"He Makaria" = Abundant Life 

William Barclay tells us that the Greek word for "blessing" or "happy," at the start of each of the 8 beatitudes,"he makaria," ("happy isle") was used by common Greeks to describe the island of Cyprus.

It was considered to be so beautiful, rich in sources, so fertile by regular people that a person would never need to go beyond it's coastline to find perfect happiness.  I recently came from a trip to the southern coastline of the Antalya region in Turkey on the Mediterranean Sea and can truly say I can imagine this feeling they had.  I had never experienced a more 'complete' place of beauty--from the translucent warm bath waters, to the fertile land, to the sublime weather.

So, rather than fancy language, the greek word "makaria" used in the Beatitudes translated in today's english as "blessed" or "happy", was used by common Greeks to refer to a JOY that is:

Complete within itself

Serene untouchable, contained within itself

Completely independent of the chances and changes in life