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Contentment is happiness of the world. It is all about satisfaction with life. Contentment requires
“Content” of some description to enable it to exist, for example “I am happy because the work
on my house is completed” or “I’m content with my body right now”. Contentment needs a
“because”. Because your house is completed, you are content.
As such it is fragile, as contentment can come and go with changes in circumstances.

Joy is happiness of the spirit. This is the highest level of true happiness the human spirit can attain.
When you have it, it accompanies you wherever you go. Physical pleasures and worldly
contentment may come and go, joy is everlasting and never dies.
Joy is the most natural form of happiness, totally unconditional and non-judgemental

In medical circles, the experience of being happy can be described as having an abundance
of the chemical neurotransmitter serotonin in your brain. When the levels of serotonin in your
brain are too low, you can expect to experience a decrease in well-being and "happiness".
Many anti-depressant medications work either by increasing the amount of serotonin in your
brain, or by increasing your brain's receptivity to serotonin. However, too much serotonin in your
brain can also create feelings of sadness and unhappiness. Therefore, "chemical happiness"
alone can be quite a challenging balancing act in the long-term.

There are as many definitions of happiness as there are people on the planet, each of us having
our own personal interpretation of what happiness means to us. For each and every one of us
though, one universal interpretation of happiness seems to apply to us all.
Universal Happiness

“Happiness is being your self, the real authentic you. Not the limited self you pretend to be most
of the time, but the real you under the layers of pretence, behind the masks you are forced to
wear to protect yourself and others from hurt, pain and criticism. We all want to be loved, liked
or admired for the authentic people we really are. We may wear a mask of courage, or false
knowledge and experience to suit the circumstances, we may even receive recognition and
praise for what we achieve whilst wearing the mask, but any such recognition feels hollow
because it is directed at the mask we wear, not the real person behind it”.

Happiness is a state of mind which can be induced by many means – some result in short term
happiness while others result in long lasting happiness. For a busy person, a practical way to
becoming happier is to make steady progress towards meaningful goals. Even though this
seems simple, it really is a very powerful technique to acquire long lasting happiness. Goals may
vary from individual to individual, but for everyone, happiness comes from merely making
steady progress towards goals that are meaningful. The key is that goals have to be meaningful
to you.
Progress towards someone else’s goals will not bring your happiness, unless you genuinely desire
the same goals. Your goals must align with your core values, not those of others. We will explore
core values in a later session.

Any unhappiness we experience is often not as deep rooted as we might think, but simply the
flip-side of the coin of happiness. We must allow ourselves the freedom to accept that
unhappiness and happiness can reside quite contentedly side by side. The thoughts expressed
in these sessions will hopefully provide you with inspiration for you to make the positive decision
to choose happiness.