A lot of my thoughts on the How to Be Happy cult come down to this:

We love to think about happiness as a button (something we can influence directly); but in reality, happiness is better though of as a display (something that is the result of or output of other inputs).

Happiness, in other words, is simply a side effect. So the idea of directly pursuing or becoming happy is kind of nonsensical.

The better question is, IMO, what are the things I can do that have a good chance of resulting in happiness?

Similarly, and more to the point of this piece, when I fee unhappy, what are the causes that are leading to that unhappiness, and are they something I have control over or not?

The answer to which basically leads to the last sentence of your article, I think.