Part I - My lack of response is just that. I have no response. I so want to have the right answer that I lie prostrate at the ground of such a question from someone I have so much respect for. My answers ought to mean something. Had someone else asked me, I would have give the old three-prong answer. Happiness is a cold beer, loose shoes, and a warm place to use the restroom, but I am sure that kind of answer would not suffice for you.
Basically, I am of the opinion that there is nothing but happiness. Different levels of course, but only happiness. Sadness or despair is but an initial level of happiness. Willima Blake, the English poet, painter, and printmaker, believed in world of opposites. In other words, good could not exist lest it be juxtaposed with bad. I sort of agree with that.
In baseball or any athletic endeavor, barring death, nothing bad happens. Humility is part of the thing, and one or rather most have the ability to choose their reaction. If one strikes out, does he/she have it in him to be things in the proper perspective. I guess the one who cannot can be classified as unhappy. The pain you and I feel is only an opportunity to distinguish ourselves. Pain is proof of life just like music and dirt. So, the question is really is life a good or bad thing. I just do not see how one can misconsture it as bad. Now, as I type that I think of children dying in Burkina Faso or war or natural disasters. I think the thing we cannot do is confuse tragedy with permanent sadness.
The key is to understand your own predispositions and preferences. For example, most people think that being extroverted carries with it a positive connotation. I did too until I realized that, although I love people, I do not enjoy being around them too much. I like being with me or just one or two other people I genuinely care about. So, at one time I was conflicted. I thought there was something wrong with me. When I was able to understand that my introversion is only a preference and not a negative character trait, I was able to "get over" that dilemma.
There are a lot of really dumb happy people. The conflict that many misinterpret as sadness is really a gift. So, the more conflict you feel the more you are capable of. Abraham Lincoln experienced melancholy. Winston Churchill suffered from depression. Here is an interesting list:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_who_have_suffered_from_depression
