Aristotle declared happiness to be the summum bonum = the supreme good.

Blaise Pascal argued, “All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end.”

According to Wikipedia, “Happiness is a mental or emotional state of well-being characterized by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy.” This was the best definition I could find.

Do we really need a definition? Don’t we just know when we’re happy?

Here’s a list of some things that make most of us happy:

• Moonlight Talks (this was how I realized my husband is “the one”)
• Good Friends
• Baby Monkeys
• Walking or Running along the Beach
• Disney Theme Parks (I was at Disney World last week!)
• Good Music
• Pretty Flowers (they are blooming everywhere!)
• Snuggling
• Being Barefoot on the Grass
• Making Blanket Forts
• Unicorns
• “Just Because” Gifts
• Ten Million Fireflies
• Root Beer Floats
• Smiling Faces
• Coloring with Crayons
• Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
• Bubble Baths
• Soft, Fresh Cookies
• Rainbows
• Jumping in a Pile of Autumn Leaves
• New Shoes
• Funny Pictures
• Being Silly

I’ll end this blog with another quote: “Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.” ~Nathaniel Hawthorne