Atlanta -- Many Americans are in a pursuit of happiness these days. Inspired by Gretchen Rubin’s best-selling book The Happiness Project, they’re starting their own individual or group efforts to be happier. Participants are making resolutions, blogging, and focusing on what makes them truly happy.

When prominent spiritual guides, authors, and pastors were asked about the key to happiness, their answers ranged from helping others and using your talents to having a personal relationship with Jesus.

“The fastest way to being happy is to make other people happy,” said mind-body healing author Deepak Chopra.

Greg Epstein, Harvard University’s humanist chaplain, said, “Perfect happiness doesn’t exist. It is a fantasy that leads to disappointment or depression if we insist on chasing it as it we are entitled to it.” Epstein added that imperfect happiness is available through “engaging relationships, good works, [and] connection to loved ones and to humanity.”

Rabbi Harold Kushner said, “Happiness results from the fullest utilization of your talent. And…from knowing when you had made someone else’s life better.”

Kushner added that happiness is “always a byproduct,” saying, “You don’t achieve happiness by striving to be happy. You achieve happiness by striving to be a good person.”

The two Christians on the panel pointed to God as the source of happiness. Pastor Joel Osteen, whose “prosperity gospel” preaches that God wants to reward believers, drew a distinction between happiness and joy. “Happiness is determined by one’s circumstances,” he said. “On the other hand, joy is a more permanent state of being…. A person can keep their joy even when things are going badly… By putting our faith in God, we can live a more joy-filled life.”

Pastor Jonathan Falwell, son of conservative evangelist Jerry Falwell, said true happiness and “soul satisfaction” come only “through a personal relationship with God accomplished through the sacrifice of his only Son, Jesus Christ.”

Sources: happiness-project.com, CNN.com

Discussion Questions:

• Why do you think a happiness movement is emerging right now? What conditions make this an ideal time for people to focus on true happiness?

• Which answers about happiness do you agree and disagree with the most, and why? How would you define true happiness? Do you think it’s impossible to achieve? Why or why not?

• What are some ways you’ve tried to achieve happiness? Which efforts were successful or unsuccessful, and why? How much does your happiness vary from day to day?

• Does making other people happy boost your own happiness? Would you rather work to make someone else happy than pursue happiness for yourself? Explain.

• Do you agree that happiness is different from joy? Is happiness something that Christians should strive for on this earth? Is personal happiness a worthwhile and achievable goal? Explain.

• What’s the difference between the world’s definition of happiness and God’s? What does Jesus say about happiness and if or how we should achieve it? Do you think Jesus was happy? Why or why not?

• Is your relationship with God a source of happiness for you? Why or why not? How might you be able to increase the amount of joy you experience as a Christian?

• If you were to start a Happiness Project, what would it involve, and why? What are some “little” and “big” things that make you happy?

Scripture links: Proverbs 15:13, 15; Ecclesiastes 3:12-13; Matthew 5:1-12; John 16:20-22; Philippians 4:4, 11-13; and 1 Timothy 6:6-12.

Stephanie Martin is a freelance writer and editor in Colorado.