To add onto this, I found it really constructive when I began to understand what was actually causing me to feel bad about being unhappy. That is, we all have

To add onto this, I found it really constructive when I began to understand what was actually causing me to feel bad about being unhappy. That is, we all have an ideal self that we aspire to, and when we don't live up to this ideal, we feel bad. At first, I thought maybe it was NECESSARY to feel bad in order to motivate oneself to reach your ideals. Then, I thought that it might be impossible to feel good when we reach our ideals without feeling bad when we don't. That is, maybe the two are dualistic, by nature, and inseparable. But, as I thought more and more about my past and how children operate, I became convinced that it's not natural to judge/chastise yourself when you don't live up to your ideals. For me, it's primarily a trained behavior that resulted from judgmental parenting styles -- think, a parent making a child thinking they are a 'bad boy' when they've done something wrong. It's entirely possible to feel good about yourself when you reach your ideals without feeling bad when you don't -- it just takes a bit of rewiring. If you have any doubt, spend some time around children and you'll see that humans are naturally incredibly resilient to failure -- this should include failure at being happy.