Haveing purpose, helping/englightening others, contributing to mankind through knowledge and spread this so that others may benefit. That is more than enough to bring happiness to my life.

Things that are real(not invisible friends)

Not having any gods in my life.

Music, women, weed, and a good donut.

Family and friends those things bring me more happiness than I ever had when I was religious

The complete absence of religeous dogma from my life.

Being free and doing what i want to do when i want to do it! With whome i want as well puts the cherry on top! THC maked it all softerter

"Happiness is a warm puppy". Charles Schultz

NOT having imaginary friends. Unconditional love is what brings me true happiness in my life.

Thank you all for your responses. That was awesome

oh god oh god oh god

I only came to feel fully happy after leaving religion and abondoning any idea of "god". I think that those who find happiness in god, in my mind, just proves the old saying that "ignorance is bliss." Or, in other words, the mor eyou limit your thinking, the fewer things that can give you troubles. It is a retreat from the realities of the world to avoid unpleasantness.

Which is ironic, since they're some of the most miserable, frightened, paranoid people on the planet.

I believe,happiness can be a euphoric feeling,an emotion,or sheer content of your situation whatever stimulates your brain postively. But it is never brought on by fear and the true basis of most religions is the fear of an unseen but all knowing deity and the unproven possibility of a superstitious afterlife. I choose the happiness from a freedom of fear.

That's funny ... no god for me, and happy and contented.

All animals. Nature in all aspects. Music. Art. Some humans. My yard. Kayaking. Bicycling. Thinking (!) . Love. The ever changing world. So much !

So then - how do we explain all the very UN-happy believers !?

Fast forward to 55 mins 4 seconds. You will a see graph that shows the more religious a country is, then the more disfunctional their society is. It pretty much confirms that when you have a fair, healthier, more equal and more educated society (this equals happiness in my mind) you don't need god. But when you don't get a fair, healthier, more equal and more educated society (when your life is worse) then god acts as a coping mechanism for when you are unhappy

Animals, music, my daughters, nature, intelligent conversation, diversity, social justice, being loved.

Happy = "feeling or showing pleasure and contentment". So the honest answer is that what makes me happy is what makes me feel good and fits my expectations.

Unhappiness is the impedance mismtach between what you expect from life and what you get from life (nearly always, less than expected or hoped for). Reduction of unhappiness therefore is a matter of either improving your outcomes to better match your desires, or altering your expectations to be more realistic (generally, through lowering your expectations).

Part of this in my view is understanding what I actually am and living within that scope. I am not immortal, or in the back pocket of some allegedly benign deity. I am unlikely by definition to be famous, universally lauded or recognized, or to contribute something to humanity that is extraordinary -- because I'm ordinary, and not particularly unique. I know such observations displease optimists and transcendentalists, but that is the pragmatic, rational take that is actually supportable.

I believe that most people's discontent is a function of unrealistic goals. I do not expect to have a statue of me in the city park after I'm dead. It's just something for the pigeons to crap on anyway. All I expect is to be an ordinary mortal doing ordinary mortal things, while I'm alive, and to be quickly fogotten after I'm dead.

So as I type this I have not made everyone in my life totally happy with me, I have not understood The Meaning of Life in some absolute sense, I have not successfully and 100% protected and guaranteed the joy and peace and tranquility of everyone I've ever cared about.

However, what I HAVE done is I went to bed early last night as I was fighting off what felt like a cold, and I woke up this morning feeling fine. I had two really good cups of coffee and fed the dogs. I moved some research and development along at work, and did a good job with that. Hence, I am pretty happy this morning. Because my expectations are extremely modest and appropriately scaled to what I actually am, rather than to what I am not, or to what others think I should be.

Having god in their lives doesn't make Christians happy. They just obediently say that, in hopes they make to heaven and don't burn in imaginary hell.
If you think your "loving god" might burn and torture your family and friends for eternity, how happy could you be?

Well, that's a crock of shit.

I'm happy because I'm independent, have been for years.