the pursuit of happiness...

i was hanging out with an old friend from high school the other night--the wonders of facebook--and we got into this deep, technically three-or-four-glasses-of-wine-deep, discussion of happiness. and he said he doesn't think he'd ever been really and truly happy. now, CP is probably one of the most sweet and loving people you will ever meet, and though i remember next to nothing about high school (and i didnt drink or do drugs so clearly another example of a time warp or something), i do remember thinking, i like that kid, he always seems so happy. at the time, i was listening to the smiths and morrissey almost exclusively, and pondering where i thought my life would or wouldn't go, and how i couldn't wait to get the hell out of brooklyn. i didn't have anywhere specific in mind, but like that natalie portman movie, anywhere but here was the perfect destination. even now when i hang out with CP, i think to myself, i like that kid, he always seems so happy so when he said it, i was completely dumbfounded. so i told him that he seemed like one of the happiest people i knew, and then asked if he was faking it. then he said he finds joy in the small moments and the simple things in life, but on the whole, isn't always happy. i don't know. i am confused. part of me struggles with what happiness is; i always thought you're supposed to find joy in the small moments and the simple things. extract the sweetness where you can, wring it out and hold on tight. but on the other hand, i know what he is saying because i feel the same way. i am not a morose or depressed kind of person (i don't listen to the smiths or morrissey that much anymore) and i always find myself laughing and enjoying myself, but i don't know that i am consistently and constantly happy. so i am not sure what definition of happy is right. are they both right? is it an individual personality thing? are some people just hardwired to feel happiness more often or more consistently than others? do some people just "get it" and know it's fleeting so they hold on tighter?