However! Thousands of years of philosophizing has taught us that (a) happiness is not inextricably bound to physical possessions (including lovely eyes and silky hair), and (b) that we can only speak of happiness in the first place because suffering creates a contrast. That is, suffering is necessary. No matter what we don't have, we do have suffering; and often the more profound a person's suffering is the more profound their happiness is later. It's sort of like becoming well after an illness. The huger the illness the huger the wellness; at times you literally feel born again; and all those things you took for granted-flowers, food, walking, talking, art-suddenly are miracles, priceless gifts.

This attitude or perspective is one key to living a happier life. Whatever your disadvantages, you're bound to have some advantages, and the former will make the latter more sweet. Another key to living a happier life is actually building on your advantages, as slight as they may appear. For example, you're alive, not dead. You have a body, and your body has a lot of say in how you feel. Sure, you'd be happier if you had money instead of no money, but that's irrelevant right now. To live a happier life you want to focus in the moment on what you have. If you have a body, and if a body contributes fundamentally to happiness, you can start towards happiness this very second.

In other words, everything you do to improve your health, to strengthen your body-everything you do to improve this thing that you do have-will contribute strongly to the achievement of a happy life. The chemicals in your brain will function in a balanced manner, leading to less depression etc., and if there is a slight imbalance it will be on the side of euphoria, because you've unblocked all those channels whose secretions contribute to peace and joy.

Once you've guided your body to greater healthiness, and therefore yourself to greater happiness, you'll find you're able to work better and longer and smarter than you did before. When you start working better and longer and smarter, people take notice, and when people take notice, the rewards start coming in. To live a happier life, just take one advantage you definitely have (even if it's something as basic as "I'm not dead"), and improve on it daily. Start slow and small and practical; build a foundation; and don't quit. Keep building, increasing your pace as you're able, and it's inevitable that at some point you'll have built something. This building something, this turning a slight advantage into a major blessing, is really the answer to living a happier life. Of course, you'll always experience rainy days; but being out of the rain is preferable to being in it, even if you're only standing under an awning. So build that awning!