Dear Frank,

Well, ironically enough, I wrote my post on TinyBuddha about such a topic. I haven’t been very zen and centered lately, so thinking about it and explaining it will help.

You know that feeling you get right after yoga or a good meditation? When your heart feels light, the light outside seems brighter and more beautiful, you feel compassion and simply at ease with the world?

I find that to be happiness, because in that moment you are truly experiencing what you are doing and letting go of the if’s, what’s, but’s, whatever’s! And just being. Living honestly.

That, Frank, is my definition.

How about you? 🙂

Namaste,

Gaia

To me happiness is when you get the harmony between your values and your lifestyle. When you feel good about your life and your self. When you look around and realize that you don’t wanna change a thing- neither the people around you, nor what you do… anything.

It is when you realize that there is nothing more you need than what you have now 🙂 Happiness is waking up with a smile on your face !

Thanx Frank! 🙂

Happiness is my puppy stealing a sock and then not running away until he’s sure I’ve noticed he’s stolen it.

Great question and answers! I feel happiest when I am being myself. I feel most like myself when I am laughing. 🙂 Happiness for me is also feeling completely free, self-expressed and bold! Thanks for asking this, Frank!

Happiness is my three year old son jumping on me insisting I tickle him until he screams for me to stop. Then he makes me do it again.

It’s my eight year old daughter demanding I read her a story and having her snuggle up in bed with me to listen.

It’s the feeling I get when I’m trying to write a song and nothing seems to be coming. Then out of nowhere, a great song suddenly comes through and I feel this deep sensation of satisfaction.

It’s that place you get to in meditation where you connect with that place of knowing. The inner peace you feel deep down in your heart that’s unshakable, no matter what is going on up on the surface.

It’s knowing you’ve been useful to the world and given your very best in service to others.

That’s my definition of happiness.

What got me on the path to personal development was all due to the fact that i rarely had reasons to be happy and was always miserable.

I expected things in my life, which when it didn’t come to be, would make me even more miserable. And it would put me in a downward spiral.

But it wasn’t until i began to switch focus when i started to see what happiness for me was really about. I noticed that the more i did that helped other people, the more purposeful my life was and the more I felt useful as a human being.

I used to think that acquiring materialistic possessions and achievements would make me happy but it never did.

The trick is to do the things you love, challenge yourself and to essentially give in value to others. The more often you do this, the more wealthy you’ll find your life will become.

It took me a while to figure it out and is something that is universally agreed upon by many others who end up living successful lives.