Life or Something Like It

Difficult situations are....well, difficult. Sometimes it seems like the quip, "wrong place, wrong time" doesn't cover it. Sequences of events can be fickle and put you in a state where all you can think is, "what should I do? where can I start? Is it even worth it?" To that I say, do what you can. We are only as good as our best effort, as cliche as it may seem.
But really, what is life? I watched Life or Something Like It, and it made me think of unfavorable situations and how we deal with it. Define life: your job? school? your friends? getting up in the morning to a new day? living? All those seem like ways to define yourself. All those seem like ways to achieve happiness. And that is it. It's that simple: life is happiness.
Of course, there all kinds of states and methods of being happy. Someone could be completely glossing over the finer, more important details and say that they are happy. In essence though, happiness is one's ability to be their self; to pursue their dreams and aspirations. To be able to be truly in love. That, in my opinion is happiness.
How do we achieve it though? Like I said before, a career, school, friends, living are all ways to achieve this 'happiness'. What I have discovered though, is that one cannot be truly happy at work, in school, or in life unless they feel they have a purpose. Everyone's purpose in life is relatively the same, to know their self and to bring happiness to others.
Do you ever notice that when you are having a really good day and you are bubbly and outgoing, you seem to put a smile on everyone's face? That is what I am talking about.