I can tell you from first-hand experience that there is no such thing as good things and people.
Because there are many people who are downright unapproachable and yet great at what they do. Negative emotions can drive a person to do great things.
Yasashii, you say there are no good things or good people, but there can be good situations and people can be good at what they do even if they're negative. This to me sounds like a contradiction. How can someone be good at what they do and not be good? For someone who teaches English your vocabulary is a little bit lacking. I'm going to do my best and try to actually determine what you mean without taking what you say out of context. So I think what you're getting at is that you don't think people can be morally upright, but you do think they can be skilled. I'm not really sure what you mean by good things though. If there are no good things, but people can be good at what they do, why can't people make and do good things?
Happiness is just one of the things you can use to motivate yourself.
This is the definition of happiness according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, "A state of well-being and contentment; a pleasurable or satisfying experience." Okay, so the motivation can be the desire to reach that state, if that's what you're getting at, but happiness itself is a state that you are in, and it's an emotion that you feel. You can't say it isn't genuine. That's like saying the word should be stricken from the dictionary because it is a lie. No, happiness is a real thing that people experience. I'm sorry if you're life is miserable and everything in your life sucks, and you don't know any good people, but you're experience doesn't dictate reality. I'm genuinely happy most of the time because it's a state that I cultivate. You have to work for happiness. You can't just sit around and feel sorry for yourself and expect to be happy. It's no one else's job to make you happy. It's your job to make yourself happy. If you don't want to be happy, then you don't have to be. But I think you need to face reality here and stop deluding yourself.
And how does one exactly "create and cultivate" happiness in all situations? How about when people don't have money to feed their kids? How about when people's houses get burnt down to the ground and they couldn't afford insurance? How about when people get terrible, painful terminal diseases? How about people with depression who struggle to get out of bed in the morning and have to fight themselves every day not to drink bleach? How are they supposed to find happiness in those situations?
Now, I know you were talking to Captain Steel, but I found this really interesting and wanted to respond to it. I don't really think that you can be happy in every situation at all times. When bad things happen to you it hurts. But the point is that the pain doesn't last forever. It's okay to be sad when you're hurting. I don't know you, and I don't know what you've experienced, but let's say hypothetically that your wife died shortly after marrying her and that's ruined your life and hurled you into an endless nightmare of depression. How would someone cope with an experience like that and find happiness again in life? The answer is by living for something greater. I gather that you don't believe in God, but he is who I love and live for, and he is the source of my greatest joy in life. Because my hope is for something more than anything this world has to offer it does not depend on suffering here in this life. I look forward to the life to come, eternal life. When you have a relationship with God then you are truly free. Nothing can take it away. No prison can hold you. Pain is temporary, and his love endures forever. You may think that's silly, but it's not just a hope for a happiness that will come after death. It is happiness now and it can never be taken away from me. God is not something I hypothetically believe in. He is a person that I interact with every day. If you don't believe me then you should read the historical accounts of the martyrs. The people who Nero put in the gladiatorial arena with wild beasts. They went happily to their deaths full of joy. Jan Hus was burnt at the stake, and he died singing hymns.
And you're wrong about the crush part. I can tell the difference between that and actual love, don't worry about that. Notice that I haven't shared the specifics of my story. And I don't want to, since this is the internet and at least some things should remain personal. Please don't judge my experience without a solid basis for it.
I wasn't judging your experience. Your definition of love is not inaccurate according to the dictionary. But I was challenging that definition and redefining love as an action. I love my father. And how I love my father is by doing good things to and for him. I help him, I spend time with him, I do him favors, I make sacrifices for him, I give him gifts etc... Those are the expressions of my love. If I say I love him and don't do those things and treat him like crap, then it begs the question. Do I really love him? But the world is full of people who felt the same love that you described, and twenty years later didn't love that person anymore and got divorced. I don't think that's real love, because it doesn't necessarily last. I will never stop loving my father, but that is a personal choice of mine. Even when he hurts me I forgive him and refuse to give up on him. That is a different kind of love. It's a promise. It's unconditional. It's hard work.