Happiness, in the broadest sense, is the feeling that one is living a fulfilled and/or purposeful life. One achieves this feeling (or belief) by reasonably approximating one's potential--spiritual, intellectual, familial, communal, and physical--and by experiencing in the context of these potentials many happinesses in the narrower sense as well--such as accomplishing a task, creating and raising a child, getting a raise, watching a sunset.

No one, however, is constantly happy. Constant happiness is inhuman and contrary to reality, which is often very sad. It would also be unjust, for it would perforce ignore the unhappiness and tragedies of others or hold them of no serious account. We should always be partially unhappy for the sake and memory of others.

The idea that one should always feel happy to be truly happy is a poisonous notion. It contributes to unhappiness, just as all idealizations taken too far become destructive and depressing when juxtaposed with reality, which is terribly imperfect. Happiness the emotion rightly comes and goes. But the broader happiness can live on, even through turbulent times, and hopefully it can survive whatever is thrown against it, though this never can be certain.

The greatest difficulty for most people is allowing their happiness to be the focus and guide and center of their lives as opposed to their sadness and their worry. There are often good reasons for why people have this difficulty. (e.g. being raised in a guilt-ridden, negative environment, or having something else terrible happen to them or someone they love) This is a serious problem. But the answer is not to throw out fear and sorrow--it is "simply," as I have said elsewhere, to put them in their proper and preferably secondary place.

Often, therefore, because of the seriousness and permanence of human imperfection and suffering, happiness may appear elusive, inconstant, illusory, or undeserved. Nothing can be done to combat this sense of hollowness beyond our attempting to help and encourage each other to find what happiness we may, to believe in it and nourish it, and to situate it within a vision of our lives that makes sense and seems worthwhile.