I believe that happiness comes from within, from internal factors. Happiness deals with our feelings and how you handle things in your daily life. In reality happiness is more your state of mind which you can control. You can let any decision made affect you positively or negatively.

  For example, relationships can affect your happiness because of how you feel. People may believe that their happiness comes from others, "other people determine our happiness"(happiness in relationships).  When people are in relationships, they feel like their happiness is only made by how someone makes them feel, which is an internal factor because your allowing them too. Another reason is happiness is truly based on ourselves and we seem to forget that, "we have become unfamiliar with how to make ourselves happy."( happiness in relationships). In the book Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton. In the book it says, " He did not know why has so erratically happy for nothing was changed in his or hers." This shows how Mattie makes Ethan happy even when they aren't together, which shows that your feelings based on someone can affect your happiness. Yet some may argue that relationships don't have a effect on your happiness, "we become so caught up in judgements, opinions, and reasoning that we don't take the time to do it." This explains that we can't expressed our happiness and love because of other factors that conflict with each other. Which isn't true because you have the power within to let something affect you or not.

  Happiness can never be truly taken. It cannot be taken away from you, just hidden. In the book Ethan Frome, Ethan tends to the hide the fact that Mattie does make him happy for the sake of his marriage with Zeena. He has been taking care of his family his whole and when he married Zeena that continued on and he always put someone in front of his happiness. For example, "the fact that he had no right to show his feelings and thus provoke the expression of hers..." This shows how Ethan cannot show his love or happiness towards Mattie. Another instance where this is shown is when Ethan starts to question himself as to why he didn't kiss Mattie when he had the chance and if it was any other time he would've done it, " one sensation throbbed; the warmth of Mattie's shoulder against his. Why had he not kissed her when he held her there?" Yet people may contradict that once happiness isn't there it's gone and we cannot get it back. Yet it isn't true, you can see by these examples.

Relationships with people, maybe a persons way of feeling happiness. Having a bond with someone, sharing a connection with someone can bring much happiness to someone. "...other people determine our happiness"(Happiness in relationship). We sometimes base our happiness on the fact of having a significant other. Like in Ethan Frome, Ethan expresses his happiness with Mattie when he talks about how he wanted to stay in that moment with her, "He would have liked to stand there with her all night in the blackness.." People might say it's just an escape and it's more for the fact for our own benefit of not being alone," leave us lonely" (happiness in relationships). Yet not only May happiness be based on ourselves people, if allowed to, also makes us feel happy bout ourselves. For instance the relationship of Ethan and Mattie.

    Happiness does comes from your inner self. How you choose to wake up and allow the world affect you is your choice if it's positive or negative. Many factors go with the fact that internal happiness is the main way to be happy. Our feelings, the ones we make on our own and the ones share are what make happiness an internal factor.