“Happiness consists of living each day as if it were the first day of your honeymoon and the last day of your vacation.” – Leo Tolstoy
Balance is a critical aspect of happiness.
Having a Guinness with my friends makes me happy, especially halfway through the pint once the expectation of the taste is starting to be met but the thirst is not yet slaked. The fourth one is not as good as the night winds down and excitement fades into exhaustion. The early evening remembrance of the hard day balanced with the expectation of the next hours one or two sips in is the sweet spot.
A mile into a five k race is the best. You are moving and sweating but not yet breathing too hard nor are the legs burning while churning. That is the point of starting to push without needing to pull out everything inside you.
To be truly happy you need to have positive experiences behind and high expectations in front, a past and future both bright. Yes, there have been recent rough patches and there inevitably will be not easy stretches ahead, but in the moment they are forgotten in good vibes of the recent past and near future, the past day of relaxation and next few of ease. This is the proper place to be to be happy.