Why is that so many people seem to have so much trouble finding happiness? Could it be that they're looking in the wrong places? Probably. I'm not saying anything new here, but it bears repeating: happiness isn't something a person can buy. It's something that comes from within. That's not to say that a little extra money doesn't make things easier from time to time. (I think that's what a lot of us who keep posting on this website keep hoping for.) If one doesn't have to go through life worrying about the bills it takes the factor of stress out of the situation that makes it easier to enjoy what one does have.
    There are so many people who seem to feel the need for drugs, alcohol or even illicit sex as a means to be "happy" when what's really missing is simply learning to appreciate themselves for who they are. Life IS what you make it, but that doesn't mean life needs to be a jump from one funfest to the next or that a lot of money needs to be spent to have fun. If more people would just learn to look inside themselves at who they really are and either be happy with that, or make a concentrated effort to change things about themselves that are self-destructive or hurtful to others maybe the world would suffer less from the problems of poverty, war, drug trafficking etc. If we all made more effort to be nicer to ourselves first, maybe it would rub off and we'd start being nicer to each other. I realize that's a lot to ask for. We humans seem to like to kill each other off and criticize each other as a pastime since the dawn of our existence, but we also tend to ask why these things happen, so I like to believe there is hope.

At any rate, I wrote a few thoughts on the subject in a fictional format here for those who just like to read for fun.