The Hunt for Happiness Week for this year comes to a close today (January 15 – 21, 2023). However, happiness is something everyone looks for, always, and even when we are happy.. (doesn’t hurt to be happier, right?) Which is why we have Happiness Days, a Happiness Month, and more. As with many other similar observations and celebrations, this is something I think we are most likely already working on almost a daily basic, or if we are not, then we need to make it an intrinsic part of our lives.

I have explored happiness a few times on my blog, and approached it from varied angles, like looking at equations (or rather, a formula) for happiness. And earlier this week, while going through the Society of Happy People’s website, I found so many wonderful articles exploring happiness. You can check it out for yourself through the link.

How Hunting for Happiness Can Help?

Happiness comes from ourselves, that is what we hear the experts say, and many of the quotes I list later in today’s post also talk about that. So how can hunting for happiness elsewhere help? Well, it does.

• First, it makes us aware of happiness itself. And that awareness in itself often makes us happier!
• Second, it makes us look for other ways to be happy, than the ones we already do. So, it adds variety and, like we know, variety is the spice of life, and in this case, the spice ups our happiness flavors!
• Third, by being aware of happiness, we are happier, and that leads to making others around us happier too. Like when you see someone smile or laugh, there is a spontaneous lift to the corners of our mouths as well. In essence, happiness can be borrowed from others, so us being happy helps others borrow some of it. Happiness, when thus borrowed, increases and expands and there is actually more in the end for everyone!

Here are a few wonderful resources to help us along on our hunt for happiness.

The calendar for January 2023 is below.

And editing this post in March 2024 to add this month’s calendar for you. I know the month is 3/4ths over but you can still use it retroactively, and then there are more calendars for the rest of the year as well at the ActionForHappiness website). Also check out GreaterGood’s website here for happiness calendars

I end with a few quotes on the elusive hunt for happiness, which like the first quote says, is right there (or here is more right actually?)

Hunting for Happiness Quotes For You

“If you ever find happiness by hunting for it, you will find it, as the old woman did her lost spectacles, safe on her own nose all the time.”

– Josh Billings

Like Emily Dickinson’s “hope” quote, here is Hawthorne’s happiness quote:

Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.

– Nathaniel Hawthorne

And then those quotes that directly talk about finding it within, or for ourselves.

“Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

– Abraham Lincoln

or this one from Aristotle

“Happiness depends upon ourselves.”

– Aristotle

I am watching Mission Joy on Netflix, and it is a joy to watch it indeed. The interaction between the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu is delightful, their obvious friendship brings a smile to my face even before I listen to what they are saying. Here is a quote from the Dalai Lama on happiness

“I believe compassion to be one of the few things we can practice that will bring immediate and long-term happiness to our lives.”

– Dalai Lama

A few more quotes that stuck me as profound yet so very straightforward

Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.

—Thich Nhat Hanh

Happiness is a how; not a what. A talent, not an object.

– Herman Hesse

And then the other side of it, the one that is kind of a happiness-number

Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow. It only saps today of its joy.

—Leo Buscaglia

And this one says it so well in so little

If you want to be happy, be.

– Leo Tolstoy

And Now, the End of This Post

Dear reader, what is your thought on hunting for happiness? Where do you find it most often when you go looking for it? For me, my family is one of the biggest sources of happiness; the smiles on my kids’ faces, the joy in their voices, and simply their presence is enough.