My understanding about happiness is that the way to find it is to stop chasing it. It's about learning to appreciate the present as it is, good and bad. That doesn't mean sitting back and becoming passive. But to be able to move through things without judgement of how they should be. Do your best and acknowledge the outcome without it being about how you feel about yourself. Not an easy thing to practice.

Being alive springs too mind.

People make me happy .. Mother nature.. Breathing .. that sort of stuff

No reason required, being happy is fun. Voila, there you go.

I like to post memes-religious, political and social issues that provoke conversation and debate.

you don't need a reason just a way to get there - Sometimes if you plaster a grin on your face its stays there all day - I sometimes read stuff here that has me chuckling every time I remember it and telling other people is fun, because they then tell you a joke and madness reigns

We can’t choose happiness, we must earn it. Contentment comes first, and that’s not even a choice..

Reasoning must affect people, as it’s their logical method of sorting chaos. Conclusions will of course vary, as do initial goals. What I’m finding is how various mental illnesses affect humanity, both the individual, then by consequence, the whole… Which ‘shiny object’ some focus on can be predictable, just as abnormal behavior can be quantified & classified.

We differ in our humor.. Laughing at the condition of humanity does not put one above it, it merey limits your ability to help it… I’m not saying stupidity can’t be humorous, but more often I find it depressing. Folks on this site are a cut above, though … how’d Madalyn put it … ‘Welcome to the intellectual elite.’ If not humor, there’s pride

Who needs a reason to be happy. I think being happy is the default position. Don't worry, be happy.

Happiness is my default position. Life gives every opportunity to be sad, unfortunately. Happiness is a choice you can make!

I've lived most of my life in a state of clinical depression. I have a mood disorder that went undiagnosed until I was 32. BUT with lots of therapy and the right combination of medications I'm now able to feel, presumably, normal. And that makes me very happy. Waking up and feeling alive. Knowing I have the strength to tackle difficult things. I also look for happiness in small things. I try to cultivate it, make it a habit. That's an important part of me staying mentally healthy.

What's a good reason to be happy? For me, the better question is 'what's a good reason to not be happy?" We can get so easily bogged down with all the little things that aren't exactly as we want them to be, that we miss all the joy and wonder that is around us every day. I prefer to try to look at things and prioritize them. Is problem X taking away from my life right now, when there is nothing I can do to change it right now?

Sometimes, one has to choose to be happy - to look on the bright side. For me, that gives me the strength and focus I need to face my real challenges.

I am alive, thats enough reason to be happy !

Happiness is both physiological and psychological. A clinically depressed person is stuck in an unhappy state. It seems to me that some people must be clinically manic, but it isn't reported because those people are happy. I don't mean manic in the sense of bi-polar manic, similar but less extreme. The funny things in life affect each person differently, depending on where they are in the spctrum of psysiological mania to depression.

I have been a very happy person most of my life. I see good on all to my misfortune !

I think if you analyse happiness too much it vanishes.

The reasons to be happy are huge in number a warm and pleasant human contact, something that is really funny, having accomplished something of value, a beautiful sight or sound, an act of generousity (either as the recipient or as the giver), having done something very well, etc. etc., etc.

I find the wonder and joy in life. The infinite pleasure in the touch of a hand, the joy of tasting a juicy, ripe peach. I have fun every day.

I love hiking to high alpine lakes surrounded by white glaciers and jagged mountain peaks. After dark, I look up and feel awed by the glowing Milky Way and billions of sparkling stars.

Hiking is a transcendent, uplifting experience for me. It engages all of my senses. Most importantly, it calms my busy mind. I feel most centered and grounded in the mountains.

When sunlight filters through the trees the way it does with lace curtains, I feel an enveloping happiness to be alive. This is the core of being human. My joy is made stronger by the certainty that someday it will all come to an end. It’s a rare gift to understand that your life is wonderous, and that it won’t last forever.

