Happiness

I was told once that we, as humans, determine our own happiness. We can take everything personally and with a frown on our face, or we can smile through our tears and CHOOSE to be happy. I don't know if I agree with this, but I'd like to believe it to be true. So why do people have such trouble with their own happiness? Can we blame the media, for putting ideas of how we "should" look and feel and be like in our heads, or others, for pointing out that, sometimes, we just aren't like that? Or can we merely blame ourselves for falling into the trap of self-pity? I understand that other people do things that upset us, and people let us down, and people we care about or maybe even love leave or reject us or die, but, in the end... we can't blame them. We kind of just have to let it go and move on. Dwelling on things only makes them worse.
As I think about it, I'm realizing that I'm probably happiest around my soccer team. Free of judgment, 20 teenage girls come together and bond through a common interest: soccer. I'm closer to some than others, but I'm forced to trust in the fact that they have my back. Whether it's making themselves open for a back pass out of trouble, or lending an ear when I need to rant about something, they really are there for me.