If your happiness is entirely dependent on what's going on outside yourself, you will never be happy. This might seem obvious at first glance but how often do you allow external factors to disrupt your internal state?

A shitty little dog yipping a few tables over while you attempt to sip your coffee. A molasses-slow driver inching down the road while you're late to your dentist appointment. A stoic-looking stranger giving you a cold glare while you pass them on the street.

Happiness is like a zen garden in the middle of a forest fire.

You can't control the fire raging on and the more you attempt to control it, the less happy you will be. Suffering is, after all, wishing the world to be a different way than it is. However, if you can learn to go inward and tend to the zen garden that is your mind, you can find happiness anywhere.