The Synonym for Happiness

Define happiness....

My personal definition of happiness changes according to the day, the hour, or even the minute depending on a variety of factors that change infinitely. To be quite honest, sometimes happiness can be found in a bottle of wine and photoshop... and sometimes in making beautiful photographs, or traveling to the islands, or listening to a good band on Saturday night, or in the simplest of terms- making someone smile. We often hear quotes like this one by Mark Twain, "Dance like no one is watching. Sing like no one is listening. Love like you've never been hurt and etc.etc."

So what exactly do people mean by those common phrases, "pursue your passions"or "follow your bliss" or "love like you've never been hurt".

Well, the past couple weeks, I've started reading "The Four Hour Work Week", a Wall-Street Journal best seller, love it by the way... the author brings up this point that I think defines happiness in understandable actionable terms. Think about this for a moment:
Why do we dance, why do we sing, and why do we love? The obvious answer is they bring happiness, yes, but what is it about these things that we really crave? Its EXCITEMENT! Yes! Excitement is the perfect synonym for happiness. The opposite of love is not hate (which are two sides of the same coin) but Indifference and the opposite of happiness is not sadness but boredom. When people suggest you follow your passion, they are in fact suggesting that you go for what excites you. Why else do we ride motorcycles, go skydiving, or kiss in the rain? Excitement! It is exactly what you should strive for in your life, for it is what settles that fire, passion, and spontaneity within our rebel souls. Think about it, it rings true in every aspect of life- the hobbies we pursue, the love interests. The feeling of excitement tells us that we are truely living. Go for what excites you, the risk is worth the reward!

THE SKY JUST GETS BRIGHTER AND BRIGHTER....