Can we choose to be happy? — and what is the difference between joy and happiness?

Happiness, like love, is more likely when we don’t actively pursue it, but, instead, appreciate the small, frequent, unplanned moments of joy, says Deirdre McArdle

Psychotherapist Jean Young: Naturally, as we play, explore, savour, we are more likely to find moments of joy and we are more inclined to seek out these moments again with more play and adventure. It becomes self-fulfilling

Happiness is elusive and fleeting. And in in today’s consumerist culture, it’s one more thing to commodify. That’s because it’s easy to manipulate and it’s easy to sell, says Jean Young, a psychotherapist and the founder of the Your Best Self programme.

“If you think about happiness, it has these big peaks or times when you’re happy, but, eventually, you will come down again. It’s not sustainable.”