How can I be happy?

For a long time I asked myself this question, but finally I found the answer.
First of all. What's happiness? According to psychology "happiness is a mental or emotional state of well-being which can be defined by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy". This means two things:

1.- It's a mental or emotional state.
2.- It's defined by positive emotions.

The first thing I had to realize is that happiness is not a permanent thing, that is, I will not be strictly always happy or feeling an "intense joy". Sometimes I'll feel tired, sad or bored. This is stated in the phrase "is a mental or emotional state", so being happy doesn't excempt any one of sorrows, sadness or difficulties. These will always appear in our lives, but that which makes us happy will lift us up and give us a reason to move on.

Second. Happiness can be defined by inner situations. This was very interesting for me because I have always heard that having money and material stuff can bring full happiness, but in my journey in Chile I found a lot of people who seemed to be happy although they didn't have much material things; actually the most happiest family I met didn't have that much of money or income. So definitely money doesn't bring happiness, but inner stuff.

So I made myself the question: What kind of inner stuff can be considered as positive?

Well, obviously a positive thing is something that encourages you to become a better person. In my case, what encourages me to become a better person is my family, my desire for learning and God. Each one of us have different reasons to become a better person, so this subject would be different for every single individual. So the first thing we have to do in order to be happy is set yourself good goals and follow them.

Once we have setted this, comes the most important requisit for happiness.

Loneliness is the worst feeling that human beings can experience.
No matter how many good goals you have, no matter how much success you're having, no matter how much joy you can feel, loneliness can destroy you in all senses. This is a great challenge for anyone who's chasing happiness.
Some people don't struggle with this: they have a lot of friends, a great family and are surrounded by support; but other people may tell another story: they have no family or the one they have don't act like it; they might have friends but no one to trust. These are the ones who terribly struggle with loneliness.

We all need someone in whom we can trust, because without this, loneliness will slowly devour us.

I wish every single one of us could set a goal to help whoever may be dealing with loneliness in order to make this world a happier place to live; indeed, give those who feel lonely the opportunity to be happy.

So, in conclussion, in order to be happy we need two things:
1.- Set yourself good goals and follow them
2.- Have someone in whom you can trust

I hope this post helped you to answer your question about happiness. Please let me know in your comments, I´ll be happy to read you :)