Happiness has several definitions but the one I agree with most says
Happiness is contentment, satisfaction.
It's true that happiness could be tied to material things, but even from it are issues of sorrow. A poor and average man desires wealth and feels if he has enough money, then 95% of his problems would be solved, but on the other hand is a rich man who is still in search of happiness. He lacks peace more than the poor and average man and a man who thinks would ponder on this matter. I've never believed happiness is tied to material things. Honestly, I was happier when I had little compared to when I started to have much, because more was demanded of me and this only opened a gateway to things I never experienced.
I've also seen a family who had just little, feeding from hand to mouth but they lived happily as if the worries that people suffered in the world weren't their own. This called for a pause to think. Sorrows are peculiar to individuals and most often they're inevitable to avoid especially if we tend to deal with our troubles and sorrows by the same mental reasoning that it was produced. In search of happiness we've lost it, instead of solving the problems, we add more to that which we are suffering. To solve a problem, we'll need an extra force beyond that which it was created with and most often it requires just a change of thought rather than taking action.
If we feel wealth is the answer to our sadness, then we may never get in touch with happiness, because we'll always believe having more is the solution. The world itself can be funny by exerting pressure on our lust and desire. It often presents new things to keep us craving and pursuing. The brand for new phones has never stopped and wouldn't, the brand of new cars has never stopped and wouldn't, the design of new houses has never stopped and wouldn't and this also presents new problems to chase for those who believe happiness is tied to material possessions. And this single reason is why i define happiness as contentment.
A man who's content needs nothing more, he appreciates whatever he has and whatever position he finds himself in and chooses to live within that means. This set of people aren't concerned about themselves but the impact they make and the smile on the faces of others. We can't have everything but we can learn to live with anything and that's the beginning of true happiness. An example of a truly happy person was a woman known as Dorcas, she was a poor lady but a fashion designer as people would call her in this time. Instead of sewing to make money for herself, she found satisfaction sewing freely for the poor and her joy was the happiness and smile from the faces of the poor. She was a woman of content and definitely, she was a happy woman.