Happiness

Happiness is an interesting concept. What makes somebody happy? What can you do to be happy? Happiness isn't just an in-the-moment thing; it is your state of being, at least, for a moderate while. People can become depressed, unmotivated, disheartened, and discouraged for many reasons, and depending on the magnitude, the sadness can replace the happiness as a state of being. However, if one is normally happy and then becomes sad because of, say, a funeral, that does not mean they have lost their happiness, it is just temporarily gone, in alternative to actually being displaced.
On to one of the original questions, "What makes somebody happy?" The answer one might think of would be love, money, power� something along those lines. That's not true. The answer is conflict. Of course, it has to be a balanced amount of conflict, as too much will push the boundaries and turn a human otherwise (other than happy). Still, conflict, that's an interesting answer. Don't people usually try to avoid conflict? The thing about conflict leading to happiness is it can't be instigated conflict, it must be natural, something unforeseen, and of a relatively low magnitude. For example, a business problem, or getting sued. A lot of this still doesn't make sense, does it? Well let's go back to state of being versus in-the-moment. Of course, in-the-moment, you are going to be upset, but once the conflict is over, you will come out feeling stronger (whether it goes your way or not), which will fortify your happiness. Whenever you get through a hard time, once it's done, don't you feel better? You might remember yourself as still feeling down when its over, but the only time it is truly over is when you almost forget about it, and that's when subconsciously your happiness has been strengthened. However, if there is conflict after conflict, ranging from low to medium magnitude with little interval in between, it is possible for the happiness to disintegrate. This happens because you do not have time to naturally forget; another conflict forces the last out of your mind, and you don't have time for your happiness to grow.

"What can you do to be happy?" is a more interesting question than the first. You could do anything, technically. Killing and violence makes people happy. People should be able to do anything that makes them happy. That's an alarming comment, but of course there are stipulations. Let's finish the statement. People should be able to do anything that makes them happy� as long as it does not hurt or inconvenience anyone else. Let's say you're driving, and it makes you happy to drive at 10mph on a 40mph street (although it is more realistic to say going faster would make you happy). You shouldn't do that, because it inconveniences others. Likewise, you shouldn't kill somebody because that hurts him or her, as well as hurts many others psychologically. As long as you do things that make you happy that don't hurt other people, just do them. This base rule can branch out in very intricate ways. An example that takes the base one step further is why you should get a job, and not live on the street. If you don't have a job, you need welfare, and that's taking tax money that could be used otherwise, and it hurts the State. Now, there are many things you do that, when branched out, hurt or inconvenience someone, but because the branches extend so far, it is just impractical to not do the activity, because the negative result is so small and insignificant. Live by this rule and you will be a productive, happy member of society.