Happiness is a daily decision, according to cartoonist and writer Andrew Matthews who spoke to 500 secondary students at Tang King Po School last week about how to be a happy teenager. Matthews is touring Hong Kong to introduce his new book Happiness Now. His other popular titles include Being a Happy Teen, which has sold over four million copies and has been chosen by Tang King Po School as a textbook for the students' reading activities. Andrew Fung Ting-wa, the head of the school, said many teenagers lead a comfortable life and are well protected by their parents. 'They rarely have the opportunity to handle problems on their own, so when a problem - even if it is not a serious issue - comes up, they feel scared and will avoid it,' said Mr Fung. Facing challenges was one of the main themes of Matthews' presentation, during which the writer drew lively cartoons on stage to illustrate his ideas. He said there would always be difficulties in life and it was our attitude that determined whether we could handle them. 'Every day we are being challenged and things can go wrong. But there are some people who have the attitude that no matter what goes wrong, they choose to be happy,' said Matthews. Throughout his career, Matthews has come across many happy people who have more problems than most people do. Among his friends is an armless man who uses his foot to hold chopsticks and eat. 'Problems are not the end of something but the beginning of something. They are often a catalyst that probe us to take action,' explained Matthews. But don't expect everything to go smoothly once you have set yourself a goal. Matthews said it was the law of progress that 'to get to the peak, you need to go through some valleys'. And the way to achieve a big goal is to handle it 'as if eating an elephant'. 'There is only one way to eat an elephant: one bite at a time,' said Matthews. He asked the audience whether they believed they could write a book of over 140 pages. Only a few students raised their hands. But Matthews said if you adopted a strategy of writing one page a day, after a few months you will have a book. 'I sent the first book that I wrote to 60 publishers, and I got 61 rejections because one publisher wrote back to me twice,' said Matthews. 'But if we keep on trying, very often we can find a way to achieve our goals.' More Happy Tips Do the best you can. Do that not for your parents or teachers but for yourself because this is where the joy is Choose to be happy - happiness is not about facts but about what you think about them and do about them Be involved - life is not a spectator sport. The bungee jumper always looks happier than the audience Don't get yourself bogged down by excuses. Look for the results