"What is happiness?"

I'm at a summer school this week with my friend Miri, & so far our favourite things have been the food and the library. We get loads of tea & biscuits, and you're actually allowed to take books out of the library- and they have LOADS of books! There's even a corner around a chimney with sofas for reading. Compared to our school where there's more books in lost property than the library, this is pretty amazing!

But today we had a lecture on 'The Happiness Agenda', something David Cameron is trying to promote. We were asked "What is happiness?", which I thought would be pretty simple to answer but half an hour later I realised I was wrong! One boy said that being happy is about being able "to look down on people": that knowing you've achieved more than someone else gives you a sense of accomplishment, success and therefore happiness. Someone else said that becoming more intellectual than others is the only way to happiness. And someone else said you had to be in a stable relationship, with a high power job, and not suffer. I don't understand - have none of these people ever just got drunk with their friends? Or gone to the beach and run into the sea despite the fact it's November? Or played Twister!?!?

As far as I'm concerned, being happy is something no one else can control, it has to come from you. It's little things like evenings with your friends, a good song coming on your iPod, winning £5 on a scratch card, going to the beach! It doesn't make any difference if you're in a relationship, as long as you know you're loved by someone. It doesn't matter if you don't earn loads of money, as long as you're doing something you love. And doing better than people is something you can take personal pride in, but seeing your friends and people you care about succeed is just as rewarding!

This debate just got to me, and I thought it was sad that some people think happiness is so complicated to reach. I'm lucky; I know I have amazing friends, a great family, and how to have fun. And that is what Happiness is to me :-)