Happiness is nice but the pursuit of happiness to all ends is a flawed ideology. You'll destroy yourself if you are never happy. But if you value happiness to the expense of all else you'll also destroy yourself. I think learning to be content with yourself and your surroundings is more conductive to true "happiness" than all else. Desire is good to pursue to some extent but if it's pursuit becomes the whole of your being you'll never find yourself satisfied.

Unless you can learn to find joy in the worst circumstances, then you will know nothing but sorrow in the best circumstances.