How can you be happy when you are sad? Good Question there. Happiness and sadness are not opposite states. Your intrinsic, natural, state is happiness. Sadness interferes with your being happy when you get what you don’t want or when you don’t get what you want. A break-up, a pink slip, a health challenge, death of a loved one – all these, and more, will naturally make you sad. To feel sad when sadness arises in you is neither abnormal nor avoidable. In fact, don’t even try to escape sadness. Hold it, observe it keenly. When you understand the futility of being sad, you will let go of your sadness – on your own. Sometimes, you may need help, from a friend, a parent, or a sibling, or a therapist. But unless you understand that your feeling sad endlessly is what is ruining your happiness, you will not bounce back. Happiness is, therefore, an intensely personal choice.