Happiness

I think that happiness is not the opposite of sadness, but the opposite of pain.
And the more I live, the more I realize that the way to enlarge one's capabilities for happiness is to go through pain.
Not that pain is what brings happiness, because it certainly doesn't. But it seems to me that pain shows one how bad things can be, and thus how good things are when one is not in pain.
The way to pain is in hard and difficult things. Because pain is simply a physical manifestation of the idea that things can be difficult. And whether the pain in one's life is self imposed or not, it doesn't matter. It shows one how bad things can be. So really, pain is simply enlightenment.
One can be the most enlightened person in the world though and still not be happy. Because happiness requires action. It requires conscious effort. It seems to me that when Henry Ford said, "The man who thinks he can and the man who thinks he can't are both right." he was absolutely correct. Happiness is not an item. It's not an external force. It's not a girlfriend or a boyfriend or a motorcycle or a nice home. It's a very internal state of being. So thus, if you think you can be happy, no matter your situation in life, you're right. If you don't think you can be happy, you're correct as well.
So go live life. Do hard things. They will hurt you, I promise. But you will live.
Above all, remember this.

“Happiness is a state of mind, a choice, a way of living; it is not something to be achieved, it is something to be experienced.” -Steve Maraboli