Is it something real, or imaginary? Does it depend on us, the context, our interpretation, or meditation?
Does it have to do with joy, just as pain relates to suffering? Are they opposites?
Does that duality even exist?
Why do children seem happier than adults or the elderly? What determines whether one person is happy compared to another who is not?
I think children look and are happier because they think less and feel more. They aren’t burdened with heads full of all the consumerist crap, prejudices, responsibilities, and fears that some of us adults have.
Do you think we can remember what we were like as children? Would you be willing to try?
Our neuroplasticity fluctuates, not due to age, but to habituation. So, it is absolutely necessary to develop anti-discipline or biologically break the consequences that society has instilled in us 
Totally agree!!
The spirit of a child has nothing to do with immaturity, as it is culturally associated.
The desire to discover, the optimism of the “yet to come,” and even the ingenuity to rethink or question everything are attributes that, disguised as socially validated “certainties,” slowly distance us from our inner child.
Regarding “duality,” I believe it exists and that we are the architects of the balance.
In my opinion (and experience), happiness exists.
If I could visualize it, it would be like a cable connecting the outside with the inside. It’s like a highway that flows or gets jammed depending on how much capacity you have to go within yourself and “remember” (that is, to feel again with your heart) what those moments were like (usually when you were little) when the only thing that mattered was that the little sticks of the castle you were building at the foot of a eucalyptus tree didn’t fall over 
.
And yeah… kids have that touch. It’s like they have that cable right on the surface of their skin. As we grow up, though, we often lose our connection with that interior, which gets diluted by taxes, the matrix, an economy minister who devalues the currency and leaves you without a job, and things like that.
Is it possible to be happy? From my point of view, yes. Although (at least for me) I haven’t found how to achieve a “sustainable happiness.” I’m referring to what happens in meditation: maintaining that sense of valuing the moment in everyday life so that nothing else matters.
Once again, the matrix shifts your focus away from that purpose. Or worse yet, it gives it to you (deceptively) in drips linked to having more, to consumerism, and to technology (as a luxury good).
Personally, I continue my search, even though I am aware that happiness is within each one of us. So, we shouldn’t look outside, but rather inside.
Honestly, that’s such a profound question… but the moment I feel truly different and at complete ease is immediately after my breathing sessions… I’m not sure if it’s flashes of happiness or what…
But I really like the idea of not tethering happiness to anything or anyone in the world…
I imagine that you can only be happy, or experience happiness, if you are calm on the inside… at peace with yourself.
Happiness is surely found mostly in the present moment, and I believe it is something personal that is associated with each person’s passions and purpose—that is, with what fulfills you and makes you feel complete. It goes hand in hand with inner peace, well-being, freedom, and enjoyment.
Reflecting a bit more… joy is an emotion that vibrates at a high frequency and perhaps it is something more than just a moment; on the other hand, I consider happiness to be something broader, a state that encompasses more.
I believe that one of the keys to being happy is understanding that the universe is in constant change, that this happens naturally, and even though things happen, you keep going and can try again, being here and now and understanding that there are ups and downs.
As for children, I think they seem happier than adults because they have less influence from society since they are smaller and they live in the present, they connect with nature.
When I go to the park, one of the things I like is watching the children, how they play, what they do; that projects me a bit to what I used to do when I was one. The other day, for example, I saw one who was lying face down, looking very closely at the grass, just calm in that moment.
For my part, for example, I remember being in the garden in the flowerbed where there were plants, and looking for or playing in the dirt with pill bugs. That connection with nature is something natural.
Hug!
I am writing this while watching my daughter play ball with her cousin in our backyard… Having fun and being happy just to be together playing now, with nothing else mattering.
While I sit here thinking about how to solve some work problems, that my car is in the shop, that my utility bills arrived with price hikes… And I reflect that beyond the problems and obligations I may have (the vast majority of which are temporary), I must always seek the peace, tranquility, and inner happiness that will make me feel good about myself and those closest to me…
Thanks for this post!!! It made me reflect once again, and I feel grateful. Now I’m off to kick the ball around in the yard for a bit…
Hugs!
I don’t believe it’s possible to be happy all the time… I think it’s a pursuit that is, at the very least, selfish on our part. Building the common good is part of a shared happiness, but it necessitates moments of emotional complexity that won’t always lead us to harmonious spaces… and that’s okay.