Happiness in Our Lives

Over the past couple of weeks I've had a chance to reflect on my life and I have been asked about the happiness in my life. One question that really stumped me was how do we measure our happiness. To many people this word has many meanings and several people may answer this question the same way. Isn't a persons happiness just that personal. Well maybe not so, if you are not a happy person then maybe you bring others down when you are around them, therefore your 'happiness' is not personal.
How we measure our happiness can be very personal though as what makes me happy may not make you happy at all. To each person happiness has many meanings as well. One person says that they feel happy yet another says that they have happiness in their life. Are these mutually exclusive? Do they mean the same to everyone? My answer, no! One person who describes them self as happy can be just describing their present mood but the person who said they had happiness in their life could be describing their general disposition in life.
So, are happiness and optimism the same or are they related? I, as many, believe that they are related. One cannot be pestamistic and be happy. Isn't that a paradox of terms?
More and more psychological studies are being done on happy people and people who have happiness in their life, as well as optimistic people. Therapists believe that these people hold the key. They believe that the years of studying the depressed has not had the outcome they had desired. Now they have decided to go the other way. Maybe something will come out of these studies.
I think that the more positive a person is the better equipped they are to deal with a major stressor in their life. Whether some of that comes from some other source over their life or they developed it themselves early in their life makes no matter. Just that they stay positive is all that matters. Even when they cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel, just knowing it is there and with time they will find it is what will get them through.
Always laugh, it is a good stress relief for sadness or happiness. Laugh everyday and make sure to do it out loud!!