Happiness is often the most-seeked emotion, and thus we must realize happiness is a state of mind. It is something that comes from having peace within our minds and ourselves. While wanting to be obtained, it is often so difficult to do so. We can sulk in our own misery or rejoice in what we have and it's all about perception. So ask yourself, is your glass half empty or half full?

Here are the three keys of happiness:

1. Rejoice in what you have

Humans almost seem like machines some times, always chomping at the bit for just a little bit more. I advise you to find that off switch and turn it off and keep it off. As cliche and repetitive as it sounds, less is really more. Usually what you have is all you truly need and those things aren't materials but rather people. Take a moment, how small or how long is up to you, and look around and rejoice in your family, your house and what you have. A lot of people have lesser than us and a lot have more, though we need not to compare but rather to live in our own scenario. That moment when we stop chasing after the unattainable "American Dream," fortune or whatever we are lustfully searching for, we find the happiness all around us.

2. Fill your life with beautiful people

Not beautiful outer-shell people, but beautiful inside people that radiate around you. Happy, uplifting people will bring your spirits up if you are around them all the time. They come in all shapes and forms, but all equal with their virtuous, up-lifting spirits. Pick people that will accept who you are and not try to change you. Overtime their happy and vibrant personality will begin to run off on you.

3. Be yourself

If not anything else, always be you and only you. I fell in love with a poster plastered to my 6th grade English teacher's wall that said, "The most courageous thing to do is be yourself." That couldn't be more than the truth. Through life you will be suppressed so much and it's hard to pop out of that outer shell; I learned that copying the latest style to fit in doesn't matter if it's not you. If the you who you are isn't "what's in," that's alright. You can try and try to change who you are but it will never bring you the happiness that you get when you are being your true self with people who accept that.

Don't try to strive for the impossible of always being happy -- just try for moments of joy and cherish them while you can. There is good in bad and bad in good. Not every moment should be sunshine and candy canes, but the majority of your life should be happy, because you should be living like yourself and how you want to live.