For a while, I believed one could CHOOSE to be happy. That was AFTER I found a way to not be depressed. Now, I realize that with depression being an illness, you can't 'choose' to be happy.

What DOES work, ... for me, is being too busy to be depressed. Maybe it's just a bandaid, but once I got (very) busy, I had no more episodes of depression. When you are concentrating on something, you don't think of being depressed. That means, for me, staying very busy ... taking care of my dog, working on motorcycles and cars, studying things of interest online, flying drone copters, yard work ... anything that 'holds' my concentration.

I pretty much now live withOUT depression .... and at one time, I had it ... BAD.

I agree that working towards specific goals creates a sense of accomplishment.

I don't know that's its a choice or not to be happy, per se...".happy" is relative. I'm BiPolar of 29 years, heavy on the Depression, I've done all the things "normies" do, went to University, have several Degrees, had a Professional Career all my adult life, raised 2 wonderful sons, had a 25 year marriage, that I chose to end, enjoyed being single, and now have a relationship with a great guy that's not so cloying. I've been happy, but I'm not a "happy bubbly, fuzzy, type" person. I'm content with life, it took a lot of hard work and management of symptoms to get there. It took learning coping skills and being willing to take meds and work with my medical team to get there. I enjoy working and using my brain, I enjoy volunteering and helping others, I stay busy, but not too busy. I'm semi-retired. It took research and trial and error and figuring out the things that worked best for me and my symptoms to get me to a point of stability and contentment. Its different for everyone, but it's always hard work and determination.

My depression is downright debilitating but I still hope to one day be accomplished. I managed to get my GED, take some college classes, sale a painting, get married, and you know just actually the basics which is big to me considering my depression can be so crushing and even when it isn’t crushing I still have what my doctor calls partially treated depression. I manage to make it through the day though. I cry a lot because I do compare myself to people like these but you know not everyone is them and not everyone has the same experience with depression. All depression is different from others and just because someone doesn’t function as well as these people doesn’t mean they are a failure either. I do though wish to be more accomplished and I hope to see my fellow depression sufferers overcome and manage well too