ive been depressed recently, which usually gets me thinking about stupid crap nobody cares about, and one such topic that crossed my mind was 'what exactly is happiness?'

is it a state in which you find yourself in, uncontrollable by yourself, much like 'its daytime right now' or 'im happy right now'

is it like a sideffect (or possibly just an effect) of an action...like you are doing something that makes you happy, therefore you are happy...like flipping a lightswitch, which then in turn makes the lights go on...but then what if the wiring in the wall is broken, and flipping the lightswitch deosnt make the light go on one day?

is it a state of mind? i choose to be happy, therefore i am happy...much like 'i choose to stand up' and then you find yourself standing up...

...and then there is the question of do we have the right to be happy? how far are we allowed to go to attain this? for example, if i decide that happiness is a sideffect (as many do), and my lightswitch is drinking, is that ok? what of my job, my kids, my school, my parents? and then if you say that drinking is not a good lightswitch to use, what is? anything can be detrimental...if i play videogames too much, my school or job or lovelife could suffer, or if i play a sport, like football, is it not possible to play it too much and neglect other things? so then how far are we allowed to pursue a lightswitch...how far are we allowed to go to be happy? or should we always put others happiness before ourselves? but if we do this, and so deos everyone else, would anyone be happy?



...i have my own answers, however i want to hear what you guys have to say first