Other things that make me happy:

1. Laughing with friends.
2. Knowing my daughter is happy and safe.
3. Stopped and savoring a flower's lovely fragrance, colors and shape.
4. Volunteering to help people in need.
5. Endorphins from exercise make me feel happy.
6. Feeling a sense of accomplishment.
7. Watching students I mentor win scholarships and go to college.
8. Touching a baby’s soft skin. A baby’s smile.
9. Making people laugh.
10. Feeling loved and appreciated.
11. Seeing tiny, baby quail scuttling after their mother.

We make our own happiness. After a time we realize that we do not need the Easter Bunny to help us.

I think each of us has to do what is necessary for us to personally "feel" happy (without harming anyone else's ability to do so, of course).

My wife is more into laughing at the absurdity of life. It cracks her up. She's good for me that way, as I tend to be an idealist and she helps me keep my head out of my ass. On the other hand sometimes I gotta say, honey, it's funny, but not THAT funny. I don't want to dwell on it too much, as it's like rubbing one's nose in poop. It's healthy to laugh at the shit in life but ... not healthy to dwell on it. Even in jest. IMO. But that's just me. She finds endless mirth in the absurdity, I laugh ruefully at it and want to move on.

There's a lesson here somewhere, I suppose -- probably one that I'm resisting. But also, I have somewhat different needs than my wife.

What makes me happy unfortunately is when everything is (or at least feels) "okay" or at least rationalizable, when I feel in control of the flow of the demands of life. When it comes at me too fast and/or furious and/or off the rails, it produces overwhelm and frustration and I have to withdraw somewhere for awhile, to my man-cave if nothing else.

Sadly, it's hard for everything to be "okay" past a certain age. The next decade will almost certainly oblige me to experience the death of my two remaining siblings (10 and 15 years older than me, respectively), our dogs, and the loss of some of our self-determination and good health; and if self-fulfilling prophecies are an actual thing, possibly I will be widowed again (my wife keeps saying I'm going to outlive her by quite a bit; here's another example of conflicting needs, she says it to soothe her fears, but for obvious reasons it just stokes mine).

So, life now is more about letting go, accepting these changes, milking the present moment for all it's worth. It's less about accomplishing, acheiving, accumulating, and other forms of posturing and/or pretending that one will live forever. It's both more mature and more limited / modest. I like to say, a sense of accomplishment is acheived by me these days if I can simply manage to take a good dump, be kind to everyone I meet, and generally keep my head above water. But if that's all you have by way of goals, then you are more likely to achieve them, too. And that tends to make you ... happy.

If nothing hurts, if you can eat and eliminate without any problems, if you have good friends, If you have enough food, a secure home, and lots of good books, those are all good reasons. I like your approach of being serious but really it's a con until you pull the gag or say the punchline, I do that myself, and yeah, it makes me happy,

A good reason to be happy is you are in good health.

While I agree with a lot that has been said in the other comments, I think happiness depends a lot on the kind of person you are to start with. I am both an optimist and melancholic, so while I quite often get sad about things, I am hopeful that things will get better, work out, and so on. I don't think life is a joke and I don't get on with people who behave and talk as if it is. I don't think there is any purpose in life except what we have decided on, ourselves. I try to live as good a life as I can, by my standards, and when i achieve something I am aiming for, it makes me happy.

For me, there are plenty of reasons to be happy.
I woke up this morning, before the alarm.
The sun is shining. The coffee tastes wonderful.
Puppies have been walked, watered, and fed, and are both snoring peacefully.
I'm about to do laundry and will have clean sheets to sleep on tonight.
I could go on, but I think you get the drift. I find lots of reasons to be happy. Sure, some
might be considered quite mundane by others, but it's not about making 'them' happy, it's
about what makes me happy. If I focus on the big things, I can find reasons to be unhappy, and
what possible good is that going to do? I'd rather find a million obscure reasons to smile ,than one obvious reason to frown.
Religion doesn't give reasons to be happy that are based in reality. You know, since it's entirely based on lies and delusions.

Setting goals for yourself and working forwards them.