Little Bhutan's 'Gross National Happiness Index' in an interesting
concept. In the US we put our happiness on the back burner and put
money first for the most part.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_national_happiness

But happiness is an illusive state of being in life because; "it is
usually dependent upon our outer circumstances of our life being in
accord with the fulfillment of our desires" as written by a famous
Buddhist practitioner who failed to heed his own writings and was
found dead from drugs. It all boils down to a famous 12 step saying;
If you talk the talk, you have to walk the walk to benefit from it.

Buddhists say that most things we perceive as happiness comes under
the real category of pain diminishes and is not true happiness at all
since these areas such as food, spending, sex, etc., be can readily
turned into pain if we go too far with them or when the inevitable
change comes about with impermanence. They say that the spiritual way
is the only never ending way to enjoy unlimited happiness.

There are 3 components for a happy life: Contentment, love or
compassion and gratitude. When we realize that happiness and
contentment are there for the taking and that they are independent
from our circumstances it sometimes can sink in that there is nothing
stopping us from being content and happy Right Now!

Another formula lists the happiness equation as follows...

To be happy one needs:

Something to do.

Something to look forward to

Someone to love

Someone to love them

I'll leave you with a timely quote from Brother David Steindl-Rast a
Christian - Buddhist practitioner from his book "Gratefulness, the
Heart of Prayer"

"Ordinary happiness depends on happenstance. Joy is that extraordinary
happiness that is independent of what happens to us. Good luck can
make us happy, but it cannot give us lasting joy. The root of joy is
gratefulness. We tend to misunderstand the link between joy and
gratefulness. We notice that joyful people are grateful and suppose
that they are grateful for their joy. But the reverse is true: their
joy springs from gratefulness. If one has all the good luck in the
world, but takes it for granted, it will not give one joy. Yet even
bad luck will give joy to those who manage to be grateful for it. We
hold the key to lasting happiness in our own hands. For it is not joy
that makes us grateful; it is gratitude that makes us joyful."

Take care,

V (Male)

Agnostic Freethinker
Practical Philosopher
Futurist
AA#2