Happiness.

"We'll have all the fun in the world."
"That's what I'm afraid of."

Why are we scared of having fun?

I don't believe most of us are, but some of us certainly are - the sort that take life seriously, a little too seriously.

I wonder if it's because we're scared of the fact that it will eventually stop being fun and then the higher you climb, the harder you fall will ring true. We might fear that having fun will distract us from what we hope to achieve... Not distract; we fear we'll like it so much that we'll consciously decide to ignore what we intended to do all along and go with fun, losing our way in the process and waking up one day realising that fun just isn't good enough any more.

But if having fun, being happy, being joyous isn't the purpose of one's life, then what is?

Isn't the ultimate responsibility of a human towards his/her own happiness before anything else? Maybe not. That might be called selfish. But if one thinks about it, one only really want to help others be happy for one of two reasons:
First, the happiness of others that you can attribute to yourself helps you become/stay happy.
Second, your happiness is dependent on the happiness of the other - call it care or co-dependence, I don't really care.

So, is the pursuit of one's own happiness not the ultimate goal in life. Or rather shouldn't it be?

Let's assume the aim of one's life is not that. Let's assume it is something else - maybe materialistic like seeing all the tractors in the world equipped with GPSes to automate agriculture; maybe more spiritual like helping the world embrace meditation as the most powerful tool towards self-discovery and contentment, that it is.

In the absence of such goals, does the line between happiness and contentment blur and begin to represent the same thing? Is contentment the ultimate form of happiness? A state where one doesn't need anything not already in ones grasp.

Is the lack of sorrow and worries called happiness? Or is it the presence of something else?

I don't know. I really don't.

To me, right now, happiness would equate to contentment. Contentment at being able to write a decent piece of prose. To me, happiness is not the presence of something, but the absence of certain emotions.

Happiness is sitting in the sun on a winter afternoon, smoking a cigarette and really, actually looking at the sun rise.
Happiness is looking at the tip of a leaf and wondering why you never noticed the fur on it before.
Happiness is buying an unassuming child a piece of candy and watching his face light up.
Happiness is surprising your mother with an unexpected visit.
Happiness is realising you're not perfect and being absolutely okay with it.
Happiness is realising you're flawed and cracking the best jokes about it.
Happiness is sitting next to the ocean and listening to the waves crash against the rocks. Just listening.

Happiness is the knowledge that you don't need to be 'happy' to be truly alive.

Happiness is realising that you actually chose to question what happiness is.

Happiness is a path.

Happiness is not a destination but a pursuit.

Happiness is a word someone else coined for you.

Happiness is a borrowed idea.

Happiness is a thought.

Happiness is what you want it to be.