i'll buy malibu when i patent this

we found the elixir of happiness yesterday and in our worship of words and ourselves, proceeded to lose it pronto. what i vaguely remember is like this - you have to pick things you care about and shake off the rest. finding the appropriate things to be passionate about is the key to a lifetime of happiness. yes, we are not precluding unhappiness from this - whatever gives you intense happiness also has the potential to give you much unhappiness too. but then its always worth it, to go for it.
to define hapiness is ofcourse beyond me - but we agreed to agree that its not the mere absence of unhappiness.it is like one of those things taught in stat01, somethings can't be measured. there are just indicators for them.

just, what works for different people - not the same things , at all.

but rule of thumb - a good book, at least one good friend, some flowers, a smile for no explainable reason, a long look at the sky and feeling good about it, maybe liril soap and pink bathtowels, being able to sit quietly by yourself for a stretch of time and not minding, finding comfort in silence,finding comfort in conversation, a mindscape of your own, a dreamscape that should ideally change as you go through days, weeks or years, finding something you care about enough, willingness to let it go no matter how bad it hurts,dancing on your own with joy, love - requited/unrequited/vanquished/forgotten/forbidden/ past/present/future, cat naps, junk food, junk jewellery, cheap shiny bobbles like a "i love you" mini-lighter, smiling dogs, random kids walking up to kiss your knees, ability to appreciate glitter gel pens and glow in the dark toys and yes, maybe some degree of success ( ONLY by your own definition of it) - are usually things that work as reliable indicators. by no means is this list an orderly or a complete one. but it sure works.

ps - the "i love you" lighter is bright red and pink and costs only Rs7.