"We are more ready to try the untried when what we do is inconsequential. Hence the fact that many inventions had their birth as toys." - Eric Hoffer

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One tenet of the happiness discourse that is an aspect of motivational bullshit is that if you're in a situation that other people would consider miserable, if you are happy, your happiness is justifiable.

One example is Nick Vujicic, who praises his god for giving him no arms and legs and is delighted that he can use this to challenge the Riddle of Epicurus (incidentally this is like praising Hitler for the Final Solution, because that meant the Jews came out stronger as a people).

However, the corollary of this is that if you are in a situation that other people would consider fortunate, if you are unhappy, your unhappiness is also justifiable.

For example, if you earn US$8,000 a month, work in a top investment bank, have a loving family and women swarm over you, yet claim that life is a living hell for you and that you want to die, this is also justified.

This is because the presumed reason why a person in objectively miserable circumstances can justifiably say he is happy is that all that matters is one's subjective well-being (i.e. your evaluation of your life). In that case, the person in objectively fortunate circumstances can just as soundly say that he is unhappy.

The only other reason I can think of for why a person in objectively miserable circumstances can justifiably say he is happy is that happiness is considered a good thing, and that if someone deludes himself into thinking that he is happy, this is good, but then this is begging the question.