One of the most pervasive ideas in society today is that everyone should seek happiness.

But what really does happiness really mean? The Oxford Dictionary doesn't help much..

Happiness = "The state of being happy"

Right then...much clearer.

A bit of further digging and the general sentiment across multiple sources is that happiness is a state equated with feeling pleasure or contentment.

Side note: the word 'happy' came from the word 'lucky' in most languages, suggesting that previous generations believed that happiness was largely a by-product of luck.

But has the goal of finding constant 'happiness' set unrealistic expectations, ironically leading to dissatisfaction and dare I say it "unhappiness"?

Additionally, most of us are led to believe that happiness is the end goal — a place that can be reached if we make the right decisions, learn from our mistakes, and keep improving.

Happiness is not a destination, it's a state of mind, and one that you won't be in 24 hours of the day, because Humans aren't designed to be constantly happy. We are designed to reproduce and survive. Contentment and happiness is discouraged by nature as it would lower alertness and possible threats to our survival.

So what's a realistic view of happiness? Penny Locaso of Hackinghappy.co suggest the following:

“Happiness is being able to ride the wave of every emotion that life throws at you, knowing that you can come out the other side just a little better than what you were before because you have the skills (focus, courage, curiosity), the resources (a positive mindset), and the support structure (a community) to make that happen.”

That feels a lot more realistic to me.

What does happiness mean to you?