Happiness--a state of mind or a way of life?

'state of well-being characterized by emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy'
Thus goes the dictionary definition of happiness. My question stems from this very definition--is it really a 'state' or is it a way of life, a style that you have to adopt to reach the state? My quest to find meaningful insights on this question takes me to the very inception of our emotions which begins in childhood. As children, the definitions of happiness are simple, attainable and somewhat isolated in approach. By isolated I do not mean that they have no connection to our environment; they are in fact, deeply influenced by it. The isolation that is prevalent in a child's happiness is isolation from the concept of how his/her happiness affects the people surrounding him. I recall that when I was a child and desired anything my only worry was whether my parents would allow me to have it--issues such as money, ability to afford and the appropriateness of whatever I had asked for were very minor or in most cases, almost nonexistent issues. I probably never even had to voice my desires as I was the only child of highly sensitive parents whose major preoccupation seemed to be , at that time, reading my mind and fulfilling my wishes. I do not know whether that implies that children have selfish attitudes where their own wants are concerned but it certainly shows that they have less concern for the perils of others, especially their parents.
Enter adulthood or to be more accurate, enter the gray areas of life. Observe carefully and you find that most adults are like pilgrims traveling to a far location and undertaking all the perils and ardors of the journey. Why? Do we all search for that illusory happiness which we believe is to be found only at the end of the journey? When we think of the people who are unhappy in their professional lives and are hankering after 'a better job' or individuals who exhaust several partners in their search for the 'perfect mate' who will make them happy, we see a thin web of deceit underlying this entire process and sadly enough, most of the deceit is self-directed. In our continuous search for 'what lies ahead' we omit for a large part of the time, 'what is'. Psychologists have offered various explanations for this at various points of time but no one sums it up better than Freud, in whose words, happiness is:
'Happiness is the deferred fulfillment of a prehistoric wish. That is why wealth brings so little happiness: money is not an infantile wish. ...'
That is the most abiding truth of our lives--we spend most of it chasing something that is actually within us and has to be produced on will, not waiting outside for us to collide with it. Happiness is not a phenomenon, it is a way of life, a way that we are capable of producing and conforming to. Childhood desires are etched into our minds--we cannot get rid of them but we can certainly ensure that they do not rule our adulthood with an iron fist. I remember at this time, the story of the man who grew up thinking that he wanted to be famous. In his quest for fame, he chased goal after goal and each time he achieved one, the thrill in the chase would fade. As he lay old and dying, one day he realized that all his life he had been so involved in reaching the finish line that he had never looked at the people or scenery that he had passed; he had won every race but had it been worth it after all? To be honest, this is not truly 'a' famous story but it is definitely 'the' universal story. I do not want to be the protagonist of this story and neither do I want my fellow human-beings to be in that role. So awake, arise and look inside you--happiness is waiting but only we can make it a part of our life.