You don’t need a reason to be happy. There can be hard things happening in your life, and you can still smile at someone. Being happy does not mean that you are pretending the hard things aren’t there. You can acknowledge the hard things in your life and still choose to be happy for the good things. A smile or a laugh are big enough to be happy about. The fact that you have the ability to be there for someone can be appreciated. Living your life in gratitude does not mean you are ignoring the bad; it means that you are concentrating on the good.