I don't like the premise that happiness is based on what you have, and what you do with your time. It always seems to be the underlying assumption, and it drives people to be unhappy to always be striving for better conditions for themselves.

What gave me happiness is the idea in Buddhism fostering compassion for all people, including yourself, but not only yourself. It's the one aspect of Buddhism that most people ignore. Instead they concentrate on inner peace by quieting their mind or stopping their thoughts, which again is striving for a change in what they have, (ie. they would gain the ability to quiet their mind)

I don't mean to be heavy handed, and I'm not trying to force my ideas on others. I just haven't seen this idea of compassion for people brought up very often.