My mom has always taught me that happiness is more important than anything else. Happiness is more important than being right, more important than holding a grudge, more important than stressing out about life, more important than anything. She even bought me a decorative sign for my apartment that says, "Happiness is something you decide ahead of time."
Why is this so hard in our lives? Why do so many of us struggle with having joy each and everyday? We want to be happy, and I honestly don't believe that anyone (or any sane person) wakes up any morning and says, "Nah, not today. Today I don't want to be happy." And yet despite our goals of wanting joy we don't always do very much to keep our happiness before it is stolen by the smallest little insignificant negativity. I don't know the exact reason for the difficulty, but I do know that anything worth having in this life take time, effort, and dedication... why would joy be any different?
Now, please don't make the same mistake that I did (and probably will continue to make from time to time) which is to believe that you must go from 0 to 100 with the snap of your finger. Change takes time. Heavenly Father just wants to see progress. He never intended for us to become perfect in this life and will never be disappointed in us for not being perfect. He will only ever be disappointed for us is when we decide to roll over, give up, and stop making progress. Pick yourself up, use the atonement and get back on track.
No one is saying that from this moment on we should never be unhappy again, that would be impossible and insane. However, we should realize that the gospel of Jesus Christ is real, He is our Savior, He atoned for all of our sins not just the ones He wanted to, and because of Him our burdens can become light and He will lift our sorrows if we let Him.
These people bring me happiness, they're not necessarily the reason for my happiness, but they sure do contribute to it. My mom and sister are my most loyal and true friends and I don't know what I would do in this life without them.