Eudaimonia

Crossing the vast American landscape, I was reading Aristotle on the nature of happiness.
I'm interested in the question if happiness can be real if it isn't shared. In other words, is it only by some other(s) having that same emotion that makes it true? I'm also interested in the seeming dichotomy between the pursuit of short term happiness -often just passing distractions- and that of the long term achieved by fulfilling one's potential. Aristotle thought that a life of balance and moderation would more likely lead to the latter, he saw happiness more as an activity than as a state. But this, upon reflection, makes me wonder about my purchase of the cargo pants. I mean, so far, they have made me happy on a utilitarian front -with the big pockets for coins and pens and fruit- and thus in the short term; but they have been found wanting on the increasing my ruggedness and attracting ladies front, i.e. in the long term. Using Aristotelean logic, my cargo pants are a state and not an activity and I now believe that I was misled by that shop assistant on Oxford Street who said that I should 'buy the green ones.' Furthermore, I now question how they could possibly lead to real happpiness if they are unshared? Fortunately, I kept the receipt so I can check what the refund rules say about this.
Travel really does broaden the mind.