I personally think happiness is a choice. Our emotional stability should not rely on external forces such as environment, people, culture, opportunities and many other factors that could affect our feelings positively or negatively. Unless of course we are in a dungeon where we can only see is darkness and not even a glass of water to drink -- that's an extreme metaphor of course.

Here are some ways to find our own happiness with simple steps, thanks to the SOURCE.

Here are some ways to find your own path to happiness:

• Keep a perspective on beauty. Don't get too hung up on your appearance, because after all, beauty is pretty superficial, Deci says. And it may not be true that attractive people are more likely to get ahead. A study to be published this month in the Journal of Applied Psychology found that people with the highest intelligence scores earn more money during their lifetime, and report less financial strain, than people with high beauty scores.
• Favor meaning over materialism. Trying to keep up with your friends or that cousin who seems to have everything going his way is a setup for disaster. "The important thing is being who you truly are. That you really accept yourself for who you are, and live your life accordingly in a full and meaningful way," says Deci. In his study, researchers found that those who had strong relationships (which requires accepting people for who they are, listening, and being there when they need you — not just when it's convenient) and volunteered in their community were happiest.
• Schedule a sit-down with yourself. Know yourself deeply and fully, and explore aspects of yourself you've been afraid to pay attention to in the past. Knowing yourself helps you focus on things that are really important. Some people go to group therapy in their communities to speed up the process, but if you're determined enough, Deci says you can do this solo, too. "You've got to be ruthless. Ask something about yourself and come up with an immediate answer, but don't trust it for a minute. Ask if it's really so," he suggests. Question all your assumptions about what's important to you, and see if you can defend them. You may find that working 80-hour weeks to get a promotion is secondary to spending time with family and friends.