1. An emotional state of well-being which includes positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. 2. Feeling or showing pleasure, contentment or joy. 3. A pleasurable or satisfying experience. 4. Feeling satisfied that something is right, or is being done right. 5. Philosophers often define happiness in terms of living a good life, or flourishing, rather than simply as an emotion. Happiness in this sense was used to translate the Greek eudaimonia. 6. The emotions associated with feeling happy are involuntarily controlled by the automatic nervous system. 7. Higher levels of the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine in the brain are physiological indicators of increased happiness and decreased anxiety. Dopamine also contributes to good mood, and in addition, causes an increase in activity and willpower. 8. In order to achieve a state of happiness, people often pursue pleasure and avoid pain or discomfort. Feelings of depression, sadness, fear, anxiety, and hostility are often associated with unhappiness. Denial of these feelings may lead to temporary relief, often numbness, which is incompatible with genuine happiness. Accurate perception, acceptance of reality, accompanied with taking action to alleviate the root causes of the unpleasant emotions, taking right actions, correcting wrong actions, living a life of meaning and purpose, pursuing one’s passions and contributing to others are known to increase and sustain a general feeling of well-being and happiness.
Hormones that make you happy include; serotonin, dopamine, endorphins, phenylethylamine, ghrelin, oxytocin, and vasopressin.
Leadership Advocate and Co-Founder of the Goldzone Group. I help leaders to master the new rules of leadership for the new economy. Over the past 30 years, I have visited more than 500 cities in 54 countries to explore, learn from, and help many of the world’s leading companies, leaders, and luminaries in science, technology, health, finance, and entrepreneurship.
