Do you prefer Joy or Happiness?

Joy is a feeling of great pleasure and happiness.
Happiness is the quality or state of being happy.

The difference between happiness and joy, is that happiness is an emotion in which we “experience feelings ranging from contentment and satisfaction to bliss and intense pleasure,” whereas joy “is a stronger, less common feeling than happiness.” We experience joy when we achieve selflessness to the point of personal sacrifice. We feel joy when we are spiritually connected to God or people.
Happiness may be caused by luck, good fortune, or other person-centric pleasures. It is about the self’s pleasure. Happiness may dwell on materialistic, worldly pleasure. It comes from outside things, to quote an example here: If one wins a lottery of $10,000, they would be very happy. Otherwise, joy is caused by elation at a moment in time. It may not always be about oneself but be about others’ contentment also. Joy is derived from soul satisfying, emotional well being. It is about inner self.

Joy warms a person’s heart while happiness merely pleases. This is also because of the difference in the reasons behind the two feelings. Happiness brings pleasure but Joy brings true contentment to one’s heart.

If you want to know how Joy is produced, read more here.