then there's always the common Buddhist mantra to: “Joyfully participate, in the sorrows of life.”i have a feeling life was a little simpler back then.
you want unrealistic happiness??? smoke pot, but that won't solve anything either.
i don't know your situation but this is a good tool i still use to this day.
start the year(or now) with a special calendar, and put down all the good things(NOT Dr's appointments etc) coming up in the new year... birthdays, vacations, races, sports, coming movies you want to see, anniversaries, weddings, anything and everything you know good is going to happen, and try to space things out as even as you can through the year and of course add to it as things come up.
then you have all the good things to look forward to during the year in your hands where you can visualize them and their dates/times of up coming events. that way you always have something to look forward too and can say to yourself, "i can make it to there and then i get to rest..." just like a twenty mile forced march, you still have to rest along the way.
i call them R&R goals... all you gotta do is make it to the next goal.
another thing is Spin the Bottle. we'd take a bottle and spin it on the floor and what ever direction it pointed in... we'd take off and drive up to as far as you can drive in one day(after looking at a map to see what interesting things were in that direction of course) spend the night and come home the next day or so.
no hassles/stress about packing etc. cause you spin AFTER you are packed. plus that way there are NO expectations to be missed and no disappointments since things never go as planned anyway. this way there IS NO plan to get messed up!!! 8^)
and lastly, again i don't know your situation, but... try to get outdoors as much as possible. thank God Six is a camper so we'd take the kids camping all over the state. it's cheap, it's outdoors and it's something the whole family can enjoy, while each still getting their own experience and pleasure form it. FReegards Chode