What does happiness mean to you?

What does happiness mean to you?

This is the question that my son asked me yesterday evening as I kissed him goodbye for the night.
My son is a smart little boy who has a high definition of justice and equity, who always stands up when a friend at school is being bullied and who is never afraid of saying no, especially if he thinks that a "yes" would be against his own nature. So, I knew his question was not innocent and needed a more complex answer than just a "happiness is where you are" thing. 
 So here I am, thinking what does happiness mean to me?
First, I could say that happiness is just not one thing but a variety of little bliss and pleasure.
I am happy when I get the last cookie in the box. I am delighted when I get to see my friends and spend a nice evening party with them. I am happy when the sun finally shines in a cloudy sky and I will be very happy when the first snow of 2020 will at last fall. Yes, even now, as a grown-up, I am just as delighted as my kids when the snow falls. Do not get me wrong, I am not a skier and we do not live in the north. Still, I love walking in fresh snow and sometimes I even come back home on foot just to have the pleasure of walking in the snow for a few moments. And I love the sun too, and I am very much looking towards next summer, the swimming pool and the beach parties. Lucky for me, my kids love snow and sea just as much as I do.
Happiness is also spending time with them and noticing that they are just so similar and yet different from one and another.  They do love each other and they fight, like every sibling in the world. They want to be together and the next moment they wish they were the only ones just so they could spend alone time with mum or dad.  
Happiness is my family but not only. I also feel grateful when I get to spend some time on my own to write or read with a hot cup of tea or coffee. I am not going to talk about mental load that both mother or father get but sometimes to walk in an empty home feels like heaven and let us talk about the pleasure of a long hot bath without disturbance....well that is if you do not have a cat because then you know how I feel when the cat is behind the door.
I believe that today people chase this notion of happiness, that if you cannot say that you are happy then you are ill or suffering from a breakdown or a broken heart.  We have to be happy, we must be happy and do everything to reach this goal.  I do not believe in that. Sometimes I feel it is ok to be sad, anxious, angered, bored or excited, cheerful and thrilled. Happiness is also about all these other feelings. How can you say that you are happy if you do not from time to time experience this vast sea of emotions, negative or positive emotions alike? Happiness is about feelings. It is about connecting with your various emotions and learning how to deal with them and teach that your kids.  I hope that I am on the right track with my little treasures.
But tell me, what is happiness to you?


Love,
Reading Freak