Essays on Happiness and Well-Being

Summary: The most negative definition of happiness is the absence of suffering. Since suffering is the commonest experience of life, happiness is considered a desirable situation. If you are always happy, you would not perhaps think of happiness at all. Since happiness is not always experienced, people seek heavenly life where eternal happiness is guaranteed to everyone. However, even within the limitations to which we are subject, we can achieve happiness and experience happiness by dealing with situations that prevent us from being happy. In thes following essays happiness is explored as a state shaped by meaning, purpose, and the ability to reduce suffering. They examine simple joys, psychological insights, spiritual foundations, and practical strategies for increasing well‑being, and are useful to understand what makes people  happy or unhappy and how to create conditions that lead to happiness or increase the chances of being happy and remaining happy.