What is it that we seek in life?

Finished a very interesting book today - "Tuesdays with Morrie" by Mitch Albom. This book was lent to me by a friend as a highly recommended one to read. Strangely I had never heard about the book or the author till date.
Did the book live upto the recommendation? Definitely yes. It was a short book which took just 3-4 hours to finish & narrates the time which the author (a former student) spends with his college professor in the last few month's of the latter's life. The professor "Morrie" has always been a guide & mentor to many students in his lifetime & in these final week's shares some profund thoughts on all key aspects of life & death. In today's world one is bombarded with information on how to live one's life, but this was the simplest narrative and helps one to cut thru the clutter and identify what is important.

The book really got me thinking on "What is it that we seek in life?". I am sure that I might not be able to capture all my thoughts at one go. So we will discuss more on this topic as we progress along.

The initial answers that I got (atleast for myself) leave me bewildered. Some of them are very clear, while the others seem conflicting and / or obtuse. To begin with it seems very simple to state that one seeks happiness, peace & growth. The complexity starts when one needs to define this further.

What constitutes "Happiness"? Is it the happiness that we get from all the simple things in life? From the time spent enjoying life with family and friends, from watching the beauty of nature, from enjoying the fruits of our success & fame? Sadly even when all of us have the opportunity to enjoy all of the above, we seek happiness in things beyond all of this. instead of focussing on the time available with our family & friends, we absorb ourselves in other activities even in their company. instead of enjoying the beauty inherent in nature we spend the available opportunity worrying about the myriad problems faced by all of us. Instead of enjoying the comforts of all that we have, we hanker after all those things we do not have.......the bigger house, more luxurious car, more money in our banks.....and the list goes on. I would therefore define happiness as the state of enjoying the present - what is available to us here & now......and that includes all the things which I started off with and much more. Only when we set our expectations at rest & enjoy what we have, can we start experiencing happiness & contentment. Out of this happiness emerges the opportunity to have many more such happy moments & enjoyment of life at it's fullest.