Happiness is secured through virtue it is a good attained by man’s own will.

Lasting happiness, seen this way, is not something that happens to you but something you grow into through how you repeatedly choose to act. Honesty, patience and generosity practised over time build a settled contentment that luck cannot give or take. That places a good deal of your wellbeing within reach of your own effort, which is a hopeful claim, if a demanding one.

None of it means unhappiness is your fault; much of life is outside anyone’s control. But you can pick one quality you want more of and act on it daily. Choose it deliberately, and pay attention to how it feels a month from now.