What Iāve learnt on my journey out of depression is that our control on the outside world is limited, temporary and essentially not possible. Itās the mind that translates the outer conditions into happiness and suffering or depression. No one wakes up in the morning thinking, āLetās suffer the whole dayā, right? So consciously or not, whatever we do, whatever we hope, or whatever we dream, somehow itās related to a desire to be āhappyā. The definition of happiness can be vague, so each of us can define it in our own terms and those terms that are right for us. However, as happiness is something that will determine the quality of everything in our lives, then maybe it should be defined a little clearer, donāt you think? The fact that we might not know a clear definition for happiness is possibly one of the reasons that while we seek it, we often turn our back on it too. I know this is what I used to do! Have you ever wanted to avoid suffering yet somehow found yourself running towards it? I know I have! This all comes from confusion, mostly the confusion between happiness and pleasure. Pleasure is contingent on time, the object, or the place. Pleasure is something that changes of nature and as such we get tired of it. Take for example: clothes, restaurants, or music. Weāve all experienced pleasure from specifics within these examples and over time that pleasure has decreased. We no longer like that outfit, we get tired of Nandos after a while (yeah, I said it), and we get bored of Adeleās number one hits. We get tired of things! The pleasures fade as we experience them. Pleasure begins from outside us ā from things. And while you might feel pleasure from these things, others may not to the same degree. Happiness then is not merely a pleasurable sensation. Happiness is a deeper sense of fulfillment, a state that underlies all emotional states and all that comes ones way. So how do we proceed in our quest for happiness? We look outside, donāt we?