We cannot be happy if we want our lives to be something other than what they are. This is a very fundamental spiritual issue which we typically attempt to resolve by changing our lives. I would like to suggest that it is easier to become happy with the lives we have than to make the life we think we want.
Why is this so? The reason is that the desire for something more and better is never static. Whenever we have achieved our goal, the energy from the desire that has now been met, is not actually satisfied. It will soon take on a different object and we must suffer the process all over again until we get what we want and so on.
It would be easier to adjust our perspective so that instead of seeking satisfaction in some future result, we can derive happiness from the process experienced in the present moment. If we are honest with ourselves, we will know whether or not we are really enjoying the process of life.
If, upon reflection, we find that we are unhappy with the process of life and our current circumstance, we can undergo training to adjust our perspective. This training, as developed by the Buddha, is called Insight Meditation or Vipassana using the Buddha’s native Pali language, which literally means seeing through or into the true nature of reality. In other words, if we learn how to observe what is happening moment to moment, we can see how we already have what we need to be happy.