I tend to make the difference between joy, happiness/fulfillment, and wholeness.
* Joy: pure moments of connecting with the inner child! It takes nothing fancy or extraordinary. A tiny plant growing out of sidewalk cracks, some magic bond with an animal in the street, a beautiful rainbow — you name it — can be a trigger to feel a sudden joy! The secret is the ability to wander and be present so that to enjoy the simplest things.
==> This is what you are brilliantly describing as "absolute happiness" đź’™
* Happiness/fulfillment: the product of having reconnected with the servant leader in us and of being on a noble mission that goes beyond ourselves instead of chasing a self-serving goal and “success”. The mission does not have to be as big as saving the world from a pandemic. It only needs to be principled and is the manifestation of our “Spiritual Intelligence”. Inspiring a person or making their day through a simple free act of kindness does the trick!
* Wholeness: feeling whole goes beyond happiness. It is the fruit of an individual and a group investment at the same time. Our part is re-writing our invasive subconscious program so that we move back to our secure attachment style and unleash the servant leader in us. Thus, we become what we call an interdependent individual.
Should you be interested, I also explored the relationship between our hormones and happiness here:
https://medium.com/illumination/did-you-ever-wonder-about-the-function-of-your-hormones-1af5b6b93c47
