[Sangetsu]

If you want to be happy, stop dreaming. Instead of dreaming, go out and live. Appreciate the good things in life, and put the bad things in perspective. Even the worst of things will have a positive side if you look for it hard enough; find it and learn from it.

Be honest. You will never be happy in life if you are not honest to others and to yourself. Drugs and alcohol are lies which remove you from reality, stay away from them.

I remember a list of recommendations which Miyamoto Musashi wrote in his book (which I had to read back in the days when I studied Kendo) for those who were looking for enlightenment, it's been years since I've read it, but I believe it is something like this,

Do not think dishonestly,
The way is in training,
Become acquainted with every art,
Study the ways of all professions,
Distinguish between gain and loss in worldly matters,
Develop intuitive judgment and understanding for everything,
Do nothing which is of no use,
Do nothing which you will regret,

That's all I remember of them, I think there were one or two more which I have forgotten for the moment.

Money does not lead to happiness (and I should know), in reality it is the cause of all misery. You never want to get caught with a want which can never be satisfied. You can never have enough money, which is why even the richest of people who have more than they could ever spend search for even more of it. Do not make yourself a slave to money, and don't envy those who have more of it than you do. I know bicycle mechanics making $10 an hour who are happier than stock traders with 7 figure incomes. When it comes to finding a job or profession, choose something you like to do, not something which you dislike doing but which pays well.