Happiness

I was pondering on the nature of happiness. Why so elusive?  Ephemeral? Dunno.  We cannot choose all the things that come into our lives.  Things happen beyond our control.  But we choose how we react to them.  Let's be honest, life can be pretty crappy.  But my dear family has what we call mock therapy.  We, as a group, choose humor.  Maybe that's why I need to call my dear family- to get perspective- and to laugh.  My mother always quotes Abraham Lincoln "Most folks are just about as happy as they make their minds up to be."  Reading a book on Martha Washington I came across a quote from one of her letters- "I am still determined to be cheerful and to be happy in whatever situation I may be, for I have also learnt from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances: we carry the seeds of the one, or the other about with us, in our minds, wherever we go." 
This has been a lesson I have needed to learn.  My dear mother, bless her heart, tried to pound it into me when I was younger. I suppose I am finally ready to listen.