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I don't go for consciously trying to be happy or count my blessings. It just isn't the way I'm built. Some people naturally have a happy, optimistic state of mind, and others don't. Frankly, a lot of it is brain chemistry and nothing more.
But there are other things that you can do. Yesterday my wife and I were waiting to eat breakfast at a popular restaurant. Our town has generally mild weather, so at that restaurant you wait outside. There are benches and also a self-serve coffee stand, so you can help yourself to a cup while waiting. It was an almost perfect morning: sunshine, comfortable temperature, light breeze. My wife and I had a long and pleasant conversation talking of many things, none too important, under a blue sky with fluffy clouds. The coffee was excellent. Others chatted softly nearby; children played quietly. And I had one of those moments when one realizes that, humble though the situation may seem to outsiders, it doesn't get much better than this. I think we've all had a few such moments.
So rather than labor to find the good in any crappy situation we happen to be in (hey, dude, you've still got your health, so smile!), just try to remember those moments of love and satisfaction -- those moments that you could live forever in, if given the chance -- and remember that your life is good enough to have brought you such moments, and will bring you many more of them, if you are open to them.
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