1/400s | f9 | 27mm | A white London; along the Regent's canal.

Happiness is not as elusive as commonly thought. It is heavily determined by how worse-off your reference group - often people whose situation is similar to yours - are in relative to you. The Germans, have a word that comes close to explaining that perverse side of human nature: Schadenfreude - taking pleasure from someone else's misfortune.

So, all you have to do to be happy is to stop comparing yourself to your peers and if you must, compare "downwards". Say, you're an equity analyst at Merrill Lynch, don't rank yourself against your colleague who has just been promoted; you'll be happier knowing I can't even get an internship in equities research. Yes, happiness is complacency; I have achieved enlightenment.

Food for thought, is it possible to be happy while always wanting that better job, earn more money, and being generally disatisfied with your current situation?