In my travels to Europe, I am always struck by how serious people seem to be. Where Americans tend to smile and enjoy a hearty laugh out in public, Europeans tend to be stoic and reserved. Americans feel that happiness is a birthright, and when we don't feel happy, we feel like something is wrong or missing from our lives.
The expectation to be happy all of the time is unrealistic. Life is not a continuous laughfest - it has its ups and downs which most of us realize. But then there are those people who are devoid of happiness - which leads to depression and other mental health disorders.
There are doctors you can consult, pills you can take, liquor you can drink, and groups you can join, but the potential for greater happiness lies within you if you can be honest with yourself. Ultimately, happiness is a self-improvement project. Get started by opening the link below.
http://www.purposefairy.com/3308/15-things-you-should-give-up-in-order-to-be-happy/#
"The pursuit of happiness" has an interesting historical aside. That line- life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is modified from John Locke- its original form was life, liberty and property. The founding fathers were from the propertied classes, and recognized that much of the revolutionary fervor was from the property-less masses. They did not want to create grounds for redistribution of their own property, so they changed the line.
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