Happiness depends not on external realities but on relating to things positively, no matter how shitty or wonderful they may be.

About twenty years ago I saw a film (I can't remember its name) that had been made in the environs of Soweto before the end of Apartheid. The film had then been smuggled out of South Africa. One scene showed a group of young black demonstrators being arrested by white security forces. The demonstrators were taken off to a detention centre, put behind bars and left indefinitely. After several days they were all pretty gloomy except for one who suddenly said to the others "I don’t know why you lot are all so miserable, at least we can’t be arrested now".

Relating to phenomena in a positive way enhances wellbeing and quality of life and is intrinsically a dynamic that leads to further positivity.

However, there are one or two pitfalls in fake or insincere positivity, i.e. feeling like shit but pretending to be positive. These include:

1. Putting up with and doing nothing about crappy situations that could be improved but are not because of a pretence of positivity.

2. Punishing/haranguing yourself for being negative instead of positive (and hence being doubly negative, first with regard to the "perceived" situation, and thereafter about the fact you are being negative when you "ought to" be positive).

Being positive is therefore a dynamic process and not something an individual can force him or herself to be just when it seems to be a good idea.

There are others. You just have to catch yourself at it/in the act/red handed.