memorial Prize in economic sciences has defined happiness as what I experience here and now. Though later he did realize that happiness has a wider undertone and connotation but most dictionaries also support this narrower meaning of happiness. The second school of thought places emphasis on evaluation of life satisfaction such as the quality of life. Ruth Winhoven a Dutch sociologist and pioneer and world authority I would say on the scientific study of happiness has defined happiness broadly in the sense of subjective enjoyment of life as you know overall appreciation of one's life as a whole. You have read so many quotes of life coaches, psychologists, philosophers and spiritual leaders where some have propagated happiness being state of mind and you know subjective well-being including measures of current experience like emotions mood and feelings that is you know momentary state of mind while others have said that it is all about life satisfaction holistically so there are two schools of thoughts primarily but my research demonstrates that happiness is not one size which fits all it has a philosophical part of it and also a neurological part. For some happiness could be tiny activities of the day like doing yoga in the morning or feeding the birds or doing gardening or even having conversation with their potted plants in the garden or having a you know couple of drinks in the evening that also gives happiness while for others happiness could be bigger things like you know getting richer by material gains, honor in the form of high position in the government or in some company you know best of health or big social friendship circle and then there are people who are not conscious of this emotion and for them happiness comes and goes and they do not even realize it they are immune to it traditional Greek and Christian societies I mean if you will read often linked happiness with morality and ethics but the rise up of individualism due to capitalistic era the the links between duty in society and happiness were gradually broken and people moved in the direction of correlating happiness unfortunately with material gains that phase we are living in today name and fame if one was to look at all the religious and faith scriptures and teachings there is an element of consensus that ultimate happiness is only achieved by overcoming cravings, wantings in all forms but all that has to be considered in light of our brain mapping the human brain brain has four major chemicals that impact our happiness first is dopamine a chemical which raises hope and pleasure seeking emotion second oxytocin the the neuro chemical that makes us emotional you know sensitive compassionate a harm owned you know directly linked to human bonding and enhancing trust and loyalty third serotonin is a regulator of moods good and bad finally and orphans are responsible for an enduring pain or discomfort if one is able to balance the secretion of these chemicals by engaging in certain activities each day not leaning on medicines there is a high probability of attaining optimum levels of joy and happiness though it is a myth that one can attain perpetuity or durability in happiness I agree to that fact the one thing you can possibly ensure is controlling the high and erratic fluctuations of high and low emotions moods and feelings that is possible believe me